He is the quarterback who threw an interception on his team’s final offensive play in a NFC championship game loss – and maybe on the final pass of his Hall of Fame career.

There is a lot of irony in the symmetrical stories but the next 24 hours could serve as the point of divergence. It is the period that will serve as the litmus test for how far the once-beloved Favre has fallen from grace.

Two years ago, after his overtime interception cost the Green Bay Packers against the New York Giants, every football-watching American understood that the mere idea of Favre’s final pass being an interception was unjust.

Tears were shed for the hero who was dealt a villain’s ending.

Will anyone share that opinion this year? Will anyone still pity Favre after a two-year journey in which he has looked spoiled, selfish and greedy?

Or will his tarnished image lead to calls that the potential send-off served Favre right for being too much of a gambler in a big spot?

The only things we know for sure are not to expect a quick decision on whether or not the 40-year-old gunslinger will be back again next season and not to believe that decision.

Call it karma.

Call it bad luck.

Call it whatever you like.

But Favre again has been cast in a villain’s ending, and this time the role fits him much better.

Expect the inscription underneath his bust to read something like this:
“Once merely a great quarterback, by Favre’s final retirement he had mastered all grounds for Hall of Fame enshrinement. He was a great general manager – orchestrating his own trade out of Green Bay and arrival in Minnesota. He was a great media member – carefully creating his own Jeterian public image through the power of manipulation. And late in his first season with the Vikings, he became a great coach – turning Brad Childress into a Prince Charles-like figurehead by telling him when he could and could not be removed from a game.”

OK, it probably won’t read quite like that. Surely Favre has brainwashed the Hall of Fame committee, too.

NBC television cameras showed Favre and Vikings “coach” Brad Childress engaged in an argument during the third quarter of Sunday night’s loss to the Carolina Panthers.

Childress reportedly wanted to yank Favre for audible from a run to pass at the line of the scrimmage — not to protect his aging body as originally assumed. And yet Favre remained under center.

Favre getting his way? It sounds almost as shocking as Tom Brady having his way at a convention of supermodels.

What’s worse is that by making the spat public after the game, Favre gave reporters license to kick off a full-scale investigation into the Vikings’ operations. Turns out this wasn’t the first Favre-Childress disagreement and it’s not the first time that Favre has prevailed.

Now stories are leaking out that Childress went on an expletive-laden tirade at halftime and some players found it “laughable.”

Just like that Favre has managed to totally strip his coach – the one with whom he used to exchange friendly text messages and the only one for whom he wanted to play before the season – of all proper authority.

For an example of how locker room turmoil can derail a potentially great season see: Burress, Plaxico.

Suddenly it seems all too evident why the great Favre has presided over as many late-season meltdowns as he has Super Bowl wins.