The Fall of Favre: the making – and unmaking – of a flawed NFL gunslinger

A new documentary explores how the legend of one of the league's greatest quarterbacks endures, despite the multiple scandals that have engulfed him

Brett Favre was the man with the golden arm - a three-time NFL MVP who revived the Green Bay Packers while setting the league record for consecutive starts and all-time yardage, raising the standard for toughness and productivity at quarterback. It's his thumbs that let him down in the end. He could play through the thumb injuries - but allegedly not the urge to send lewd text messages to a staff member at the New York Jets, or the digital impulses that would tie him to allegations over a $94m welfare scandal in his home state of Mississippi.

Are people in these positions above the law?" Rebecca Gitlitz wonders. Have they been told so many times that whatever they do they can get away with it? Stuff like that, where history repeats itself, I wanted to see how that happens."