Packers Favre Intends to Retire
By Randy Covitz, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Mar. 5–Brett Favre loved to throw the football. He’d sling it anywhere, anytime, in any situation.
Even at age 38, he played quarterback with the infectious enthusiasm of a rookie, pumping his fist after completing passes, even picking up receivers after touchdowns and carrying them across the field like a firefighter rescuing a child.
It’s why Favre never left the Green Bay Packers lineup for 16 years, and why he kept coming back season after season. Until now.
Favre — the symbol of a historic franchise since 1992, the only three-time MVP in NFL history and a surefire first-ballot Hall of Fame selection — apparently has retired.
Rather than make a formal announcement, he informed his agent, Bus Cook, late Monday night.
The Packers acknowledged Favre’s decision on Tuesday afternoon when coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson appeared at a news conference during which the club announced Favre “has informed us of his intention to retire.”
Favre has not spoken publicly, which might indicate he could leave the door open to returning.
“It’s a very complicated decision for him,” Thompson said. “He wrestled with it … In the past few years some people have criticized him for delaying decisions. He pours everything he has into being a professional football player, and that is a draining exercise.
“He has had one of the greatest careers in the history of the National Football League, and he is able to walk away from the game on his own terms … Not many players are able to do that.”
McCarthy said he and Favre spoke often after the season, “and the thing that he really kept coming back to is, physically he’s feeling better, but (his being) mentally tired was the constant. I was surprised (Monday) night when he told me. Everybody’s surprised. I think everybody to a man thought he was coming back.
“Last week was the first time, of all the conversations we’ve ever had, when the word ‘retirement’ was ever spoken.”
Favre, who led the Packers to consecutive Super Bowls in 1996-97, will go down in history as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever.
He threw more passes (8,758) and completed more passes (5,377) for more yards (61,655), more touchdowns (442) and more interceptions (288) than any NFL quarterback.
Most significant is that he won more games — 160 — than any quarterback, and his 253 consecutive starts (275 counting playoffs) rank second in NFL history to Minnesota defensive end Jim Marshall’s 270 straight regular-season starts.
“The numbers are going to show that Brett is statistically the best quarterback to play the game because of so many years of production,” said former NFL coach Steve Mariucci, Favre’s first quarterbacks coach at Green Bay. “However, the way I look at it, which one is the most important statistic? Touchdown passes, completions, (passer) rating?
“The most important statistic that Brett can be proud of is the most wins, because whatever style of quarterback you have, you want your quarterback to win games for you. Brett’s done more of that than any quarterback who played the game.”
For the last several years, Favre contemplated retirement after each offseason, especially after the 2005 and 2006 seasons when the Packers missed the playoffs. The Packers even drafted quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the first round in 2005 in anticipation of Favre’s retirement.
Favre tied a career low for a full season with 18 touchdown passes in 2006, and his 47 interceptions in 2005-06 were the most for him in consecutive seasons.
But Favre responded to McCarthy’s emphasis on short, high-percentage passes last season and guided a young Packers team to a 13-3 record, just one game from the Super Bowl. Favre posted a career-best completion percentage of 66.5 while throwing for 4,155 yards, 28 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions last season.
Favre’s last appearance in Kansas City was Nov. 4, when he passed for 360 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-22 win over the Chiefs. The victory enabled Favre to join Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks ever to defeat all 31 other teams.
“Not surprisingly, at 38 years old, he still had the talent to beat anyone in the National Football League,” Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson said.
“More importantly, Brett Favre has played this game with great professionalism, integrity and a rare passion that belied his chronological age.”
Favre’s career also was marked by some off-field troubles and tragedy. He battled an addiction to painkillers and spent time in 1996 at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka. His father, Irvin, died suddenly in December 2003, and Favre memorably threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns in a win at Oakland the following day.
His wife, Deanna, has survived breast cancer and mourned the death of her brother in an all-terrain vehicle accident.
Favre, who played at Southern Mississippi, entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 1991. He was active for three games, including the 1991 season opener at Kansas City, and appeared in two. He threw four passes, and two were intercepted.
He was traded to Green Bay for a first-round draft pick in February, 1992. He relieved an injured Don Majkowski in week three, and his 35-yard touchdown pass to Kitrick Taylor with 13 seconds left gave the Packers a 24-23 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Favre made his first start the next week against Pittsburgh and for 16 years never came out of the lineup, despite sprained ankles, broken thumbs, sore shoulders, the flu and other aches and pains.
“It was never for the money or for the records for Brett,” Mariucci said. “He played for his love of competition and wanted to be the best player for his team.”
To reach Randy Covitz, NFL writer for The Star, send e-mail to rcovitz@kcstar.com
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