Football Season Is Over: 2011 Officially Begins

In the final insult to a completely humiliating season for Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. It's their fourth SB title, and it took Packers QB Aaron Rodgers three years to win one, as many as Favre had in his entire career. Rodgers, unlike Favre, also won the game's MVP award, passing for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns. The curse of the Lutefisk continues...

The game was watched by a record 111 million in the US, 4.5 million more than last year's game and 5 million more than the final episode of M*A*S*H. Probably the coolest ad: a young boy dressed like Darth Vader trying to use The Force to open a 2012 Volkswagen Passat.

The NFL changed things around this year, presenting all the season best awards during the week. Here's the winners:

MVP: Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Offensive Player of the Year: Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Defensive Player of the Year: Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions
Coach of the Year: Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Comeback of the Year: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles

And finally, the Hall of Fame picks: modern era players Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Richard Dent and Shannon Sharpe, NFL Films founder Ed Sabol and senior picks Chris Hanburger and Les Richter. A good list, though it contains some snubs: Faulk got in over running backs Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martin, wide receivers Chris Carter and Tim Brown were left out, and five time Super Bowl champ Charles Haley failed to make the cut. And then there's Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler and punter Ray Guy, the two most offensive long-term snubs from Canton...

Sadly, Favre’s streak ends with little fanfare

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=ApfRyDUzadesxy2wXegEZI9DubYF?slug=dw-favresits121310

Sadly, Favre’s streak ends with little fanfare
Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
12-13-10

DETROIT – Talked out of another retirement in August, Brett Favre found a public that had long tired of his summer dramas. He found in his return to the Minnesota Vikings a receiving corps that was battered, a defense that was defenseless and a losing streak he couldn’t fix.

He found a coach he couldn’t coexist with (Brad Childress was fired by midseason). He found Randy Moss(notes), for a month. He found a body that couldn’t heal like it once did. He found an off-field scandal that was more humiliating than his most ill-fated interception. He found a home stadium with a collapsed roof.


And finally Brett Favre found himself here, on a bizarre, bitter cold night in snow-packed Detroit, in front of a two-thirds full stadium with the Vikings logo hastily painted over the Detroit Lion.

He found himself on the sideline, in black workout pants, a black T-shirt and a purple ski hat watching the start of an NFL game for the first time since Sept. 13, 1992. It ended the NFL-record ironman streak at 297 regular-season games (321 if you count the playoffs).

In 1939, not two miles from here at the old Briggs Stadium, the New York Yankees’ Lou Gehrig benched himself, ending baseball’s then-record 2,130 consecutive game mark. Seventy-one years later, Favre essentially did the same by declaring himself unfit to play.

“I’ve played through a lot of stuff,” he said softly postgame, a 21-3 Giants victory over the listless Vikings. “This is something different.”

Favre claimed he’d never envisioned how the streak would end, but this certainly couldn’t have been it. Both metaphorically and meteorologically it had all caved in on him this season.

Maybe he figured it would’ve happened back in Green Bay, when he was beloved by Packers fans and he could’ve taken a rollicking curtain call. Or maybe it would’ve been during a promising season where a one-game injury couldn’t quiet the promise of a potential Super Bowl. Or maybe it would’ve never come at all and Favre could’ve just happily mowed his lawn back in Mississippi, grinning that generations of NFL linebackers never could get him.

Instead a Buffalo Bill named Arthur Moats did, nailing Favre last Sunday and leaving his shoulder hurt and his hands tingling. All week Favre kept expecting his health to improve, kept figuring he’d be out there ready to play.

“I had broken my foot and walked in a boot,” he said of one injury. “I broke my thumb and ended up playing the best nine-, 10-week stretch of my career,” he said of another.

This was different, though. This was the end. His website was selling commemorative items celebrating the streak before kickoff. He spent the game casually talking on the sideline. There was little reaction from the neutral site crowd of 45,910, lured in by free tickets and a heated Ford Field.

With Favre, the end was just the end. Quiet. Uneventful. Passionless.

For a quarterback that has never been any of those things, that, perhaps more than anything, was the surprise.

“Today it wasn’t all of a sudden a flood of emotions, memories,” he said.

Favre couldn’t commit to playing again. He’s sure to call it quits for good at season’s end – three more games. He said he won’t play if he can’t feel his hand. He hadn’t thought about whether or not he’d stick around the team if he has to shut it down. The NFL still hasn’t ruled on a potential sexual harassment case – and would likely welcome his retirement.

Brett Favre shares a moment with the Giants' Eli Manning after New York beat Minnesota in Detroit. It was the first time since 1992 that Brett Favre missed a start.

The Vikings are a horrible 5-8, their performance Monday so spiritless that tight end Visanthe Shiancoe(notes) teared up in the locker room discussing the embarrassment. The season has no hope, plenty of misery.

Nearby Favre sat at his locker eating a slice of pepperoni from Bosco Pizza (“Quality Since 1988”). He’d showered postgame and then grimaced as he slipped a T-shirt and olive green sweater over his head. His No. 4 Viking equipment bag sat in front of his locker, unzipped and untouched. There had never really been a chance he would play.

He has gray hair, looks bored and actually sounded concerned about how all these NFL beatings are going to affect him in retirement.

From the outside, this entire season has been a disaster and this was a fitting conclusion.

A year ago he was the kid who wouldn’t grow up, leading a wild locker room playoff victory celebration by singing the joke song “Pants on the Ground.” Today, that’s just a punch line. He couldn’t even be hurt in peace – the Internet was full of conspiracy theories and jokes.

In the end, nothing’s the same.

“Not at all,” he said when asked if he regretted returning. “I knew coming in there was nothing left to prove. I knew duplicating what we did last year was going to be very difficult.”

He wasn’t making this season out to be better than it was. It was a gamble he admitted. The chance he might regret not giving it one more try had sucked him in, he said. He went to the wall. It didn’t budge when he hit it. Most players would be forgiven for trying. Favre has apparently used up his goodwill with many fans, who reveled in his failure, enjoyed watching his perceived ego do him in.

“[I heard people say] ‘Hate for the streak to end like this,’” Favre said. “End like what? It’s been a great run.”

For years he’d been one of the NFL’s most popular players, this dashing, daring quarterback up in Green Bay. The streak should say enough about him. In a sport defined by toughness, he might be the toughest of them all. Only then came the annual tearful retirements; the test of wills; the text messages. He somehow became a polarizing figure. Maybe it was his true self finally revealed. Maybe it was society’s interest in tearing apart its heroes.

In 1939, when Gehrig sat for the first time in years, the Detroit crowd gave him a standing ovation as he sat slumped in the dugout, his eyes welling with tears.

There was no such touching moment for Brett Favre. There was no such heartfelt gesture. The atmosphere was too sterile, the soap opera too fresh, the hero too modern.

Brett Favre’s streak just ended.

After all the glory and all the games, he just returned to the depressed locker room of a bad football team, grabbed his jacket and headed out into the cold, cold night air.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. He is the co-author of the new book "Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series."

Favre and a Battering by Fate

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/favre-and-a-battering-by-fate/

January 29, 2010
Favre and a Battering by Fate
By LARRY CANALE

Vikings quarterback Brett Favre during the loss to the Saints, and Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle after being sacked and throwing an interception in 1964 against the Steelers.
Larry Canale is a columnist at Tuff Stuff’s Sports Collectors Monthly and editor in chief of the monthly newsletter Antiques Roadshow Insider (insert your own joke about Brett Favre being an antique).

NEW ORLEANS, JAN. 24 (AP) — With 15 seconds left on the clock and the score tied at 28, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre rolled to his right on a badly sprained ankle and fired an 8-yard sideline pass to Bernard Berrian, setting the stage for Ryan Longwell’s game-winning 47-yard field goal. The dramatic finish to a wild and violent battle in New Orleans sent the Vikings to their first Super Bowl since 1976. Favre, despite being flattened time and again by a defense determined to punish the 40-year-old, cemented his status as a master of come-from-behind wins, leading the Vikings to 10 points in the game’s final 4 minutes and 58 seconds….

That’s how a reporter’s lead paragraph might have sounded if things had played out just a little bit differently during those final 19 seconds in New Orleans on Sunday. It’s not hard to imagine that in some alternate universe out there, Brett Favre was a hero in a Vikings win over the Saints — that instead of throwing an across-the-body pass downfield, he flipped an easy toss to Berrian, hitting him right between the numbers. In this alternate universe, Berrian caught the ol’ pigskin and stepped out of bounds, and then Longwell came in and split the uprights. And the Vikings celebrated.

But for Vikings and Favre fans, reality has been an enemy, so excuse us for still feeling numb several days later. I don’t think the numbness will ever go away. It’ll be harder to cope with this loss than even the 2007 N.F.C. championship heartbreaker that Favre and the Packers suffered at the hands of the Giants. That one was a 9.9 on a pain scale of 10. This one is an 11.

If you’ve followed Favre for 18 or 19 years and enjoyed the wild ups and downs in his career, you were rooting harder for him during the Saints game than you ever have. He was pummeled and beaten and, yes, hammered with cheap shots a few times (it’s all there in the game clips.)

But he kept staggering back to his feet. He was as game as ever, and he would not quit. He played amazingly well, too. As the would-be game-winning drive unfolded, you had to be thinking, “What a perfect curtain call for Brett Favre. He was masterful all season, and now… he’s zeroing in on another Super Bowl.”

Ah, but the fates would not allow. And really, fate does seem at play here, doesn’t it? At least a little? Think about it: Despite the fumbles, and despite the fact that the Vikings’ offensive line was less than adequate, and despite the end-zone kickoffs by the Saints that made Percy Harvin a non-factor on special teams, and despite a number of controversial calls and non-calls by the officials, and despite Drew Brees playing just big enough to score when it mattered, and despite the LOUD omnipresence of the Saints’ 12th man (the crowd), and despite Coach Brad Childress’s own 12th man (sent into the huddle just before Favre’s second interception), the stars were actually aligning for Minnesota. Yep, despite all those negatives, the Vikings tied the score with five minutes left, stuffed New Orleans and got the ball back, then drove to the outer reaches of field-goal range. A classic Favre spiral to Berrian and we’d have seen Longwell trotting out to kick the game-winner.

Favre has thrown more than 10,000 passes in the N.F.L., including playoffs, and a toss to Berrian would have been among his easiest. But he looked left instead of right and locked in on his favorite target, Sidney Rice. Favre is a master of progression reads; he’s usually dead-on when it comes to finding the open man, and he doesn’t care whether it’s a star wideout, a backup tight end or a fullback. But on that last throw against the Saints, he missed his man.

A coin toss, a couple of completed passes and penalties, and a field goal later, the Saints were celebrating. Was it fate? Did the gods of football predetermine the outcome? Was it just supposed to be this way, no matter how cruel it seems for Favre and the Vikings?

As a kid, I loved reading about football history and studying black-and-white images of great players from the past. One photograph has always stuck in my mind: Y.A. Tittle on his knees, blood dripping down his forehead, after losing a game in 1964. I was never a Giants fan, but I always found that photograph very moving, and couldn’t help but feel bad for Tittle. For him, fate meant 17 years of pro football, numerous passing records, and two M.V.P.’s, but no championships. Favre at least has a Super Bowl ring, but watching him get brutalized by the Saints made me think of the Tittle photograph, which is widely known as “The Agony of Defeat.”

“Agony” found Favre last Sunday, and I’m guessing it hurts a lot more than the bruises and welts and sprains the Saints administered. It’s painful for his fans, too. And let’s be honest: the thought of an alternate universe doesn’t do a thing to ease the pain. It might be the same universe where Bill Buckner corralled Mookie Wilson’s ground ball to ice the 1986 World Series, and where Earl Morrall found Jimmy Orr wide open in the end zone just before halftime and changed the course of Super Bowl III, and where Mickey Mantle stepped around, not on, the Yankee Stadium drain pipe cover in the 1951 World Series and spared himself a serious knee injury. But it doesn’t help a bit.

Besides, who’s to say Bernard Berrian wouldn’t have dropped the pass Favre should have thrown, or that Ryan Longwell wouldn’t have shanked a last-second field-goal attempt, or that the Saints wouldn’t have blocked it? We’ll never know. And that just may be the biggest source of agony. If you’re a sports fan, you know the feeling from somewhere along the line, right?

As for fate, Favre fans and Vikings followers can only hope it’s got a make-good planned for next season….

Larry is also the author of several sports-related books, including The Boys of Spring and Mickey Mantle: The Yankee Years

Silver Lining for Vikings Fans (Politically)

by Dave Zirin

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/521374/silver_lining_for_vikings_fans_politically

This is a day to empathize with the agony amongst the long-suffering fans of the Minnesota Vikings. With a trip to the Super Bowl in their buttery grasp, they fumbled it all away. In a game they largely dominated from start-to-finish, the Vikes lost in overtime to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game, 31-28. Miscues, interceptions, and some questionable calls will have Vikings Nation asking "what if" for the next nine months.

Yes, there is misery in Minnesota. But there is also a silver lining, and I'm not talking about the joy in Green Bay at the spectacular fall of Minnesota QB Brett Favre. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was locked and loaded to arrive at the Minnesota State Legislature on February 4 - three days before the Super Bowl - to press for a new $1 billion stadium with $700 million to be paid by the taxpayers. The Vikings, like many teams, is holding up the specter of moving the franchise to Los Angeles if they don't get a nine-figure welfare check. With the state's phony populist absentee governor Tim "Glass Jaw" Pawlenty saying little more than, "We have to keep the Vikings no matter what," Wilf was ready to roll the state's taxpayers. But now that the team has failed to reach the Big Game, the wind is out of Wilf's sails and Zygi is no longer coated with stardust. This isn't to say that Wilf won't emerge triumphant, but without the team in the Super Bowl, it's much more apparent that he will have a fight on his hands.

As Minnesota resident and dogged stadium opponent Willard Shapira wrote, "Most communities around the U.S. have caved in to such outrageous demands but socially concerned Minnesotans are fighting the Vikings tooth and nail. Others around the U.S. battling big-money and establishment power politics would take heart from a public victory over the Vikings and their gang of arrogant, plutocratic conspirators in business, politics and the media."

Remember that Minnesotans repeatedly rejected the Twins billionaire owner Carl Pohlad's efforts to get a new baseball stadium on the public dime. Despite their votes, Pawlenty rammed the $500 million facility through the legislature and it opens for business this spring. Now the owner called "the Big Bad Wilf" wants his piece of the public pie, recession be damned. The Vikings failure to make the Super Bowl makes his effort far more perilous.

On the flip side, and ever so ironically, New Orleans first trip to the Super Bowl makes it a near impossibility for the Saints owners, the Benson family, to fulfill their pre-Katrina dreams of moving their franchise to the City of Angels. If they made that move, I'm convinced that the Crescent City would implode with grief. Now, as a Super Bowl team, that move becomes a political impossibility.

Therefore in one tense contest to see who would ascend to the Super Bowl, two sets of owners saw their most treasured dreams to burn tax payers and break hearts go up in smoke. That's something all fans should cheer. Even in Minnesota.

Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.

Peyton Manning wins record 4th AP MVP

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflmvp

Peyton Manning wins record 4th AP MVP
By BARRY WILNER, AP Football Writer
1-9-10

NEW YORK (AP)—Maybe the award should be renamed Most Valuable Peyton.

Peyton Manning became the first player to win The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player honors four times. The Indianapolis Colts’ sensational quarterback romped to the award Saturday in balloting by 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league.

He received 39 1/2 votes to 7 1/2 for Drew Brees of New Orleans. Only four players — all quarterbacks—earned votes. The other two were Philip Rivers of San Diego (2) and Brett Favre of Minnesota (1).

Manning also won in 2003, 2004 and 2008, breaking a tie with Favre at three MVPs.

“I’m very humbled and grateful to be honored with this award and I really feel like it is a reflection of our team,” said Manning, who guided the Colts to a 14-0 record before they rested starters in the second half of two games and finished 14-2.

“I have to believe that starting 14-0 and having seven comeback wins has a lot to do with this award coming our way, and I’m very grateful to all the players and the coaches and our fans, who were a big part of it. There were a number of other extremely deserving candidates.”

The Colts play in the divisional round next week and have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Super Bowl is Feb. 7 in Miami, the same place they won it three years ago.

Manning threw for 4,500 and 33 touchdowns this season. Perhaps most impressive, he led the Colts to all those comeback victories. The 33-year-old quarterback has started every game in his career, 192 in the regular season and 15 in the playoffs.

He is durable and dynamic, dependable and decisive. In other words, most valuable.

“He’s been such a highly accomplished performer year in and year out. Just when you think you’ve seen his best, he improves upon it,” said Jim Caldwell, who succeeded Tony Dungy as coach and benefited from the same kind of performances Manning gave Dungy. “This year is one of those in terms of when you look at his numbers and how he’s been able to play consistently well over a long period of time. It’s been remarkable.

“I think a lot of it has to do with his drive. He just has an innate sort of will to excel. He never gets bored with it. That, I think, is highly unusual.”

Manning joined the truly elite of team sports: Wayne Gretzky (9), Barry Bonds (7) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), the leaders for MVP awards in their sports.

“I’m not comfortable having my name on that list or drawing comparisons to those guys,” Manning said Saturday. “I think all of those people would probably echo the sentiments that I had before about being very humbled, especially in football which I think is the ultimate team game.”

Manning, the 2007 Super Bowl MVP when he won his only league championship, noted the support and stability he’s enjoyed in his career.

“I’ve been the beneficiary of having the same owner, the same team president all four times,” he said. “I’ve received great coaching from our head coaches and assistants and a number of different teammates who have all had a huge impact on me.”

But even when Dungy turned over the coaching to Caldwell last year, Manning and the Colts adapted.

“This offseason brought more change than any other year around here,” he said. “We have had that consistency till this year, with losing a head coach and Marvin (Harrison), sort of replacing by committee with a group of young receivers. I think dealing with those changes says a lot.”

Manning lost his longtime favorite receiver, Harrison, this season. Harrison’s replacement, Anthony Gonzalez(notes), went down with a right knee injury in the opener.

Manning simply turned to his latest fave, Reggie Wayne, who had 100 catches for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns. And to Dallas Clark, who joined Tony Gonzalez as the only tight ends with 100 receptions in a season when he grabbed exactly that many for 1,106 yards and 10 scores.

Plus, Austin Collie tied for the rookie lead in receptions with 60 and scored seven times. Pierre Garcon, nurtured in dozens of passing sessions with Manning, developed into a prime deep threat and averaged 16.3 yards on 47 catches, with four TDs.

“What he’s been able to do this year with Pierre and Austin—and obviously Dallas had a year that will go down in the record books,” linebacker and defensive captain Gary Brackett(notes) said. “And I think it really says something when you can work young guys like that.”

AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this story.

Vikings' Favre embarrasses Thompson, Packers

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10175662/Vikings'-Favre-embarrasses-Thompson,-Packers

Vikings' Favre embarrasses Thompson, Packers
by Alex Marvez
Alex Marvez is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com. He's covered the NFL for the past 15 seasons as a beat writer and is the former president of the Pro Football Writers of America.
October 6, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS - This was the matchup Green Bay never wanted to happen.

Now we know why.

Losing to a hated division rival is painful enough. Being tormented by a Packers legend is an outright embarrassment to the franchise.

Brett Favre got what he wanted.

There is no greater revenge that Favre could have personally extracted on Packers general manager Ted Thompson than the humiliation he delivered Monday night. Wearing a throwback Minnesota Vikings jersey, Favre turned the clock back to the days when he was winning three NFL Most Valuable Player awards in Green Bay before being shipped out of town.

Favre coolly channeled the inner rage toward how his 16-season Packers tenure ended into one of the most rewarding performances in a Hall of Fame career. A 271-yard, three-touchdown effort paced Minnesota's 30-23 home victory.

Just like during the week preceding the game, Favre tried downplaying the personal satisfaction of sticking it to the Packers. That's OK. Favre's teammates spilled the beans on what this game meant to him.

"Just the determination in his eyes, you could tell this was a little extra," Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said.

Peterson then laughed and said, "It wasn't just another game. We can admit that now."

The reason dates back to summer of 2008 when Favre decided to emerge from his first retirement. The Packers had vigorously tried to keep Favre from playing in Minnesota once it became clear the Vikings had interest and Green Bay was moving on with Aaron Rodgers as its starting quarterback. Packers management first tried persuading Favre to stay retired with a lucrative post-football endorsement deal. When that didn't work, Thompson refused to trade Favre to Minnesota and instead dealt him to the New York Jets. Thompson even included language that required New York to provide Green Bay heavy draft-pick compensation if Favre was ever sent to the Vikings.

A bitter Favre took verbal shots at Thompson, a good man who was in a tough spot because of the quarterback's offseason waffling and the much-younger Rodgers being ready to play. Favre never called Rodgers to offer advice on trying to fill his giant shoes. And as first reported by FOXSports.com NFL insider Jay Glazer, Favre spilled secrets about Green Bay to Detroit during a telephone conversation before a 2008 early-season game.

But the most harmful thing he did to the Packers? Favre found a way to Minnesota even if it was one season late. Favre and his agent shrewdly negotiated his outright release from the Jets after New York selected replacement quarterback Mark Sanchez in April's draft. That cleared the way for Favre to do the unthinkable for Packers faithful: Come out of retirement again to wear purple, white and yellow.

"I know there are Packers fans out there who like me and there are those who are unhappy," Favre said during his postgame news conference. "I can understand how they feel."

Favre, though, clearly has no remorse about extending his NFL career elsewhere.

"As long as the guys in the locker room give me a good chance to win, that's all that really matters," Favre said.

With the Vikings at 4-0, it's obvious they do.

Green Bay's defense contained star Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (55 yards on 25 carries) but had no answer for a familiar face. Early in the third quarter, Favre's massive offensive line provided almost eight seconds of protection on a drop-back that he converted into a 25-yard completion to tight end Jeff Dugan. On the next snap, Favre fooled cornerback Al Harris with a pump-fake. That freed wide receiver Bernard Berrian down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown strike as a trailing Harris pointed at Packers safety Derrick Martin bemoaning the lack of coverage help.

The play that put Minnesota up 28-14 was just a small part of a game-long quarterback clinic. Despite saying he was "about as nervous as I've ever been before a game going into this one," Favre started hot and stayed that way. He connected on all five of his passing attempts on Minnesota's opening drive, capping it with a 1-yard touchdown throw. Favre started the play by rolling right but fullback Naufahu Tahi was covered. Favre, though, didn't hesitate. He stopped and fired back across the field to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe for the score.

A scene Green Bay knows all too well followed: A Favre touchdown celebration. He ran around wildly, stuck his finger in the air and leapt for a body-bump with kicker Ryan Longwell.

So much for the foot injury that limited Favre in last week's practices.

Favre was at it again in the second quarter after Green Bay had tied the score at 7. On third-and-11 from the Packers 14-yard line, Favre dropped back and pumped to his left. He then avoided Green Bay's pass rush by shifting slightly to the right before gunning a touchdown pass down the middle to wide receiver Sidney Rice.

So much for concerns about Favre's arm strength after offseason biceps surgery.

The Packers countered with their second big play of the game, a strip of Peterson and 42-yard fumble return for a touchdown by rookie linebacker Clay Matthews. Peterson, though, was soon making amends with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. That's because Favre quickly marched Minnesota downfield with completions of 16, 19 and 43 yards to Rice, running back Chester Taylor and rookie wideout Percy Harvin. By the time he was done Monday night, Favre had connected with eight receivers.

So much for Favre needing more "bonding" with his targets.

In fact, just about everything Favre has done in 2009 defies conventional NFL wisdom. Nobody returns from two separate retirements. Players — especially quarterbacks — are supposed to need offseason programs for conditioning, mastery of the playbook and bonding with teammates. Plus, Favre's wishy-washy behavior until deciding to return midway through training camp would have alienated other coaches without nearly as much patience — and perhaps desperation — as Minnesota's Brad Childress.

Entering the game, Favre was more caretaker than difference-maker in Minnesota's offense. His average per completion (6.0 yards) was Favre's lowest in 18 seasons. Favre's lack of mobility also was exposed with nine sacks through three contests.

But while not as spry, Favre — who turns 40 Saturday — also is playing smarter football than at maybe any other point in his NFL career. The risk-taking that led to so many roller-coaster Favre moments — mostly good, some bad — is greatly tempered. An efficient Favre has only one interception through four games, his lowest total ever as an NFL starter.

The old Favre magic in crunch time is still there as well. Favre proved that eight days earlier when hitting Greg Lewis on an improbable game-winning touchdown pass against San Francisco.

He didn't need any late heroics this time. A Jared Allen-led defense sacked Rodgers eight times, notched one safety and forced two turnovers that were converted to touchdowns. The Packers (2-2) also doomed themselves by failing to convert on three consecutive plays from the Vikings 1 late in the third quarter. A fourth-down drop by tight end Donald Lee essentially sealed Green Bay's fate despite a rally that fell short in the final minute.

"We wanted to make a statement," Packers linebacker Aaron Kampman said. "It's a frustrating deal. We have to fix this team."

Favre didn't take any extra joy publicly in helping to break the Packers, a team he will be facing again Nov. 1 at Lambeau Field in what will be another emotionally charged encounter. But when asked whether he wanted to keep the football from the final snap that reserve quarterback Sage Rosenfels salvaged from the referee, Favre didn't decline the gift.

Rather than taking a spot on Favre's mantle, the ball actually belongs in the Hall of Fame. Favre is now the first starting quarterback in NFL history to defeat all 32 NFL teams — a scenario Thompson made possible by cutting ties with a player whose bust will be in Canton soon enough.

Manning Named MVP

http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/nflnewsfeed/2009/01/manning-named-mvp.html

Manning Named MVP
By Mark Maske
January 2, 2009

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was named the NFL's most valuable player today by the Associated Press.

Manning also won the award in 2003 and 2004 and joins New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre as the league's only three-time MVPs. Favre won his awards while with the Green Bay Packers.

Each of the quarterbacks shared the award once, Manning with Steve McNair in 2003 and Favre with Barry Sanders in 1997. Favre's other two awards came in 1995 and '96.

Manning received 32 votes in balloting of media members to far outdistance Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington and Atlanta Falcons tailback Michael Turner, who finished tied for second with four votes each.

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Minnesota Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson got three votes apiece. San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers received two votes, and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and Tennessee Titans rookie tailback Chris Johnson each got one.

Manning and the Colts got off to a sluggish start this season after Manning underwent preseason knee surgery. The Colts lost four of their first seven games. But they won their final nine games of the season to secure a playoff spot, and Manning led the way. He threw 27 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions this season while passing for 4,002 yards, and he was the league's fifth-rated passer.

Favre gives Jets a chance in AFC

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/09/07/banks.insider.jets.dolphins/

Sunday September 7, 2008
Don Banks
INSIDE THE NFL
Favre gives Jets a chance in AFC

Story Highlights
Despite the win, Favre is clearly still adjusting to the Jets
He made the same kind of plays we've seen him make for years
Favre sounds like he knows that he is still far from his best

Brett Favre made some of his signature throws -- and celebrations -- in his debut.
Bob Rosato/SI

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- After 16 seasons in Green Bay, Brett Favre admits there are still times he walks into the New York Jets huddle and has his mind go blank as he's grasping for the necessary terminology required to make the next call.

Rather than seem indecisive or, worse yet, lost, Favre has already developed a go-to fallback for just such an occurrence.

"A couple of times I just winged it and told the guys, 'Same play,' and then I said, 'OK, ready, break,' '' said Favre after making his Jets regular-season debut at Dolphin Stadium a winning one, 20-14 over Miami. "And they were like, 'Same play what?' ''

Best I can tell from watching on Sunday, it's the same play all right. In every way. The uniform might be a slightly different shade of green, but it's the same old Brett Favre, making the same old Brett Favre-type plays. Some great, some ugly, and some entirely unconventional and ill-advised. Like that 22-yard, fourth-and-13 touchdown pass that Favre lobbed up there to Jets receiver Chansi Stuckey in the second quarter, putting enough air under the ball to invite a fair catch call and just maybe draw a delay of game penalty.

"I didn't think he had a chance in hell of catching it,'' Favre said of Stuckey, who went up for it like it was a jump ball in basketball, pulling it down uncontested a half yard into the end zone. "The throw, I don't know what it looked like. It was like a shot put. I can't believe it went as far as it did. I tried to throw it to where somebody was and just give someone a chance.''

But what we really all walked away with Sunday after watching Favre is the realization that he indeed does give his Jets a chance. A chance to win in the AFC East, especially now that the mighty Patriots might be without reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady. A chance to resurrect head coach Eric Mangini's third-year program, which nosedived to 4-12 last year after such a promising beginning in 2006.

As long as Favre is here, and he's making the same kind of plays we've been watching him make since the first Clinton administration, the Jets are going to believe they have a chance. Let's face it: Ugly as it was at times, this was the biggest victory for a Jets quarterback in Miami since Joe Namath backed up his mouth in Super Bowl III. The Jets-Dolphins haven't meant too much lately, but Favre's presence made this one memorable.

"He has the ability to make some things happen down the field that are impressive,'' said Mangini after getting his initial four-quarter firsthand look at the high-wire act that Favre's game can be at times. "Sometimes the pocket is really firm and he's able to sit back and let it go. And there are times when he creates, and other people have to respond to that creation.''

Favre's first real creation as a Jet came not even seven minutes into the season, when his exquisite play-action fake hoodwinked the Miami defense and gave receiver Jerricho Cotchery time to get behind everyone in the Dolphins secondary while waiting to pull down his 56-yard touchdown reception. That play gave New York the early 7-0 lead and was the biggest play of Favre's 15-of-22, 194-yard passing day.

"I thought I overthrew him, but obviously I didn't,'' Favre said of Cotchery, who had to slow up to catch the ball in stride inside the Miami 10. "He's a deceptive player. He's always around the ball and the guy can make plays. He's got deceptive speed and I hope he keeps deceiving people.''

Listening to Favre in the postgame, I got the sense that he feels like he's deceiving people a bit of late. He knows he's far from at his best, and his struggle to master the offense is wearisome at times. But he's 1-0, and that makes his tortuous unretirement process worth it all. At least for now.

"It was ugly at times, but a win is a win,'' said Favre, who did not throw an interception, lost one of his two fumbles and wound up with those two touchdown passes and a 125.9 passer rating on the day. "I'd be lying if I stood here and told you that I feel confident in the passing offense right now. It's from my end and what I need to study. We made some mistakes that I think were a result of newness. But it's a big win.''

The newness factor, of course, will eventually wear off for Favre. And when it does, his Jets just might find themselves in the thick of things in their division. What a difference 48 hours has made in the AFC East, with Brady going down with a potential season-ending knee injury and the Bills getting Pro Bowl left offensive Jason Peters to finally report back to work.

Everything that we thought we knew when Brady was the one constant in the division now must be recalibrated. And who is better to take advantage of this unexpected opening than Favre and his Jets?

"I just found out about [Brady],'' Favre said. "That's terrible. I guess it's an ACL or something. They've always overcome injuries and things like that, but that's pretty difficult.''

Suddenly we're looking at Favre and the Jets as potentially more than just a nuisance to the feared Patriots. Oh, and did we mention who New York plays in its Week 2 home-opener at Giants Stadium? That would be New England, which overcame its shock on Sunday to squeeze past the Chiefs 17-10 in Foxboro.

Let the Jets handle the Matt Cassel-led Patriots next week, snapping their NFL-record 20-game regular-season winning streak, and Favre-mania will really take off in New York. A Week 3 trip to San Diego looms, but with a home game against Arizona awaiting them in Week 4, the Jets very possibly could hit their Week 5 bye at 3-1 with a head of steam.

That's getting ahead of ourselves, of course. But Favre brings an undeniable swagger to a Jets team hungry to build an identity for itself. This was only the first step in that process, but it was an important one, even if the host Dolphins were 1-15 last year. Now that we've seen Favre play a real game as a Jet, the whole nasty business of how he left Green Bay is a little further away in our memories.

The last time we saw Favre play a meaningful game before Sunday, he was throwing an game-turning overtime interception to doom the Packers' Super Bowl chances, against the storybook New York Giants. Not quite nine months later, Favre was helping New York win it this time too, but as a member of the Jets. Which is why he came back to the NFL in the first place, he said, to help a team win again.

"Tomorrow morning I'll probably be going that I don't want to play, but I know that I've said that this is what it's all about,'' Favre said. "I've said from day one that I know I've made the right decision. I enjoy these guys. There's no guarantee what's going to happen for the rest of the year. But I hope can bring something to this team that I've brought to every team that I've played with. Whatever that may be, as long as it helps us win.''

On Sunday in sunny South Florida, Favre helped the Jets win the first game of their new and hopeful Favre era. With the same play we've always seen from No. 4. Some good, some bad, and some things we've never seen before.

Packers trade Brett Favre to N.Y. Jets

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2008-08-07-favre-traded_N.htm

Headed to Broadway: Packers trade Brett Favre to N.Y. Jets
8-7-8

The Brett Favre era is officially over in Green Bay.

The Green Bay Packers have confirmed they have traded the quarterback to the New York Jets. Favre had started the past 253 consecutive games for the Green Bay Packers.

The Packers did not release the terms of the trade. The Jets are believed to be sending a draft pick to the Packers, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, USA TODAY's sister publication.

Favre and the Packers have experienced a bitter divorce in the past two months since the quarterback, who retired in March, decided to unretire. The team was reluctant to take him back after it had embraced Aaron Rodgers as its next quarterback.

Brett Favre Graces Madden 09 Cover

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/04/brett-favre-gra.html

Brett Favre Graces Madden 09 Cover
By Susan Arendt April 25, 2008
Categories: Console Games

To celebrate twenty years on the virtual gridiron, this year's Madden won't feature a current football superstar, but instead is turning to an NFL legend: Former Green Bay Packer and There's Something About Mary star Brett Favre .

"Brett Favre is a perfect fit for the Madden NFL 09 cover, as he epitomizes everything the franchise has stood for the past 20 years - longevity, excellence, and a love of football," said Madden NFL 09's executive producer Dale Jackson.

Favre is certainly one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the NFL. He's destined for the Hall of Fame, is the only three-time MVP in the league, and finished his 17-year career as the NFL's all-time leader in touchdowns, completions, attempts, yards and wins. The man was good at his job, is what I'm saying.

At the moment, Favre is retired, but recently told the Biloxi Sun Herald that he could "very well be enticed" to come back and play. Athletes pictured on past covers of Madden have shown an uncanny knack for getting injured shortly after the game's release -- creating the legend of the "Madden curse" -- so perhaps Brett should just stay retired.

Madden NFL 09 is due out for just about everything except the PC on August 12.

Brett Favre's daring, dangerous brand of football

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2008-03-04-1901653630_x.htm

Brett Favre's daring, dangerous brand of football
By Dave Goldberg, AP Football Writer
3-4-8

Maybe Brett Favre wasn't the best quarterback in NFL history, although he was pretty close.
There was always a sense of danger - both to his Green Bay Packers and opponents - when Favre dropped back to pass, the ball often held in one hand while dodging defenders. "Gunslinger" was the word many coaches and players used upon hearing of his retirement Tuesday.

"You knew he was having fun when he played, and that made him fun to watch," said Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, who grew up in Wisconsin watching Favre.

Favre would throw across his body or underhanded - left- or right-handed to a receiver. His first completion as a Packer was to himself - deflected off an onrushing lineman.

Even last season, when at age 38 he threw for 4,155 yards and led the Packers to a 13-3 regular season and a berth in the NFC championship game, he could do those things that would make even his most ardent fans cringe.

In a loss to Chicago, Favre threw a game-turning interception that was all too typical: a toss across his body toward the inside of the field instead of out of bounds. It landed in the hands of the Bears' Brian Urlacher.

"I was trying to make something out of nothing," he said at the time, one reason why he retired with the career records both for touchdown passes (442) and interceptions (288).

In fact, his last NFL pass was an interception by the Giants' Corey Webster that set up the winning field goal in the NFC championship game. That sent New York, rather than Favre and the Packers, to the Super Bowl.

Favre played as if he were still a kid. He jumped up and down at a touchdown, hugging teammates. He even honored opponents, as he did in the final minutes of the final game of the 2001 season, taking a dive for Michael Strahan that gave Strahan the single-season sack record.

Most of all, he never forgot that for all the money and the accolades football is just a game.

"I would hope 20, 30 years from now, I'm remembered for something else besides records," Favre told The Associated Press last summer. "Whether I have them or don't have them. If that's the only way I'm remembered, apparently I didn't do something right or leave a good enough impression on the fans. ...

"I've never looked at myself as being a superstar or better than anyone else. Regardless of how much success I've had, it's never - to me, I've always looked at it and I tell some of these guys sometimes, I've always looked at it as such a bonus. I feel like my personality is my personality. Whether it's on the field or off the field, I really feel they're one in the same. To me it's just normal."

Where does Favre fit in history? The records say top 10.

His 253 consecutive starts are a record for quarterbacks - they extend to 275 counting the postseason and his two Super Bowl appearances. Many were played in pain, including a full season with what was probably a broken thumb.

He's also the only player to win three consecutive NFL MVP awards (1995-97). Among his contemporaries in an era of superb QBs, Joe Montana had two straight and so did Peyton Manning. Steve Young and Kurt Warner had two. John Elway won once, Tom Brady won for the first time last season and Troy Aikman had none.

Playing in an era of free agency and a salary cap, Favre never had anything like the crew Montana had with the 49ers team that won four titles between 1981 and 1990. Although he did benefit from the arrival in Green Bay of Reggie White, the first superstar free agent.

But White was defensive end. Favre had a revolving door of receivers: from Sterling Sharpe and Robert Brooks to Antonio Freeman and Mark Chmura through Driver, the best by far of a nondescript crew in the early part of this decade that had him contemplating retirement annually.

The irony of his retirement is that last season's group was the best in a decade: Driver augmented by second-year man Greg Jennings and rookie James Jones.

Back to those rankings: How to compare Favre to a John Unitas, let alone a Sammy Baugh or Sid Luckman from the prehistoric era? How to compare him to Manning or Aikman, straight dropback passers in different offenses? Or to Elway, probably the best athlete to play quarterback?

"You're judged by winning, and (Favre's) won more games than any other quarterback who has ever played," said Denver's Mike Shanahan, Elway's last coach.

The closest to Favre may be Montana and Young. They, like Favre, played in West Coast offenses. Mike Holmgren, Favre's first coach in Green Bay, mentored all three and is a disciple of Bill Walsh, who perfected a system invented by Sid Gillman.

Montana was the purest of the three, accurate to a fraction of an inch on his passes. Young was a scrambler with the skills of a running back. Favre had the strongest arm, but his scrambling was less to run than to escape and find someone to throw to: sidearm, underhand, left-handed, whatever.

But like all of them, he was a competitor most of all.

"Brett's enthusiasm and pure enjoyment of doing what he loved is what we will all remember," Steve Mariucci, one of his first quarterbacks coaches, said Tuesday.

Favre?

"I know when I leave the game, I'm going to miss it. I know that. I'm not going to sit here and say, when I leave, it's over and I felt like I've done everything there is to do," he said last summer. "I feel like I've given every ounce of energy I can give every single time I stepped on the field."

It's the best way to be remembered.
---
AP National Writer Nancy Armour contributed to this report.

Brett Favre's memorable moments

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=371815

Brett Favre's memorable moments
March 4, 2008
Associated Press

Here are some memorable moments from Brett Favre's career:

--Sept. 13, 1992, at Tampa Bay. Favre completes his first NFL pass -- to himself. A deflected pass lands in Favre's hands, and he is tackled for a 7-yard loss. Favre completes eight of 14 passes for 73 yards.

--Sept. 20, 1992, vs. Cincinnati at Lambeau Field. Replaces injured starter Don Majkowski in the first quarter, and never looks back. Favre leads two scoring drives in the final eight minutes of the game. His 35-yard touchdown pass to Kitrick Taylor with 13 seconds remaining gives the Packers a come-from-behind 24-23 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

--Nov. 15, 1992, vs. Philadelphia in Milwaukee. Despite sustaining a first-degree separation of his left shoulder early in the game, Favre leads the Packers to a come-from-behind 27-24 victory. Reggie White, then a defensive end for the Eagles, would later say the toughness Favre showed was a factor in his decision to sign with Green Bay as a free agent in the offseason.

--Jan. 8, 1994, at Detroit. With the Packers trailing 24-21 in the final minute of a Wild Card playoff game, Favre rolls to his left and throws across his body, completing a 40-yard pass to Sterling Sharpe on the other side of the field with 55 seconds remaining to give the Packers a 28-24 victory.

--Oct. 31, 1994, at Chicago. Playing with a severely bruised hip in a driving rainstorm at Soldier Field, Favre rushes for a career-high 58 yards -- including a 36-yard touchdown in the second quarter when Favre leaped over a Bears defender -- and leads the Packers to a 33-6 victory.

--Dec. 18, 1994, vs. Atlanta in Milwaukee. With the Packers needing a victory to keep their playoff chances alive, Favre's diving 9-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds left gives the Packers a 21-17 victory over the Falcons in the final football game at County Stadium.

--Sept. 11, 1995, at Chicago. Favre throws a 99-yard touchdown pass to Robert Brooks -- becoming only the eighth QB in league history to do so -- and the Packers beat the Bears 27-24.

--Nov. 12, 1995, vs. Chicago at Lambeau. Playing with a severely sprained left ankle that forced him to the bench in the previous week's game at Minnesota and would eventually require offseason surgery, Favre throws five touchdown passes in a 35-28 victory over the Bears.

--Dec. 24, 1995, vs. Pittsburgh at Lambeau. Favre rolls out and is hit hard by three Steelers defenders, forcing the Packers to call timeout and sending Favre to the sidelines coughing up blood. He returns to throw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Mark Chmura on the next play. The Packers' 24-19 victory clinches the division title.

--Jan. 6, 1996, at San Francisco. Favre completes 21 of 28 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers knock the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers out of the playoffs with a 27-17 victory.

--Jan. 4, 1997, vs. San Francisco at Lambeau. Playing in rough weather conditions, Favre completes only 11 of 15 passes for 79 yards, but the Packers roll to a 35-14 playoff victory over the 49ers.

--Jan. 12, 1997, vs. Carolina at Lambeau Field. Favre is 19-of-29 for 292 yards in the Packers' NFC Championship game victory over the Panthers, 30-13.

--Jan. 26, 1997. In Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome, Favre is 14-of-27 for 246 yards and no interceptions to beat the New England Patriots 35-21 -- the Packers' first championship in 29 years. Favre throws a 54-yard touchdown pass to Andre Rison on his first throw of the game. Later, he throws a Super Bowl-record 81-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman.

--Jan. 11, 1998, at San Francisco. Trudging through the mud in sloppy San Francisco, Favre is 16-of-27 for 222 yards and a touchdown as the Packers beat the 49ers 23-10 to advance to the Super Bowl for the second straight season, where they lose to the Denver Broncos 31-24.

--Dec. 3, 2001, at Jacksonville. Favre throws for 362 yards and three touchdowns, but wins with his feet. Favre's 6-yard touchdown run with 1:30 remaining -- his first rushing touchdown in three years -- gives the Packers a come-from-behind 28-21 victory.

--Nov. 2, 2003, at Minnesota. One game after breaking the thumb on his right hand, Favre throws three touchdowns in a 30-27 victory over the Vikings.

--Dec. 22, 2003, at Oakland. Playing on Monday Night Football the day after his father, Irvin, died, Favre is 22-of-30 for 399 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers beat the Oakland Raiders 41-7.

--Jan. 4, 2004, at Lambeau. Favre throws for 319 yards to get the Packers to overtime, and Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck -- Favre's former understudy -- proclaims after the coin flip that "We want the ball and we're gonna score!" They don't. Hasselbeck throws an interception that is returned for a touchdown and the Packers win 33-27 in overtime.

--Nov. 14, 2004, vs. Minnesota at Lambeau Field. Favre throws four touchdown passes in a game for the 18th time in his career, but the Vikings rally to tie the game with 1:20 remaining. Favre drives the Packers to a last-second field goal and a 34-31 victory.

--Dec. 31, 2006, at Chicago. Favre throws for 285 yards and a touchdown a 26-7 victory over the Bears, the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC. Favre gets choked up in a television interview after the game, leading some to believe he had played his final game. But after again mulling retirement, he decides to return.

--Sept. 30, 2007, at Minnesota. Favre throws his record-breaking 421st career touchdown pass to Greg Jennings, breaking Dan Marino's career record in a 23-16 victory.

--Oct. 29, 2007 at Denver. Favre throws an 82-yard touchdown to Greg Jennings on the first play from scrimmage in overtime, leading the Packers to a 19-13 victory.

--Jan. 12, 2008 vs. Seattle at Lambeau. Favre frolics in heavy snow showers, hitting on three touchdown passes -- and hitting wide receiver Donald Driver with a snowball in a 42-20 Packers playoff romp.

--Jan. 20, 2008 vs. New York Giants at Lambeau. Aside from a 90-yard touchdown to wide receiver Donald Driver, Favre generally struggles in subzero temperatures in the NFC Championship game. His interception in overtime sets up the Giants' game-winning field goal, and the Packers lose 23-20.

Favre decides to call it a career

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7870944/Favre-decides-to-call-it-a-career

Favre decides to call it a career
Associated Press
March 4, 2008

After flirting with retirement for years, Brett Favre means it this time. The Green Bay Packers quarterback quit after a 17-season career in which he dazzled fans with his grit, heart and rocket of an arm.

Hanging them up

Brett Favre
Green Bay Packers
Quarterback
G GS Comp Att Yds TD Int
257 253 5,377 8,758 61,655 442 288

The retirement was first reported by FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer.

"I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired," Favre said.

Tuesday's surprise move comes after the 38-year-old three-time MVP set several league records, including most career touchdown passes, in one of his most successful seasons.

Coach Mike McCarthy said Favre informed him of the decision by telephone Monday night.

"He said it was time for him to hang up the cleats," McCarthy said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "He's mentally tired, with all the little things that go into everyday preparation."

Favre's agent, Bus Cook, also learned of his decision Monday night.

"Nobody pushed Brett Favre out the door, but then nobody encouraged him not to go out that door, either," Cook told The Associated Press by phone from his Hattiesburg, Miss., office.

Packers general manager Ted Thompson thanked Favre for 16 years of wonderful memories with the team.

"His accomplishments are legendary," Thompson said. "And it's the passion with which he played that made everyone a Brett Favre fan."

The team hasn't said when Favre might address the media.

Favre led the Packers to the NFC championship game in January, but his interception in overtime set up the New York Giants' winning field goal.

"If I felt like coming back — and Deanna (Favre's wife) and I talked about this — the only way for me to be successful would be to win a Super Bowl," Favre said. "To go to the Super Bowl and lose, would almost be worse than anything else. Anything less than a Super Bowl win would be unsuccessful."

Last season, Favre broke Dan Marino's career records for most touchdown passes and most yards passing and John Elway's record for most career victories by a starting quarterback.

He retires with 5,377 career completions in 8,758 attempts for 61,655 yards, 442 touchdowns and 288 interceptions.

"He was the prototypical gun-slinger type," said Marv Levy, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach. "He's the type of guy where, 'Oh, what's he throwing into that crowd for?' But he had intuition, toughness, resilience."

Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman wondered if Favre's decision was final.

"As the season gets closer, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he changes his mind," said Aikman, a Fox analyst who played 12 years with the Dallas Cowboys.

The news stunned many.

"I was surprised when I heard it this morning," former Packers general manager Ron Wolf said. "He played with such a great passion. He must have figured he no longer had that passion, and it was time to get out."


Even Favre's teammates didn't see it coming.

"I just saw it come across the TV," Packers wide receiver Koren Robinson said, when reached on his cell phone by The Associated Press.

In his final season, Favre also extended his quarterback-record streak of consecutive regular-season starts to 253 games - illustrating his trademark toughness. Add the playoffs, and Favre's streak stands at 275.

In the past several offseasons, Favre's indecision about his football future became a winter tradition in Wisconsin, with Cheeseheads hanging on his every word.

Unlike after the 2006 season — when Favre choked up in a television interview as he walked off the field in Chicago, only to return once again — nearly everyone assumed he would be back next season.

It was a remarkable turnaround from 2005, Favre's final season under former head coach Mike Sherman, when he threw a career-worst 29 interceptions as the Packers went 4-12.

Surrounded by an underrated group of wide receivers who proved hard to tackle after the catch, Favre had a career-high completion percentage of 66.5. He threw for 4,155 yards, 28 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions.

Before the Packers' Jan. 12 divisional playoff game against Seattle, Favre told his hometown newspaper that he wasn't approaching the game as if it would be his last and was more optimistic than in years past about returning.

"For the first time in three years, I haven't thought this could be my last game," Favre told the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald. "I would like to continue longer."

But Favre finished the season on a sour note, struggling in subzero temperatures in a 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants in the NFC championship game.

Afterward, Favre was noncommittal on his future. McCarthy said he wanted Favre to take a step back from the season before making a decision.

Now he has — to walk away.

"The Packers owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude," Thompson said. "The uniqueness of Brett Favre his personality, charisma and love of the game - undoubtedly will leave him as one of the enduring figures in NFL history."

MATT DRUDGE IS GAY FOR TOM BRADY!!!

XXXXX KONFORMIST REPORT XXXXX SUN FEB 03 20088 XXXXX

EXCLUSIVE FROM THE KONFORMIST!!!
MUST CREDIT ROBERT STERLING & THE KONFORMIST!!!

MATT DRUDGE IS GAY FOR TOM BRADY!!!

If there were any questions before this season started if Tom Brady was truly a great quarterback or merely a good one on a great team, he pretty much silenced them. Finally given weapons at receiver (most notably Randy Moss, the best receiver in football over the past decade) that Peyton Manning long has had as his personal luxury, he had what would have to be the best season in NFL history by any quarterback, throwing for a record 50 touchdowns vs. only eight interceptions, leading the Patriots to an unprecedented 16-0 regular season. (The undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins only played a 14-game regular season.) He followed that up by completing 26 of 28 passes (a NFL record 92.9% completion percentage for a game) with 3 TDs in the AFC semifinals. And though he threw 3 interceptions in the AFC Championship game, he is the heavy favorite to win his 4th Super Bowl today against the New York Giants, which would tie him with Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana (AKA "The Greatest Quarterback of All-Time") for most Super Bowl wins ever by a QB. And its only his eighth season.

Okay, so I give Mr. Brady the deserved respect he's earned this season and his career, whether he wins today or not. One thing that has long puzzled me, though, is why Terrific Tom has long been so heavily featured on The Drudge Report. Granted, Brady is an incredible QB, and this has been an amazing season for both him and the Patriots. Still, even before this year, Brady has been heavily featured on the Drudge Report. This is odd because, well, Mr. Drudge has never seemed to be a sports-loving kind of guy. Indeed, aside from right-wing politics and White House blowjobs, the subjects that Drudge long has fixated on are Barbara Streisand, Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell, not to mention dishing out other Hollywood celebrity gossip.

Some would argue its politics: many of Drudge breathless posts about Brady have mentioned the possibility that he is privately a Republican. The problem with this explanation is, even if it is true, that would hardly make him unique. NFL quarterbacks are, for the most part, rich white jocks, a group of people that certainly lean to the right. Meanwhile, look at some of the names of great quarterbacks over the Drudge era: John Elway, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner (who certainly is an open right-wing poster boy) and Peyton Manning. None have received anywhere the amount of coverage on Drudge that Brady has, even before this season.

On closer examination, the Drudge posts on Brady being a closet Republican seem to be some sort of wish fulfillment. They resemble in style what a post by me would look like if I reported rumors that Jessica Alba has a weakness for underpaid conspiracy theorists in their late thirties. (Though Cash "The Luckiest Man on the Planet" Warren doesn't quite fit the bill.)

Which leads to another explanation: a decade ago, The Konformist became the first place to report the rampant West Hollywood rumors that Matt Drudge was gay. (The article was cleverly titled "Matt Drudge Is a Homo!!!" Boy, am I clever or what?) The rumors, though still not admitted as true by Drudge to pacify his reactionary audience, have since been confirmed by multiple sources, most notably David Brock in his book Blinded by the Right. That said, isn't the best explanation for the Drudge obsession with Brady nothing more than a homosexual celebrity crush?

Can Matt Drudge be blamed for being unable to resist the charms that have swept Gisele Bundchen off her feet? No, of course not. So our advice to Drudge: come out of the closet and interview Tommy in a wedding gown. After all, he's still looking for a permanent Mrs. Brady...

2007 Sportsman of the Year

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/magazine/specials/sportsman/2007/12/03/sportsman.2007/

2007 Sportsman of the Year
At 38, Brett Favre is having one of his finest seasons. But that is far from the Green Bay QB's best attribute
Posted: Tuesday December 4, 2007
By Alan Shipnuck

There is no happier place than Green Bay, Wis., on a Sunday evening after the Packers have won. The beer tastes better, the girls are even prettier, and few seem to notice the bite in the air. In a town defined by its team, civic temperament can be quantified on a scoreboard. A few weeks ago, in the moments after the Packers had defeated the Carolina Panthers 31-17 at Lambeau Field, the parking lot was alive with merriment. Kids in number 4 jerseys and GOT BRETT? sweatshirts chased footballs with reckless abandon, tailgaters handed out bratwurst right off the grill, and one optimistic gent tried to sweet-talk the more attractive passersby into adding to the impressive collection of donated bras he had strung up on a flagpole.

The epicenter of Green Bay's game-day good cheer is adjacent to Lambeau, just across Holmgren Way, a block over from Lombardi Avenue: Brett Favre's Steakhouse, located at 1004 Brett Favre Pass. The restaurant ("Where you are the MVP!") is a 20,000-square-foot temple to the Packers' quarterback, and following the Panthers game Favre's extended family had gathered in a private back room for a celebration of its own.

Brett's wife, Deanna, was there, looking glamorous in a long coat and high-heeled boots. Even before her memoir about beating breast cancer hit The New York Times's best-seller list, she was the second-biggest celebrity in Green Bay. Favre's mother, Bonita, was holding court at one of the half-dozen tables, her throaty laugh audible over the din. Brett's sister, Brandi, was cooing over her newborn daughter, Myah, while his brothers, Scott and Jeff, were busy refereeing their young sons, who were creating a ruckus by playing tackle football with an empty water bottle. Also enjoying the spread of steak and crawfish and all the fixings were various cousins, neighbors and hangers-on. In this loud, lively gathering only one person was missing -- the man for whom the restaurant and the street are named.

In his 16th winter in Green Bay, Favre has turned into Gatsby, throwing a party he no longer enjoys. While his family and friends were reliving every detail of his three-touchdown performance against Carolina, Favre was at home a couple of miles away, stretched out on his couch, watching that day's NFL highlights and cuddling with his lapdog, Charlie. By the ostentatious standards of modern-day celebrity, Favre's house is modest, but it suits him fine. On this Sunday evening it was dark and quiet, giving him some precious hours to decompress. There was a time when Favre never skipped a chance to celebrate -- "Hell, I always had to be the life of the party," he says -- but now solitude is what he thirsts for.

"As I've gotten older, I've become more of a loner," Favre says. "You've just been out there in front of 80,000 screaming people, everyone watching every move you make, the pressure of all that -- it's fine and dandy for three hours, but afterward...." Here Favre takes a big, billowing breath. "I used to thrive on that adrenaline. I never wanted it to end. Now I need to get back to reality. Like sitting on the couch with Charlie."

If Favre is weary, it's only because he has given so much of himself to Green Bay through the years. "He means everything to these people," says Donald Driver, who's in his ninth season catching Favre's passes. "He's not only our leader -- he's the symbol of the franchise, of the whole town. There's a generation of fans in Green Bay who don't know this team ever existed without Brett."

When Favre decided to return for the 2007 season, even die-hard Cheeseheads must have been hoping only that he would not tarnish his legacy. What no one expected was that Favre would reinvent himself yet again, enjoying one of his best years at age 38 while cajoling a talented but callow team to a stunning 10-2 record. Along the way he passed two significant milestones for quarterbacks, overtaking Dan Marino atop the alltime list in touchdown passes (436 at week's end) and victories by a starter (157). He trails Marino by 449 in passing yards, another mark that should soon fall.

But one record above all others speaks to what Favre is made of: his Ripkenesque streak of consecutive starts at quarterback, which stands at 249 -- more than five seasons ahead of the next player on the list, Peyton Manning. During last week's 37-27 loss at Dallas, Favre was knocked out of the game in the second quarter, when on the same play he separated his left shoulder and took a helmet to his right elbow, causing numbness in two fingers on his throwing hand. Afterward, to no one's surprise, Favre said he expected he would not miss a game. He has rarely been flawless (after all, he leads the NFL in lifetime interceptions, with 283), but he's always shown up. Through pills and booze, through cancer and car crashes and heart attacks, he has played on. Once reckless on and off the field, Favre has matured before our eyes while never losing his boyish love for the game.

It is for his perseverance and his passion that SI honors Favre with the 54th Sportsman of the Year award. But there is more to his story than on-field heroics. On game day the whole of Green Bay may live and die on Favre's rocket right arm, but his greatest legacy lies in how many people he has touched between Sundays.

The intensity of Favre's relationship with the Packers faithful goes far beyond mere longevity. He arrived in Green Bay in 1992 through a trade with the Atlanta Falcons, and in the third game of the season came off the bench to lead a madcap comeback against the Cincinnati Bengals, throwing the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left. He has refused to leave the starting lineup ever since, harnessing his hair-on-fire style to win an unprecedented three MVP awards (1995, '96, '97) and lead Green Bay to a Super Bowl triumph following the 1996 season.

But the success was leavened by personal setbacks and heartache. In 1996 the NFL sent him to rehab to kick an addiction to the painkiller Vicodin. Two months later Scott was involved in a car crash that killed his passenger, Mark Haverty, Brett's close childhood friend. Scott pleaded guilty to felony DUI and served a year of house arrest. Brett's own heavy drinking drove Deanna to consult divorce lawyers before Favre checked himself into rehab in 1999.

After Favre quit drinking, he settled into the comfortable second act of his career, during which life was quieter and his teams were good but not quite good enough. The drama, however, was far from over. In December 2003 Favre lost his father, Irvin, who suffered a heart attack at age 58. The day after Big Irv died, Favre summoned the defining performance of his career, passing for 399 yards and four touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders, and riveting a Monday Night Football audience. Grown men around Green Bay still tear up when recalling that game.

One dark week in 2004 set the Favres reeling all over again. In October, Deanna's younger brother, Casey Tynes, was killed when he crashed his all-terrain vehicle, leaving behind a girlfriend who was eight months pregnant. Four days after Casey's funeral, Deanna learned she had breast cancer. As always, the Favres were overwhelmed by the outpouring in Green Bay -- bags of letters, innumerable prayer circles and many kind wishes murmured in the grocery aisle.

"People here treat us like family, and I think they care for us like family," says Deanna. "Because of everything we've been through, they don't see Brett as untouchable or as some kind of superhero. And they've been through it with us. The fans here feel close to Brett because they've all had their own similar struggles. Nothing against Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but I'm not sure their fans relate to them in the same way."

Favre grew up in tiny Kiln, Miss., "the Kill" as it's known on the Gulf Coast, a place his coach at Southern Mississippi, Curley Hallman, would memorably describe as "like The Dukes of Hazzard, minus the demolition derby." In a typical anecdote from Favre's youth, he was tossing a football to Scott but led him too much, sending his brother through a bay window of the family house. When the Favre boys weren't shooting each other with BB guns or feeding Oreos to alligators from the back porch or sneaking pinches of chewing tobacco -- of baby brother Jeff, Favre once said, "That son of a bitch could chew and spit when he was three years old" -- they were tagging along to sporting events with their father, who coached high school football and American Legion baseball in Kiln. Under Big Irv's watchful eye, Brett developed into a standout athlete, but he was imbued with none of the aloofness that the star quarterback has in every teen movie.

Credit Bonita for that. During her 16 years as a special-education teacher, Brett was a regular visitor to her classroom -- and not just during the two years when Deanna was an aide and he wanted to flirt. (She and Brett met in catechism when they were seven; they began dating when she was a high school sophomore and he was a freshman.)

Of her students, whose conditions ranged from common learning disabilities to severe developmental problems, Bonita says, "There was a time when people like that were locked away, but they have value. They can be productive members of society. I always made it clear to my children they weren't any better than the kids I taught."

Around Kiln there was a developmentally disabled man named Ronnie Hebert, who served as an equipment manager on Brett's youth baseball team and helped out with Big Irv's squads. Sensing that the other players felt awkward about sitting next to Hebert on the bus or sharing a table at restaurants, Brett always made an effort to include him. The two forged a lasting friendship and remained close enough that a few years ago, Deanna surprised her husband by flying Hebert in to be the guest speaker at a fund-raising dinner for Favre's charitable foundation. Says Deanna, "That night is as emotional as I've ever seen Brett, aside from when his dad passed away."

Though Favre has never had difficulty connecting with people, he admits that early in his career he was too busy having a good time to reach out to others. Deanna had become pregnant when she was 19 and did much of the early parenting of daughter Brittany so that Brett could concentrate on football. Deanna and Brittany continued to live in Mississippi during Favre's first few seasons in Atlanta and Green Bay, leaving him unchaperoned. "It was out of control for a while," says Scott. "We'd go into a bar and just take over the place. Brett would be on top of the bar, pouring drinks. The people loved it, of course."

Favre's Vicodin addiction led to a 46-day stay at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kans. "I was able to see some things a little more clearly," Favre says of his time there. "I realized I had become sidetracked in a lot of important ways." In July 1996, shortly after he completed rehab, Brett and Deanna were married. That year he also started the Brett Favre Fourward Foundation, with a charter to provide aide to disabled and disadvantaged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

Over the last decade the foundation has given out $4 million to dozens of charitable organizations, focusing its efforts on the kind of kids who remind Favre of Ronnie Hebert. One recent beneficiary was the Miracle League of Green Bay, to which Favre donated $100,000 to help build a baseball facility with a specialized wheelchair-friendly artificial surface. In addition to the field, Favre's money went toward a high-end public-address system and the retrofitting of the playground equipment to make it more accessible to those with disabilities. "These kids always had to sit and watch before," says Bruce Willems, whose 16-year-old daughter, Kyla, is a regular in the Miracle League. "Now they get to play, and you can't believe what it is does for their self-esteem."

In fact, some of the kids have developed big league attitude. Eleven-year-old Jacob Van Den Berg "won't go to bat until his name is announced on the P.A. system," says his father, Jeff. "The fact that Brett Favre helped build this place, that's a big deal to him."

Kids like Kyla and Jacob are kindred spirits with the children of Kiln's Gaits to Success, which provides therapeutic horseback riding for the disabled. With a stable of horses and 10 lush acres, it is not an inexpensive operation, and Carolyn Rhodes, the program's director, says simply, "Without Brett, we would not exist."

The link between Kiln and Green Bay became more explicit after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Mississippi coast in 2005. Bonita's house was flooded by the storm surge and had to be rebuilt from the ground up. (Since 1997, Brett and Deanna have spent their off-seasons in Hattiesburg, Miss., 70 miles inland, and their house was unaffected.) In the aftermath of the storm, Favre used a couple of Packers press conferences to appeal for help for his home state. An account was set up in Green Bay for contributions, and within eight weeks upwards of a million dollars had poured in. Says Mike Daniels, president of Nicolet Bank, which administered the account, "We had packages arriving full of change, with letters in crayon that said, 'Dear Mr. Favre, this is from my piggybank. Your friends need it more than I do.' "

The Door County Gulf Coast Relief Fund was also born in the wake of Katrina, though its roots could be traced to Super Bowl XXXI, when the Packers beat the New England Patriots at the Superdome in New Orleans, about an hour's drive from Kiln. During the week of the game, many of the Green Bay faithful made the pilgrimage to Favre's boyhood home, and the Broke Spoke, Kiln's main bar, became a sort of down-market Graceland. It was there that Pete D'Amico of Green Bay first met Big Irv, and a long-standing kinship with Kiln was born. Three days after Katrina struck land, D'Amico and his friend Tony Anheuser were in a borrowed truck, making the 22-hour drive to Mississippi, packing donated clothes, food, water and a couple of hundred steaks, which they cooked up every night in front of the Broke Spoke and handed out to whoever was hungry.

Since then, the relief efforts have continued to grow in scope; Green Bay volunteers -- electricians, roofers and other skilled tradesmen in strong demand on the Gulf Coast -- have made more than 20 trips to Kiln to help rebuild damaged homes. Just this October, during the Packers' bye week, 26 Cheeseheads traveled to Kiln. "My whole life has become about giving back the blessings I've been given," says the 66-year-old Anheuser, a retired home-furnishings retailer. "It's through Brett and the connection we have to Kiln that I've found my purpose."

When Favre hears these stories, he can only shake his head. "It's pretty hard to fathom," he says of his impact. But he does much more than just raise money and inspire others from afar. At a fund-raiser for Green Bay's Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation, Favre came on stage to play drums with the house band. "When that happened, a bunch of us old ladies in the crowd started screaming," says Sue LeTourneau, who helps run the scholarship program named for her late nephew, who died in a swimming accident.

Many athletes give time to the Make-A-Wish Foundation; for Favre it's a regular part of his workweek. So strong is the demand to meet the Packers' quarterback among Make-A-Wish kids with life-threatening medical conditions that Favre schedules a visit nearly every Friday when the Packers are not playing an away game. "It's an honor to be asked," he says, "but I'm not going to lie -- it's hard. There are times when it takes a lot out of me. These kids are so cool, but you can't ignore what they're up against and what their families are going through."

In September 2004 Favre met with a six-year-old from Neenah, Wis., named Anna Walentowski. She was suffering from Alexander disease, an extremely rare type of the degenerative brain disorder called leukodystrophy, for which there is no known cure. By the time her visit was arranged, Anna was on a feeding tube for 20 hours a day. In the preceding months she had repeatedly been rushed to the hospital with spasms of her upper respiratory system, which made breathing nearly impossible. "It was a dark, dark time in our lives," says Anna's father, Jeff. "Our little girl was deteriorating pretty rapidly."

Anna's parents feared she would not be strong enough to make the trip to the Packers' practice facility, but she rallied for the big day. Favre had recently been banged up, and the first thing the little pixie in a Packers cheerleading outfit said to him was, "How's your thumb?" The two bonded instantly. Anna's mother, Jennifer, remembers Favre giving her daughter hug after hug and gently helping Anna get in and out of her stroller, so the two could play catch with a Nerf football and later eat lunch with the team.

Before saying goodbye, Anna gave Favre a prayer card with her picture on it. Unbeknownst to the Walentowskis, Favre taped it to his refrigerator door that night, and it stayed there for the rest of the season. "Every day we looked at that picture and prayed for Anna and her family," Deanna wrote in her book, Don't Bet Against Me!

In the years since Anna's visit her condition has improved dramatically. This is no doubt due to specialized care made possible by the evolving understanding of leukodystrophy. Anna's parents think the meeting with Favre also has had something to do with it. "That one day they spent together never really ended," says Jennifer. "We would often talk about the visit and look at the photos, and she would be asked all the time to tell the story. It became a big part of her life."

The tale took another turn when Deanna's book was published in September 2007, including the passage about Anna, a girl she knew only from the photo on the fridge and the effect she'd had on her husband. The Walentowskis were unaware of their cameo in the book until a friend called to tell them about it -- and to say that Deanna was in nearby Appleton at that moment for a book signing. The family hustled over to meet Deanna. Now nine, Anna still faces serious medical challenges, but against all odds she has continued to get better. "She looked so good, so happy," says Deanna. "I couldn't wait to go home and tell Brett. We had often wondered about Anna, about how she was doing. When I told Brett, it touched him. He didn't really have any words. He was pretty choked up."

Funny thing about the Favres is that Brett isn't even the hottest quarterback in the family. Dylan Favre is a high school phenom for the St. Stanislaus Rockachaws in Bay St. Louis, Miss., having just completed a sophomore season in which he threw 36 touchdown passes, a record for the southern Mississippi section. Brett has taken to mentoring his nephew, but they rarely discuss X's and O's. "That's probably for the better," says Dylan. "If I tried some of the things Uncle Brett does on the field, my coach would kill me!"

So what do they talk about?

"Leadership."

Pressed to define what that means, Uncle Brett says, "It's somehow getting 52 other guys to raise their level of play. To get them to believe in what we're trying to do. You do that by setting an example, by doing things the right way. I've always shown up, I've always been prepared, I practice every day. I practice hard. I study. No matter what happens on the field, I never point blame at anybody else. Everything I do comes back to leadership, the example I want to set."

Favre says he has not given a locker-room pep talk since the eve of the 2005 season. "And we went 4-12 that year," he adds with a chuckle, "so what does that tell you?"

Nonetheless, this season Favre has, by necessity, become more direct in his leadership. Green Bay is the youngest team in the league and especially green on offense; starting running back Ryan Grant is playing his first NFL season, and among the top six receivers only two have been in the league more than two full years. "[Brett's] become a lot more vocal, a lot more hands-on," says Favre's backup, Aaron Rodgers. "He's out there coaching the entire offense, from running back to wide receiver to tight end. In practice he'll break away from what [the quarterbacks] are doing to watch some of the other positions go through their reps. He's extremely engaged in everything that's happening."

The evolution began with a challenge from second-year coach Mike McCarthy, who in the preseason told the future Hall of Famer that he flat-out had to play better. In 2006 Favre threw just 18 touchdown passes, his fewest since his first year with the Packers, and his 56% completion rate was the worst of his career. Favre has always been as much a point guard as a quarterback, forever finding creative (if chancy) ways to deliver the ball. McCarthy's orders for this year were to make safer decisions and substantially improve his completion percentage. "I wish I could make the story better by telling you there was a big knockdown, drag-out fight, but Brett's a pro's pro," says McCarthy. "From Day One he has embraced what we're trying to accomplish."

While Favre can still revert to his freewheeling ways, he has torn through the league with the most controlled, efficient play of his career. Grant has begun to assert himself, but with the Packers' ground game still coalescing, Favre is completing a career-best 67.4% of his attempts and has thrown only 10 interceptions. On Thanksgiving Day he carved up the Detroit Lions with 20 straight completions, two short of the NFL record, and he has already tied his Packers mark with seven 300-yard games. "He is playing as well as I've seen him play," says Lions coach Rod Marinelli, "and I've [coached] against him since 1996."

With a game-breaking passing attack backed up by an athletic, aggressive defense, the Packers look capable of a deep playoff run. It is a measure of how far this unproven team has come that after last week's loss in Dallas, no one was claiming a moral victory for having played the Cowboys close into the fourth quarter, even with Favre out and injuries sidelining top cornerback Charles Woodson and sack specialist Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. "Winning is the only thing that matters here, and that comes from number 4," says rookie receiver James Jones, whose soft hands and elusiveness have him third on the Packers, with 43 receptions. "A team takes on the mentality of its leader. And this guy is the ultimate warrior. That can't help but filter down."

Favre's influence is felt in many other ways. His improvisational skills belie an obsessive preparation that forces teammates to keep up. Following the Panthers game, after Favre had relaxed at home with his dog for a while, he sneaked back to a darkened Lambeau to watch game film for an hour and a half. Not that his dedication to his craft prevents Favre from cutting up. "You play your best football when you're loose and relaxed and having a good time," he says. Favre has tried to impart that notion to his teammates, though some of his methods would probably not impress Vince Lombardi. He's notorious for surreptitiously squirting heating ointment into colleagues' jockstraps, and his locker room flatulence is legendary -- though if you can believe Green Bay insiders, it is delivered with a purpose. "There have been many times before a game when you can see the guys are kind of tight," says Edgar Bennett, Green Bay's running backs coach and formerly Favre's teammate for five seasons. "Brett always knows how to loosen them up. I don't want to go into too many details, but let's just say that the guy has some unique talents."

While Favre simultaneously inspires and relaxes his teammates, he also forms a palpable brotherhood with them. No Packer has felt this more profoundly than receiver Koren Robinson, who has become Favre's personal reclamation project. A first-round pick of the Seahawks in 2001, Robinson has struggled with alcohol abuse for several years. As a Minnesota Viking in 2005 he was voted to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner, but in August 2006 the team cut ties with him after his second arrest for drunken driving. Green Bay took a chance and signed Robinson the next month, but four games into the 2006 season he was suspended by the NFL for a year because of a third violation of the league's substance-abuse policy, the fallout from one of his incidents in Minnesota. Robinson was banned not only from games but also from practicing with the Packers and using any team facilities. When the suspension was handed down, Favre blasted the NFL, accusing the league of turning its back on a player who he thought could clearly benefit from structure and support.

In the year that Robinson was out of football, Favre took it upon himself to provide that safety net, regularly calling Robinson to check up and lend an ear. "For a guy of his stature to reach out, he didn't have to do that," says Robinson, 27. "To know he cared so much for me, it was a huge motivation for me to better myself and correct the things in my life that needed to get right."

Favre's compassion was born of his own experiences. "From a substance-abuse standpoint I was probably worse off than Koren," he says. "People don't realize that, because I was never suspended. But I've done all kinds of drugs, I've drunk too much -- the only difference between me and Koren is that I didn't get caught. But I've been there, and I know how lonely it can be."

Robinson, who is married to his college sweetheart, Joy, and is the father of an 18-month-old son, K.J., was reinstated in October of this year, and in five games has already made an impact on the field. His 67-yard kickoff return against the Panthers was the longest of the season by a Packer, and Robinson has been featured in the new five-receiver set Green Bay unveiled last month. Against Detroit, Robinson gave Packers fans a glimpse of his playmaking ability, gaining 50 yards on only two catches. He has scraped off the rust with another assist from Favre. Says McCarthy, "I think sometimes Brett looks to Koren a little too much during practice, just trying to get him involved, get his confidence up."

An NFL locker room is among the most macho places in sports, but Robinson's voice catches when he talks about his quarterback. "I am so blessed to have a friend like Brett Favre," he says. "A lot of what keeps me going now is that I want him to be proud of me."

"I'm already proud of him," says Favre. "I couldn't care less if he ever catches another pass. The way he has put his life back together is much bigger than that."

On the vast expanse of Robinson's right biceps is tattooed matthew 28:20. That scripture appropriately captures Favre's relationship with Robinson and the rest of his teammates: "[Teach] them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The Favre household is about as casual as they come, but there is one immutable rule. "We don't talk about retirement," says Deanna. "Ever. This whole town is obsessed about what Brett is going to do, so at home it's off-limits because he needs to get away from it."

There is no doubt that Favre has plenty left physically to keep playing, a point driven home during the Panthers game, when he was six years younger than the other starting quarterback, Vinny Testaverde. Ask Packers receiver Donald Driver if Favre has lost anything off his fastball, and Driver says with a laugh, "My fingers can answer that. There's times after practice they tingle a little bit. Guy hasn't lost a thing, except maybe a little hair."

At this point in his career Favre is used to the aches and pains. "Mentally, it's much more demanding," he says. "Now I dwell on the negative a lot more. I'm thrilled to death we're winning, but with each game I feel more pressure to play better, to keep it going. Next play's got to be better, next game's got to be better. The better you play, the higher the expectations become, not only of yourself, but what others expect. It can flat wear you out."

Even as Favre has brought so much joy to Green Bay this year, he has been in the familiar position of playing with a heavy heart. The Favres suffered another personal loss this summer when Deanna's stepfather, Rocky Byrd, died of a heart attack at age 56 while the Packers were in training camp. Rocky had helped to fill the void left by Big Irv's death. This year, for the first time in his career, Favre did not return to Mississippi during the Packers' bye week, choosing to stay alone in Green Bay. "It would have been his first time home since Rocky passed away," says Deanna, "and I don't think he wanted to face that."

Family matters were in the backdrop as Favre considered retirement in the past two off-seasons. In recent years he and Deanna have been separated from older daughter Brittany during the football season. From first through eighth grade she attended school in Green Bay in the fall, then finished the school year in Hattiesburg. Upon reaching high school, however, Brittany insisted she be allowed to stay in Mississippi year-round. She lived with Deanna's sister's family, seeing her father in the fall mostly when she traveled to Green Bay for Packers home games. Brittany is now a college freshman, but eight-year-old Breleigh is following the old routine, splitting time between schools in different states. "It hasn't been easy on the girls," Favre says, "which is not something the public ever factors in."

Favre also longs to spend more time at his 465-acre spread in Hattiesburg, where in the off-season he works the land, including his dozen deer plots. Then there are the two thriving charitable organizations to look after, his Fourward Foundation and the Deanna Favre Hope Foundation. The latter was founded in 2005 to raise breast-cancer awareness and provide assistance for those battling the disease. Deanna has since become a sought-after public speaker, commanding as much as $45,000 for a corporate engagement, all of the money going to the foundation. The pink Packers hats ubiquitous in Green Bay are another revenue stream. The foundation annually gives out dozens of grants for uninsured or underinsured women battling breast cancer.

As the Favres prepare for life after football, the people of Green Bay are also girding themselves for the inevitable. There is a funny feeling in the air around Lambeau this year: Every unexpected win is accompanied by a collective dread that it has inched Favre closer to retirement. Deanna doesn't exactly refute the notion. "He needed to go out like this," she says. "He deserved a year like this. I'm not saying he will or won't [retire after the season], and I don't know what I'd say if he asked me, but he's the kind of competitor who has to go out a winner. That's who he is."

Favre refuses to look beyond this week's game versus Oakland, but he does say, "Sure, I would love to go out with a trip to the Super Bowl, but it doesn't have to end that way. Had I left last year, or even the year before, it's been a great career. I'm content with it." Favre suddenly grows animated, leaning forward in his chair. "I don't know how it's going to end, but I do know this: Throwing a touchdown pass for the Green Bay Packers is pretty neat. I've thrown a ton, and every one of them was a helluva lot of fun."

Ask people around Green Bay for their favorite Favre memory, and you'll get countless anecdotes but rarely any hesitation. So many elite athletes captivate with their otherworldly physical gifts, but the common theme among the Favre highlights is the human element.

Jennifer Walentowski, Anna's mother: "In the Super Bowl against the Patriots, Brett threw a beautiful touchdown in the very beginning of the game, and he was so excited, he started running around the field. He had taken off his helmet, and he had both arms in the air, and there was such genuine joy on his face, such realness. Gosh, I'm tearing up right now just thinking about it."

Doug Phillips, whose daughter, Carley, participates in the Miracle League: "He hurt his ankle pretty bad against the Vikings [in 1995]. No one knew if he would play the next game [against Chicago]. He was on crutches all week, doubtful right up to kickoff. When he ran out of the tunnel at Lambeau, that was the loudest explosion I have ever heard in my life. And of course Brett threw five touchdowns that day."

Pete D'Amico, cofounder of the Door County Gulf Coast Relief Fund: "I lost my father a month before Brett's dad died. That Monday-night game against Oakland, the day after Big Irv died? I was crying that whole game. Just bawling. I know a lot of other people were too for their own reasons."

Donald Driver: "My favorite moment is from that Monday night against the Raiders, but it didn't happen on the field. Before the game I went to talk to Brett in his hotel room. He was hurting, obviously, but said he was going to play because we were his family too. It was pure love, pure brotherhood."

Sue LeTourneau of the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation: "On his 30th birthday, I held up a sign in the stands here at Lambeau. When he ran onto the field, he looked at me and gave a thumbs-up. Oh, my God, I thought I was going to die right then and there!"

Mark Tauscher, Packers tackle: "My rookie year [2000] we were at Minnesota late in the year. Big game. At some point in the second half we were facing third down, and [center] Frank Winters misses a linebacker coming on a blitz. Brett gets sacked, but instead of jogging off the field he turns and chucks the ball at Frankie. And Frankie says, 'Well, get rid of the damn ball faster next time!' The whole team was laughing. It kind of loosened us up, and we went on to win."

Mike McCarthy: "In '99, when I was quarterbacks coach, three of the first four games were comebacks in the final couple of minutes. The one that stands out was against Tampa Bay. There's about a minute left, and we call this play where if the rush comes, Brett's supposed to check down to the back. Of course, Tampa comes with everything they've got, but Brett just stands in there and throws a strike to Antonio Freeman for the winning touchdown, just as John Lynch and half the defense hits him in the jaw. On the sideline Brett's a little woozy; he's on oxygen; and I go up to him and say, 'What happened to the check down?' He says, 'Dammit, I forgot all about that. But, hey, I made the throw.' That's Brett Favre in a nutshell -- he'll take the beating, but he'll always make the throw."

Ask Favre for his own favorite memory, and he is quiet for a moment. "I've got so many plays running through my mind," he says, finally. "The funny thing is, it's not only about the touchdowns and the big victories. If I were to make a list, I would include the interceptions, the sacks, the really painful losses. Those times when I've been down, when I've been kicked around, I hold on to those. In a way those are the best times I've ever had, because that's when I've found out who I am. And what I want to be."