Brett Favre: Encyclopedia II - Brett Favre - Green Bay

Brett Favre - Green Bay

Favre's first NFL completion was to himself on September 13, 1992, in a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Starting the game in the second half, Favre's pass attempt was deflected by Ray Seals. Favre caught the deflection, but went down for a loss of 7 yards. He has started every Green Bay Packers game after September 20, 1992, when Don Majkowski went down injured against the Cincinnati Bengals. Favre was summoned from the bench and proceeded to lead the team to a comeback victory, throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Kitrick Taylor with 13 seconds remaining. Favre was so thrilled that he nearly forgot that he was supposed to be the holder on the extra point try. The next week's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers began the longest consecutive starts streak for quarterbacks in NFL history, a number that continues to grow despite numerous injuries, including a broken thumb on his right (throwing) hand that he suffered in week 7 against the Rams during the 2003 season. At the time the Packers were holding a record of 3-4 going into the bye week. After the bye week, in spite of the fracture in his throwing thumb, he led the Packers to a 10-6 record in the regular season and a victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs. Even more impressive was the fact that he tossed a league leading 32 touchdown passes. The 2003 season was just one chapter in the story of Favre's toughness.

In the early years under head coach Mike Holmgren, Favre struggled to keep his game under control, often making high-risk throws that resulted in many interceptions. Eventually he learned Holmgren's system and became one of the league's top quarterbacks, winning the first of three MVP awards in 1995, a season in which the Packers made it to the NFC Championship Game, upsetting the San Francisco 49ers to go further in the playoffs than any Packer team since the Vince Lombardi era.

While being treated for various injuries, Brett Favre developed an addiction to painkillers. He went public with his problem in May 1996, and immediately sought rehabilitation after a press conference admitting his problem. He remained in rehab for 46 days. Favre then led the Packers to their greatest season in 30 years in the 1996-97 season, winning his second consecutive MVP award in the process. Green Bay compiled an NFL-best regular season record of 13-3, dispatched San Francisco 49ers and Carolina at Lambeau Field in the playoffs, and advanced to Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome, a short drive from Kiln.

Favre threw two touchdown passes over 50 yards and scored another touchdown rushing, and the Packers won the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl XXXI over the New England Patriots, 35-21.

Favre and the Packers continued their dominance of the NFC the next season. Favre was named co-MVP of the league with Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, his third straight award. Green Bay fought their way to Super Bowl XXXII but lost to John Elway and the Denver Broncos by the score of 31-24 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Favre took the loss to the Broncos hard, and considered retirement in the offseason.

However, Favre and the Packers continued posting positive results through the next few seasons. Through the 2004 season, the Packers had the longest streak of non-losing seasons (13) in the NFL, despite an 8-8 record under coach Ray Rhodes, a 9-7 season under coach Mike Sherman, and no playoff berths in either 1999 or 2000. The streak ended in 2005, with the Packers finishing 4-12 overall.

Favre was the target of controversy at the end of 2001 when, in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Favre rolled to his right and slid down at the feet of hard-charging Giants defensive end Michael Strahan. It was Strahan's lone sack of the game and gave him the NFL's single-season sack record of 22.5, which topped Mark Gastineau's record of 22 set in 1984. Favre claimed he'd changed the play at the line of scrimmage, but the rest of the team appeared to run a different play than Favre's. The Packers were winning the game handily—and did win 34-25—and Favre's offensive line had relegated Strahan to a non-factor for most of the game. Players and fans from around the league were highly critical of the play, and comedian Jimmy Kimmel even lampooned the episode in a skit during FOX NFL Sunday shortly after, depicting a "Strahan" and a "Favre" in an elegant ballet that culminated in "Strahan" sweeping "Favre" up off his feet and gently laying him on the ground. Some Packer fans even half-jokingly blamed the 9/11 terrorist attacks for putting Favre in that position in the first place, as the Packers-Giants contest had originally been scheduled for the Sunday following the attacks but was rescheduled for the end of the year.

One of the defining moments of Favre's career, and his greatest game ever, took place on December 22, 2003, in a Monday Night Football game against the Oakland Raiders. The day before, his father, Irvin Favre, died suddenly of a heart attack. Favre elected to play and passed for four touchdowns in the first half, and 399 yards in a 41-7 destruction of the Raiders on international television (receiving applause from the highly partisan "Raider Nation"). Afterwards, Favre said, "I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much and I love this game. It's meant a great deal to me, to my dad, to my family, and I didn't expect this kind of performance. But I know he was watching tonight." He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week. He then went to his father's funeral in Pass Christian, Mississippi and returned in time to lead the Packers to a dominant 31-3 victory over the Denver Broncos, which resulted in the 2003 NFC North championship when the division-leading Minnesota Vikings dropped a heartbreaking 18-17 game to the Arizona Cardinals that same day. Favre won an ESPY Award for his Monday Night Football performance.

With a 17-yard pass to running back Ahman Green on September 18, 2005, in a game against the Cleveland Browns, Favre became only the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for 50,000 yards or more, along with Dan Marino and John Elway. Green Bay would go on to lose that game 26-24.

Since March 2001, Favre has been signed to a "lifetime" contract with the Packers, the first in team history. The deal made Favre the first $100 million player in NFL history. However, it is not yet known if he will continue to play after the 2005-06 season.

Green Bay's 2005 season was a disappointment right from the beginning. All-Pro wide receiver Javon Walker, Favre's favorite target, went down with a season-ending knee injury in the first game. This bad luck was followed by the loss of running back Ahman Green, and rookie wide receiver Terrence Murphy. The Packers' misfortunes didn't end there. Second running back Najeh Davenport was lost for the season after breaking his ankle. Third-string running back Tony Fisher, slot receiver Robert Ferguson and starting tight end Bubba Franks also missed playing time. With all of the team's injury problems, a few unknown players rose up to try and help Favre lead the team. Rookie, Nigeria-native Samkon Gado rushed for over a hundred yards three times before being lost for the rest of the season in game 14 due to a torn MCL, and veteran receiver Donald Driver excelled in the flanker position after replacing the injured Javon Walker. Third-year wideout Antonio Chatman saw some major playing time along with his normal special teams duties. Brett Favre had an average season with over 3,000 yards for a record fourteenth consecutive time, but he also led the league in interceptions with one shy of 30.

Beginning in 2001 and continuing through the 2005 season, questions have arisen as to whether Favre was going to retire. In 2004, he discussed the idea of retiring with his family but decided to come back for 2005 because his wife's battle with breast cancer was going well and her health had improved, and also his belief that he could do much better with the improvements to the Green Bay team and his own long-term work during the off season in losing weight and increasing his mobility. However, 2005 proved to be even worse; in fact, the worst season in Favre's career in which the Packers amassed a 4-12 record, Green Bay's first losing season since Favre joined the team. However, this cannot be blamed entirely on Favre, as Green Bay suffered the loss of many of its key players to injury and Favre had to play with third-string and lower players in a number of skill positions.

Were Favre to retire after this season, the quarterback position would be taken over by first-round draft pick Aaron Rodgers. No matter what Favre decides he will be known in the NFL as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and is considered a shoo-in first ballot selection for the Hall of Fame.

During Green Bay's last game of the 2005 season, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and the rest of the Fox pregame staff predicted that their match with the Seattle Seahawks would be Favre's last game as a pro, while there was no media on the Green Bay Packers' offical website relating to it or supporting it. Some felt Favre acted like it was his last game, as he hugged and greeted his teammates, along with former teammates on the Seahawks, like Matt Hasselbeck and Mike Holmgren. As the last minutes of the game ticked away, with the Packers leading the Seahawks 23-17, almost the whole Green Bay crowd started shouting "One more year", and holding up signs that tried to convince Favre to stay one more year, with even his wife joining in the festivities. Favre has yet to announce his intentions, and has said he will take a few weeks to unwind and speak with Packers' general manager, Ted Thompson before making a final decision.

It should be noted that Favre's prospects of returning for a sixteenth season were reduced upon the firing of of Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman for two reasons. First and foremost, Favre implied several times during the 2005 season that he would be less likely to return for one more season were Sherman to be dismissed. Upon firing Sherman, Thompson noted that he was not firing Brett Favre, and wanted Favre to return for another year, but also noted that "Eventually Brett Favre's going to retire and go back to Mississippi," and that his decision to fire Sherman was based on what he felt was in the team's best interest in the long haul - regardless of what has come to be known amongst fans as the "Favre factor."

When last reported on the Yahoo Sports webpage, it was noted that Brett seemed to be 70-30 on the prospects of returning for another year based on Packers insiders. However, in an interview aired on ESPN in late January 2006, Favre said he would retire if he was asked to make the decision immediately, citing a need for family involvement and an inability to remain competitive mentally. Mike McCarthy was set to meet with Brett about this after the Senior Bowl, which was held at Mobile, Alabama, a short drive from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where Favre resides in the post-season.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Green Bay", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki