Tommy Washbush
Brett Favre finally seems content with retirement.
Seven years after first announcing he was done with football and then changing his mind twice, the 45-year-old former Green Bay Packers quarterback has settled into post-football life. That includes kicking back on his 465-acre estate in Sumrall, Miss., when he’s not traveling with 15-year-old daughter Breleigh to elite volleyball tournaments. He bikes, he runs, he eats right and — get this — he’s a grandpa.
But No. 4 will make a much-heralded return to Wisconsin this weekend. On Saturday, Favre will be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. The ceremony, which includes the retirement of his jersey number, will be broadcast live by the Packers TV Network and the NFL Network and streamed live on packers.com.
The event also will be shown on the TundraVision video boards at Lambeau Field. An estimated 67,000 tickets to view the festivities from inside the stadium went on sale for $4 each in May and sold out in eight hours.
On Sunday, Brett Favre’s Legends Game, a flag football showdown between Packers legends and former National Football League all-stars, will kick off at Camp Randall Stadium. The Packers roster includes Favre, Mark Tauscher, Antonio Freeman, Dorsey Levens, Frank Winters, Al Harris, Eugene Robinson, Gilbert Brown, James Lofton, Mark Chmura and Bryce Paup. The NFL all-stars include Donovan McNabb, former Wisconsin Badger Ron Dayne, Favre nemesis John Randle and Ed “Too Tall” Jones.
Net proceeds from the Legends Game and Hall of Fame viewing will benefit the Favre 4 Hope Foundation, which directly assists several charities, including Make-A-Wish, Special Olympics, Rawhide Boys Ranch and Ribbon of Hope.
“I’ll be glad when it’s all over,” Favre told Isthmus in a phone interview last week. “And I don’t mean that in a negative way. But I look forward to just getting back to whacking weeds or cutting grass or digging a hole.”
During this time of celebration, Favre’s retirement saga, and the way in which it divided Packer Nation, feels like ancient history. “The great thing is, we’re beyond that,” he says. “And it’s better than anyone could have hoped at this point.”
Favre may be right. But his indecisiveness in 2008, when he came out of retirement and was traded to the New York Jets — and then a year later, when he unretired again to play for the Minnesota Vikings — caused major turbulence among fans and some individuals within the Packers organization.
Favre almost called it quits once more after that 2009 season but returned one final time. “At the latter part of my career, all I cared about was winning,” Favre says. “And the downside of that was when I didn’t win, I kind of felt like it was a wasted year, even though that wasn’t the case. The Vikings came close to making the Super Bowl [in 2009], and there was no reason to think that we wouldn’t come close again.”
As many Packers fans will recall, a visit to Mississippi in the summer of 2010 by three of Favre’s Vikings teammates (including former Packers kicker Ryan Longwell) sealed the deal for Favre.
“They said, ‘If you don’t give it another try, you’re going to always regret that you didn’t take that chance. You’ll always wonder, ‘What if?’” Favre says. “They were right, and that’s ultimately what made me go back. After the fact, you can say it wasn’t the year anyone was expecting. [Minnesota went 6-10 and missed the playoffs.] But at least I know what happened. So if I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same thing. It just wasn’t meant to be, and I’m okay with that.”
Favre likens his own struggle to leave the game with that of 39-year-old quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning’s current team, the Denver Broncos, lost to his old team, the Indianapolis Colts, in the playoffs last year. After contemplating retirement, Manning signed a reduced contract with Denver in March and is expected to begin his 18th season this fall.
“It’s a devastating position to be in,” says Favre, who played 20 seasons in the NFL. “You think you still can play, you’re putting up good numbers. But you’re older, and you know that next year is not going to be any easier. But if you don’t try, is it going to eat at you for the rest of your life? You want to exhaust every option possible.”
Favre now realizes all of his options are exhausted. This makes it even tougher for him to understand why NFL players in the prime of their careers — including former University of Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland and his former San Francisco 49ers teammate Anthony Davis — are leaving the game over concerns about potential traumatic brain injuries.
“I have to admit I’m a little surprised that those guys are doing that,” says Favre, who in 2009 responded to a reporter’s question about how many concussions he’s suffered with “a lot.” “The collection of players I played with and played against — I just never thought there would be this keen awareness within that individual to say, ‘You know, I need to look out for myself.’ Football players are sort of careless and think more of what they can get out of the game from a monetary standpoint and worry about the injuries later. That’s the way I looked at football. And to see these guys prematurely retire because of the potential long-term effects — I just didn’t think that would happen. Football is an addictive sport. You get the crap beat out of you day in and day out, but yet you go back for more.”
Favre has admitted to some memory loss that might be the result of multiple head injuries but says he “feels great” today.
“I can’t say I know what normal feels like,” he says. “And I know I fight an uphill battle just based on what I’ve done. Not to mention, the older I get, the tougher it becomes. Right now, though, I really feel pretty good.”
