hey...the guy did it all...and he always left his heart out there on the field...my favorite memory of Brett was the Monday Night game after his Dad died...his greatest game ever, from what the historians say...
DayTrader My top 10 list of Favre's feats that made you marvelwritten by Bob McGinn
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
original post:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=724406&format=printBrett Favre will go down as the greatest quarterback that the Green Bay Packers ever had and among the dozen or so best in National Football League history.
Almost single-handedly, he delivered the Packers from a quarter century of losing and led them to a Super Bowl championship, captivating an entire state with his every move.
His record for most consecutive starts by a quarterback might never be broken, let alone even challenged.
As someone who saw in person every one of Favre's passes, his statistical achievements boggle the mind. All those amazing throws. All those amazing performances.
But yet, the records never meant much to me when it came to covering his 17-year career that ended today with his decision to retire. Because what Favre brought to the game transcended the bare bones of statistics.
Playing quarterback in the National Football League is the most difficult job in professional sports. Favre played the position with a child-like innocence that never waned.
Anyone who has ever played sports at any level has an idea what it means to compete. It's hard to believe that anyone ever could have been more of a worthy competitor than Brett Favre.
He would do anything to win. He positively loved to win. But when he won, he was always a gracious winner.
He hated defeat. He would go to the end of the earth not to lose. But when he lost, he never intentionally detracted from the play of the opponent.
He never put himself above the team.
He was able to strip down a game no matter what was at stake into just another opportunity to prove himself.
He prepared and played week after week as if that game would be his last.
He performed with athletic arrogance, supremely confident in his ability but ever wary that his best wouldn't be good enough.
There was a richly human side to Favre on a football field that proved so endearing to millions of football fans. In some ways, he was one of them. An Everyman who lived in shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops, made almost as many bone-headed mistakes as wondrous plays and always had a blast doing it.
Throughout Favre's career, my day after the game was spent watching tape for five to six hours. It was here, with remote in hand, that I came to marvel at how Favre handled himself on a football field.
Once or twice a season, it seemed, something that Favre did would make me take time from a hectic day to jot it down. Here are 10 of those moments culled from two bulging manila files marked "Favre." Every fan has his own memories. My only wish is I had saved more for posterity.
November 1992. At the Silverdome. Guard Rich Moran, in his eighth season, goes down with a serious knee injury. Favre, in his first season with the Packers, is the first player at Moran's side. Until the medical staff arrives, Favre holds Moran's hand.
January 1998. At Candlestick Park. On fourth and 1, Favre tries long and hard with his cadence to get San Francisco's front four to jump offsides. With the jig up and a few seconds left on the play clock, he bends down and chats with the 49ers' Dana Stubblefield as if to say, "Won't you please jump offsides?"
October 2000. At the Silverdome. Raucous Lions fans chant "Green Bay sucks, Green Bay sucks" as Favre sits on the bench during a stoppage of play. Ray Sherman, the wide receivers coach, kneels in front of Favre trying to discuss the next series above the din. Favre politely interrupts Sherman, raises his right fist above his head and pumps it in unison with the crowd.
October 2000. At Lambeau Field. Against an all-out blitz, Favre pump-fakes 49ers cornerback Jason Webster into the air and somehow manages to eludes a near-certain sack. Scrambling left, Favre finds Dorsey Levens and at the last second completes a pass to him for 37 yards. As Favre jogs past the San Francisco sideline, he playfully gestures to Steve Mariucci, his old coach. Mariucci has to laugh and wave back.
October 2001. At Lambeau Field. Sam Adams, the Ravens' mountainous defensive tackle, chases Favre around the backfield and finally sacks him near the Green Bay bench. Adams gets up, busting with pride. Favre smiles and says a few words to Adams, perhaps offering heart-felt congratulations from one athlete to another on a difficult job well done.
November 2002. At Lambeau Field. Guard Marco Rivera jumps over a pile downfield trying to get at Todd Lyght, the Lions' 33-year-old cornerback. Lyght is incensed at Rivera and looks ready to start throwing punches. In steps Favre, the veteran peacemaker. He slaps Lyght lightly on the side of the helmet. They exchange a few words. Lyght is OK with it. Play resumes.
October 2004. At Ford Field. Lions defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson bulls right over the top of guard Mike Wahle and buries Favre. However, the pass is away and complete for 5 yards. Obviously, "Big Daddy" is crushed. Favre offers what solace he can: right hand, palm up. Wilkinson gives him five.
November 2004. At Reliant Park. Texans defensive tackle Seth Payne destroys Rivera and has Favre dead-to-rights for a sack. Favre whirls, eludes him and finds Bubba Franks for 16. As Payne heads back to the huddle, Favre rather sheepishly offers Payne a low five for making a great effort and pats him on the butt. Mortified, Payne softly touches Favre's hand.
November 2005. At the Georgia Dome. On third and 8, Favre manages to duck away from a sack and scrambles for 4 in front of the Atlanta bench. Apparently, some Falcons players razz Favre about his running style. Ever so quickly, Favre flexes his right biceps toward them, grins and walks off the field.
August 2007. At LP Field in Nashville. With 6 minutes left of the exhibition finale, Favre sidles up behind an unsuspecting James Campen, the offensive line coach and his old center. Campen has hands on knees intently watching the action on the field. Favre bends down behind Campen as if he's taking a snap. On the second time, Campen turns and they exchange a hearty chuckle.
Favre didn't just happen to turn out like this. He was the quintessential coach's son, born and bred to be a football player. Big Irv Favre didn't raise Brett and his two brothers to be wimps. He taught him the right way to play the game, the sacrifices necessary to play the game and what teammates expected of their quarterback.
From showing up drunk for practice two or three times in Atlanta to partying as hard as he played during his early years in Green Bay, Favre was in jeopardy of never realizing his potential. But the best players in the NFL almost always are those that work the hardest, and by the mid-1990s Favre had figured that out.
He spent Tuesday in the office going over tapes with Mariucci and a succession of other quarterback coaches. He was smart enough to know that Mike Holmgren was only trying to help him. And he paid far more attention to physical fitness in the off-season. Favre was never a rah-rah type of leader. He was too busy pulling practical jokes. But when Reggie White, LeRoy Butler and others began to leave, Favre wore the mantle of leadership well. His blend of business tinged with humor played beautifully throughout the locker room.
"He takes the game seriously but he knows how to relax the people around him," tackle Earl Dotson once said. "You look in those eyes and you know he thinks it can be done, so you think it's possible."
As the years went by, the respect level for Favre went way behind his teammates. No matter the circumstances, beating a team quarterbacked by Favre was regarded as a significant feat by opposing coaches and players.
Andy Reid reveals next to nothing in interviews anymore but when Favre's name came up a few years ago the Eagles coach was man enough to admit the truth. In so many words, Reid indicated that all of Holmgren's men who went on to become head coaches wouldn't have gotten those jobs had it not been for their association with No. 4.
After Holmgren left for Seattle, he opened the 2000 season in Miami against a team coached by Dave Wannstedt, who had gone 1-11 against the Packers as coach of the Chicago Bears. "We beat them, 23-0, intercepted them six times," Wannstedt told the Chicago Tribune last year. "Mike is shaking my hand after the game, and he says, 'God, those plays didn't look the same as they did when Brett was running them, did they?"
No, they didn't, just like the Packers will never be the same without him.
Driven largely by fear of failure, Favre will end up in the Professional Football Hall of Fame when the five-year waiting period expires. In his slightly pigeon-toed fashion, he will walk to the podium that day in Canton and there won't be a dry eye left in Wisconsin.
Brett Favre gave everything that he possibly could give to the Green Bay Packers. He was one of a kind. He will never be forgotten.
