No Tears This Time, Favre Says So Long
By GREG BISHOP
This time, when Brett Favre decided to ride off on his lawnmower in Mississippi and spend his days in retirement targeting deer instead of receivers, it felt final.
Even the most skeptical, even friends and teammates who lived through years of rumors and indecision, even those who hold a sliver of reasonable doubt, still believe that Favre’s N.F.L. career is finished after 18 seasons.
“No question,” said Don Majkowski, a teammate of Favre’s in Green Bay. “He’s done.”
But never say never, friends make sure to add, knowing that Favre has tossed around the R-word frequently the last three seasons. They know he carved his Hall of Fame career from unconventional decisions made in haste. And they watched as he cried through the news conference announcing his retirement last spring.
The difference between that announcement and the one he made Wednesday is that those close to Favre actually believed him when he said: “It has been a wonderful career. It’s time to leave.”
Favre, who battled through injury during the season, understands the skepticism as well as anyone, and he joked about it during a conference call Wednesday night.
As far back as 2006, Majkowski believed Favre would soon retire. Majkowski worked as a television analyst for Packers games, and whenever he approached Favre on the field and asked how he was hanging in there, the answer was “barely.”
Speculation has swirled since, including Wednesday, when an ESPN report said Favre’s agent, James Cook, had asked the Jets about the possibility of releasing Favre. A release would free Favre to sign elsewhere, suggesting that he remained uncertain. Favre denied that Cook asked for the release.
Instead, Favre repeatedly said his torn right biceps tendon, which he refers to as a shoulder injury, provided the final push toward retirement, acting as kryptonite for a quarterback who started every regular-season game since early in the 1992 season.
As far back as training camp, Favre occasionally felt symptoms similar to those he felt after he tore his left biceps tendon a few years ago. After the Jets played at San Francisco on Dec. 7, Favre received a cortisone shot to alleviate the pain. It helped, but only briefly, and in Seattle two weeks later, Favre underthrew several open receivers running seam routes. If he felt fine physically, Favre said, he would have considered playing next season.
“I got my answer as the season progressed,” Favre said. “I finally can’t throw the ball like I once threw it.”
When Favre spoke to Woody Johnson, the Jets’ owner, on Wednesday morning, they talked about Favre’s trepidation in coming to the Jets last August. Johnson said Jets officials decided then that Favre gave them the best chance to win in 2009.
The team welcomed Favre for a second season, but Favre said no — then, after the season, during Super Bowl week and now.
He arrived in New York to frenzied fanfare. He was welcomed by local politicians and watched by more than 10,000 loyalists at his first practice. His coach, Eric Mangini, gave his third son the middle name Brett.
Favre made the Jets relevant again, even before he led them to stunning victories at New England and Tennessee, wins that seemed to make them a bona fide contender for the American Football Conference title.
“Through the first 11 games, it looked pretty good,” Johnson said Wednesday.
Of course, the collapse came next. Favre sustained the injury, and the Jets lost four of their last five games, a stretch in which Favre threw nine interceptions. Teammates criticized Favre after the season ended, on his way out, sometimes anonymously.
Favre insisted Wednesday that he had no regrets, that he “honestly believed” his impact “was more positive than negative.”
His retirement saves the Jets about $13 million in salary-cap space, but leaves them with three unproven quarterbacks — Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge.
The Jets will explore quarterbacks in free agency and the draft, but General Manager Mike Tannenbaum spoke highly of Clemens and Ratliff and promised an open competition during training camp.
Clemens, who grew up idolizing Favre, said he had prepared since the final day of the season as if Favre would not return. He called the year spent learning behind Favre “invaluable” and noted that fans, coaches and teammates “have not seen the best of what I have to offer yet.”
Rex Ryan, the Jets’ new coach, called the team’s offensive line its greatest strength. He said the Jets would run the ball more next season. In Baltimore last season, he saw how a rookie quarterback, in that case Joe Flacco, could lead a team to the A.F.C. title game.
“Those guys don’t have to be the solution,” Ryan said. “They just have to be part of the solution.”
The Jets declined to speculate on what would happen if Favre changed his mind again. But they plan to move forward as if he will not.
A former teammate of Favre’s in Green Bay, Ken Ruettgers, runs an organization called Games Over that helps athletes deal with the transition out of sports. Everything Ruettgers tells retired players — that the pull will remain even after the first season in retirement, that they will constantly change their mind, that they will have feelings of having lost their identify — he sees in Favre.
“If he gets that itch again, more power to him,” Ruettgers said. “There is nothing more American than Brett Favre deciding to come out of retirement. He could start for at least half the teams in the league.”
Favre holds every significant N.F.L. passing record, including most career touchdowns and interceptions. He remains secure in his legacy.
“You name it in professional football, I’ve done that,” he said. “Very few people, if any, can say that. I wouldn’t trade my career for anything.”
Former teammates will remember his journey from the party animal who kicked an addiction to painkillers to the family man who tried to make it in New York. Ruettgers said he would remember Favre as one of the “all-time great competitors in any sport.”
Mark Brunell, another former teammate, said: “It goes beyond the Super Bowl victory or the M.V.P.’s. He’s just one of those guys most everybody has been cheering for, the blue-collar guy, the working man’s quarterback. It wasn’t always pretty. But he played hard, and had some great wins, and overcame a lot of stuff.
“He’s unlike any player in the history of the game.”
Favre spent Wednesday on a bulldozer, his phone buzzing constantly in his pocket. Asked about his plans, he said he had none. And for once, friends believe, he is fine with that.
But, they caution, never say never.
No Tears This Time, Favre Says So Long
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He's such a joke now, just stay the fuck retired ya bum.
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If the Jets don't want him back someone will let him play. Personally, I'm all for it. The more he pulls this sh*t the dumber he looks and the dumber people look kissing his ass. I hope he keeps going until he's just a complete joke and no one else is interested in signing him. Maybe if he can destroy his already undeserved legacy, I won't have to endure the eventual HOF induction. (I absolutely DO NOT think this c*ck-sucker is deserving.)G08 wrote:He's such a joke now, just stay the f**k retired ya bum.
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