http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20110102/SPORTS/110101010
Is this it for Favre?
By TYLER CLEVELAND • January 2, 2011
Brett Favre was just 17 when former Southern Miss football coach Jim Carmody called on him to come off the bench and lead the Golden Eagles to a come-from-behind win over Tulane.
Favre did just that, throwing two touchdowns to erase a second-half deficit and give Southern Miss a 31-24 win.
It was the first time an audience outside of Hancock County got a chance to see the quarterback who now is nearly unanimously considered one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
“I told him I thought he could be the next Terry Bradshaw,” Carmody said. “I saw how good an arm he had, and the way he rallied the troops and was respected by his teammates.
“He turned out to be Bradshaw and more.”
Today, Favre will likely lace up his cleats for the last time, as he and the Minnesota Vikings travel to Detroit to take on the Lions in a regular season finale that means little to either team.
Favre is listed as doubtful to play, but as any long-time NFL fan knows, that means little when it comes to the star quarterback who has played at Hancock North Central, Southern Miss, the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers, the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings.
So today’s game means a lot to the NFL and its fans, or at least it should. After all, today’s game, scheduled to kick off at noon, marks the end of an era.
The Kiln native holds league records for career starts for a quarterback (296), wins (185), pass attempts (10,161), completions (6,295), passing yards (71,775), touchdowns (507) and interceptions thrown (334).
He’s led the league in touchdown passes in four different seasons and passing yardage and completions twice.
The sure-fire Hall of Fame numbers are borderline gaudy, but what Favre became legendary for was wearing his heart on his sleeve and his toughness.
On Dec. 24, 1995, his Green Bay Packers needed a win against the Oakland Raiders to win the old NFC Central and Favre delivered. After coughing up blood on the sideline following a viscious hit, Favre came off the bench to throw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Mark Chmura to give the Packers a 24-19 win.
The Raiders were again a victim on Dec. 22, 2003, the night after Favre’s father, affectionately called “Big Irv,” passed away. Many fought tears alongside Favre that night after he threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-7 win.
In his final seasons with Green Bay, he displayed that signature joy by high fiving a referee after a touchdown pass in a win over Detroit and having an on-field snowball fight with receiver Donald Driver during a Jan. 12, 2008, playoff win over Seattle.
Over his career, the three-time Most Valuable Player also led the league in a more dubious category: drama.
He retired and un-retired three times, and last week was fined $50,000 by the league for “not cooperating” with an ongoing investigation into an allegation of sending several lewd text messages to and leaving voice mails for a former Jets employee, Jenn Sterger.
Favre decided to come back for a 20th NFL season after four Vikings teammates flew to Hattiesburg to convince him they still needed his help, but the injury-plagued team has struggled to a 6-9 record this season and Favre currently ranks 30th in the league in passing efficiency. He’s suffered injuries to his head, back, ankle and chin and had his NFL-record of 297 consecutive starts snapped after spraining his throwing shoulder.
But that’s all water under the bridge for die-hard fans like Hattiesburg’s Mike Walker, who followed Favre’s Southern Miss career and has since traveled with his wife to Green Bay, New York and Minnesota to see Favre play.
Walker, like most Favre admirers in the PIne Belt, will remember what old No. 4 accomplished between the sidelines.
“It’s been a blast,” Walker said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since we were watching him play right here at USM, but I’m just grateful for all the fun he has let us have.”
For Walker, the negative press and NFL investigation pales in comparison with what Favre has done on the field.
“He’s human,” Walker said. “Humans make mistakes. There’s always going to be people who don’t care for him no matter what he does, but people don’t watch football games because of what players do off of the playing field.”
But off the field may be where Favre leaves his biggest impact on the Pine Belt. He and his wife Deanna’s Fourward Foundation has donated more than $3 million to charities in Wisconsin and Mississippi, particularly southern Mississippi. A portion of those funds, donated to Hattiesburg’s Association for the Rights of Citizens with Developmental Disabilities, or ARC, helped to fund the building of a 7,500-square-foot multi-purpose building.
They’ve also contributed to Make A Wish, the Mississippi Special Olympics, the University of Southern Mississippi Children’s Center for Communication and Development and the Pink Ribbon Fund.
That’s just the way the Favres are, according to Oak Grove’s Bus Cook, who has built his sports agency around his first client.
A personal injuries lawyer when the two first met, Cook took Favre on, met with Favre’s father and former high school coach, affectionately nicknamed “Big Irv,” and a relationship that has spanned two decades blossomed.
“We were fast friends, and now we’re best friends,” Cook said. “That’s the way Brett is. Now, he’s my best friend, and in some ways more like a son to me than he is a client.”
But even Cook, the first and last agent to represent Favre, didn’t know how revered the quarterback would become when the two first met.
Today, Cook lists players like Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace, Falcons running back Michael Turner and Bears quarterback Jay Cutler among his clientele.
Still, he said, everyone asks about Favre.
“People are starting to ask how those other guys are doing,” he said. “But it always comes back to Brett. He’s the most popular player in the league, and has been for a long time. In fact, I can’t think of another player who has been as popular for as long as he has in a long, long time.”
