Favre’s NFL story will continue

BILOXI, Miss. – There were times, Scott Favre said, when the die had pretty much been cast.

The Green Bay Packers staggered out of the gate. They got waxed at Lambeau Field in mid-November, when the New England Patriots buried the Packers 35-0. Favre could see it in his younger brother’s eyes.

“When they were struggling early, I didn’t think Brett was coming back,” Favre said. “He wasn’t having fun. Things changed, and I’m glad Brett changed his mind.”

Packer Nation, no doubt, agrees.

Brett Favre will play a 17th NFL season. Hancock County’s favorite son could return for an 18th or even 19th, too, but it’s one year at a time these days. Sometimes, one game, or even one play. It’s a demanding game, violent by nature. But at its core, football is a game, and in Favre’s case, a passion.

You also could say it’s the family business.

Favre and his brothers, Scott and Jeff, learned how to play football in the backyard with their dad, the late Irvin Favre. Big Irv spent 28 years as a high school teacher and coach, all but four of them in Mississippi’s Hancock County. He was a charismatic figure, a personable guy who remembered names and never lost his zeal for the game.

Brett Favre played for his father at Hancock North Central High School, where they ran the wing-T offense and threw the ball five or six times a game. Maybe. He flew under the national recruiting radar and wound up at Southern Miss, where he quickly blossomed.

Irv and Bonita Favre followed Brett’s career from Hattiesburg, Miss., to Atlanta and ultimately to Green Bay, where he displaced Don Majkowski in his first season with the Packers. He hasn’t missed a start since. That’s 257 games. He has a flair for the dramatic and would do anything he could to win. Favre won three NFL Most Valuable Player awards and guided his team to victory in Super Bowl XXXI, which took place about an hour’s drive from the family home, at the Louisiana Superdome.

Irvin Favre would mingle with players, reporters and everybody else in the Packers’ locker room after a game. He was Brett’s dad, his mentor, his coach.

Irvin Favre died on Dec. 21, 2003, from a massive heart attack. He was 58. The Packers would play the Oakland Raiders the next night on “Monday Night Football” in Oakland, Calif. There was speculation about whether Brett Favre would actually play.

Of course Brett would play. It was a way to honor his father.

Favre played brilliantly that night, passing for 399 yards and four touchdowns in the Packers’ 41-7 rout of the Raiders.

“I wanted to do this for my dad,” Favre said afterward.

Favre kept playing, even though his buddies like Frank Winters, Doug Pedersen and Craig Nall had moved on. The Packers stayed competitive but finally hit a wall in 2005, when they went 4-12. Favre threw a league-high 29 interceptions and wondered if he wanted to come back.

He wondered for a long time. He decided to return to the Packers in late April.

The Packers had some decisive losses last season, but they’re a young team and showed some promise down the stretch. They finished 8-8.

“It’s a little different for Brett now,” Scott Favre said. “His friends aren’t around any more. But we were hoping he’d come back. … It’s fun for all of us.”

Brett left a telephone message for the Sun Herald’s Al Jones, who has known the family for decades, early Friday morning. It was, shall we say, on the mischievous side. Favre wanted Al to call him. He had some news to share.

“I am so excited about coming back,” Favre said. “We have a good nucleus of young players. We were 8-8 last year, and that’s encouraging.”

It’s encouraging news for the Favre family, too. They’ll all be attending games at Lambeau Field in seven months or so, sharing the moment, missing Irv but knowing how much he’d enjoy it, too.

“The biggest thing that haunts me,” Bonita Favre said, “is all the times Irv said, ‘I wonder who’s going to introduce Brett at the Pro Football Hall of Fame?’ He said, ‘I sure hope it will be me.’ It’s not a thing I’ve brought up with Brett, but something I think about all the time.”

That’s what Irvin Favre meant to Brett, and vice versa.