Brett Favre

Brett Lorenzo Favre ( FARV; born October 10, 1969) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 2010, including 297 regular season games, the most in league history. He was also the first NFL quarterback to obtain 70,000 yards, 10,000 passes, 6,000 completions, 500 touchdowns, and victories over all 32 teams.

Favre played college football for the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and was selected in the second round of the 1991 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent one season as a backup. Traded to the Packers, he became their starter early in the 1992 season and revitalized a franchise which had been in a period of decline since the late 1960s. During his 16 seasons with Green Bay, he led the team to 11 playoff appearances, seven division titles, four NFC Championship Games, two consecutive Super Bowl appearances, and one championship title in Super Bowl XXXI, the team's first in nearly three decades. Favre was traded in 2008 to the New York Jets, where he played one year, and spent his final two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. His 2009 campaign for the Vikings saw him guide them to a division title and NFC Championship Game appearance, while having one of his strongest statistical seasons.

At the time of his retirement, Favre was the NFL leader in passing completions, passing attempts, passing yards, passing touchdowns, and quarterback wins. He continues to hold the record for career interceptions with 336. From 1995 to 1997, he was named Most Valuable Player three times, the most the award was consecutively received. Favre also received 11 Pro Bowl and three first-team All-Pro selections. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

In 2022, Favre began to face controversy for the Mississippi welfare funds scandal after investigations determined $8 million intended for welfare programs went to Favre or causes he championed. Favre has denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against the State Auditor of Mississippi and two media personalities over their coverage of him.

Early life

Brett Favre was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, the son of Bonita Ann (née French) and Irvin Ernest Favre, and raised in the small town of Kiln. Both of his parents were schoolteachers in the Hancock County School District. He is of part French ancestry. One of his ancestors is Simon Favre, a Louisiana Creole and an influential figure in Spanish West Florida in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; Brett descends from Simon's Choctaw Native American mistress, Pistikiokonay, and thus his grandfather was affiliated with the Choctaw.

Brett was the second of four children and attended Hancock North Central High School, where he played baseball and football. Favre started for the Hancock North Central baseball team as an eighth-grader and earned five varsity letters. He played quarterback, lineman, strong safety, placekicker, and punter in a primarily option, run-oriented offense coached by his father, Irvin Favre, who was the head coach of the Hawks football team.

Irvin Favre said he knew his son had a great arm but also knew the school had good running backs. As a result, in the three years Brett was on the team, his father ran the wishbone, a run-oriented offense. Favre rarely threw more than five passes in a game. Southern Mississippi assistant coach Mark McHale, who was scouting new football recruits for the school, watched Favre play during a Hancock North Central football game after receiving recommendation from many nearby coaches. McHale, observing Favre mostly hand the ball off in running plays in the two games he watched, was set on leaving when he suddenly saw Favre throw the ball in such a captivating way he later described it by saying the ball "had smoke and flames coming off it".

College career

After high school, Southern Mississippi offered Favre a football scholarship at the urging of assistant coach McHale, which was the only one he received. Southern Miss wanted him to play defensive back, but Favre wanted to play quarterback instead. Favre began his freshman year as the seventh-string quarterback and took over the starting position in the second half of the third game of the year against Tulane on September 19, 1987. Favre, despite suffering a hangover from the night before and vomiting during warm-ups, led the Golden Eagles to a come-from-behind victory with two touchdown passes. Favre started ten games during his freshman year and won six of them.

In his junior season, Favre led the Golden Eagles to an upset of #6 Florida State on September 2, 1989. Favre capped a six-and-a-half-minute drive with the game-winning touchdown pass with 23 seconds remaining.

On July 14, 1990, before the start of Favre's senior year at Southern Miss, he was involved in a nearly fatal car accident. When going around a bend a few tenths of a mile from his parents' house, Favre lost control of his car, which flipped three times and came to rest against a tree. It was only after one of his brothers smashed a car window with a golf club Favre could be evacuated and rushed to the hospital. In the ambulance, his mother was sitting with him. "All I kept asking [her] was 'Will I be able to play football again?'" Favre recalled later. Doctors would later remove 30 inches (76 cm) of Favre's small intestine. Eight weeks after this incident, on September 8, Favre led Southern Miss to a comeback victory over Alabama. Alabama coach Gene Stallings said, "You can call it a miracle or a legend or whatever you want to. I just know that on that day, Brett Favre was larger than life."

Favre formerly held several Southern Miss football records until most were surpassed by Austin Davis by the end of the 2011 season. Favre had 15 games over his career where he compiled more than 200 passing yards, making him fourth in school history on the all–time list in the category. Of those 15 games, five were 300-yard games, the most compiled by any of the school's quarterbacks. Additionally, he was the seasonal leader in total passing and total offense in all four of his seasons at Southern Miss.

Favre earned a teaching degree with an emphasis in special education from the University of Southern Mississippi.

College statistics

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons (1991)

Favre was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round with the 33rd overall pick in the 1991 NFL draft. On July 19, 1991, Favre agreed to a three-year, US$1.4 million contract with a reported signing bonus of $350,000. Atlanta head coach Jerry Glanville did not approve of the drafting of Favre, saying it would take a plane crash for him to put Favre into the game. Favre's first pass in an NFL regular season game resulted in an interception returned for a touchdown in a week 11 game against the Washington Redskins. He only attempted four passes in his one season with Atlanta, going 0 for 4 with 2 interceptions. Favre took one other snap, which resulted in a sack for an eleven-yard loss.

Green Bay Packers (1992–2007)

On February 11, 1992, Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf traded the first-round pick his team had received from the Philadelphia Eagles (17th overall) in a trade the previous year to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for Favre. Wolf, while an assistant to the general manager of the New York Jets, had intended to take Favre in the 1991 NFL Draft, but Favre was taken by the Falcons on the previous pick.

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and other sources, during the physical after the trade, Favre was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the hip, the same degenerative condition which ended running back Bo Jackson's football career, and doctors recommended his physical be failed, which would nullify the trade. Wolf overruled them.

Favre played 16 seasons in Green Bay. During his time with the Packers, Favre was the first and only NFL player to win three consecutive AP MVP awards. He helped the Packers appear in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XXXI and losing Super Bowl XXXII. Favre started every Packers game from September 20, 1992, to January 20, 2008, a streak of 253 games. The record would continue after he left the Packers, reaching 297 games in the regular season. This remains the all-time record for consecutive starts in the NFL.