Brett's back
Packers quarterback says he likes direction in which team is heading
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Feb. 2, 2007
Miami - The answer came in a phone call to general manager Ted Thompson Friday morning right around the time Green Bay was warming up to a toasty 5 degrees.
I am so excited about coming back. We have a good nucleus of young players
"I think I'll go one more time," quarterback Brett Favre told Thompson.
Thirty-three days from the night he broke down in tears on national television after a stellar season-ending performance against the Chicago Bears, Favre was officially back on board.
Before Thompson had a chance to even tell CEO Bob Harlan, news had broken through the Sun-Herald in Biloxi, Miss., that Favre would return in 2007. Immediately after phoning Thompson, Favre called teammate Donald Driver, who was celebrating his 32nd birthday, and longtime friend and reporter Al Jones of the Sun-Herald to inform them of his decision.
Soon it seemed to be on every Web site purporting to offer breaking news.
Thompson said Favre, who turns 38 in October, did not say anything about this being his final season, and he didn't ask if it would be. He said he had no doubt Favre would be fully committed to getting himself ready to withstand another grueling season.
"I think when a player of his caliber is around, it's a positive; it can't be anything but a positive," Thompson said. "We have two quarterbacks, Aaron (Rodgers) and Brett, who can play, and that will make us even better. It's good for the team."
At Super Bowl XLI, former Packers assistant coach Steve Mariucci heard the news of Favre's decision and dialed up his close friend. Just two days earlier, Mariucci had a heart-to-heart talk with Favre about whether to come back and was awaiting his decision.
Mariucci, an analyst for the NFL Network, was live on set at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's news conference at Super Bowl XLI media headquarters when he got wind of the report from the Sun-Herald.
Call to Mariucci
"I had called him when I heard the news and said, 'Call me back; is it true? If it's true, I'd like to talk to you about it,' " Mariucci said. "I put it (the cell phone) on vibrate, and he started buzzing my phone. As we're talking (on the live set), I took the call and I was talking to him right on the air.
"He goes, 'I'm catching it on NFL Network in my kitchen.' "
Favre told Mariucci that he was excited about playing another season and was committed to making it one of his best. In his short interview with the Sun-Herald, Favre - who did not make himself available to any other news outlets - said he was coming back because he liked the direction in which the team was headed.
"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. My offensive line looks good, the defense played good down the stretch. I'm excited about playing for a talented, young football team."
According to Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, the Packers had set the Super Bowl as the deadline for letting them know whether he was coming back. Favre began seriously contemplating his future this week, calling coach Mike McCarthy early in the week and then consulting with Mariucci, his quarterbacks coach from 1992-'95.
Favre's return means he will have a legitimate shot at breaking Dan Marino's all-time mark of 420 career touchdown passes, as well as several other notable records. He needs seven more touchdown passes to break the touchdown mark and 3,862 passing yards to surpass Marino's career yardage mark of 61,361.
Favre also needs just two more victories to pass John Elway and become the winningest quarterback ever. He also is four shy of tying George Blanda's career mark of 277 interceptions. His 237 consecutive regular-season starts are an all-time NFL record and are 93 games ahead of the next longest streak.
Few people doubted whether Favre was physically capable of competing at a high level, especially after he threw for 285 yards and a touchdown against the Bears in the season finale. Overall, his interceptions were down from 29 in 2005 to 18 in '06, and his passer rating increased slightly from 70.9 to 72.7.
Cook said Favre was encouraged about the team's direction but wouldn't mind having some more playmakers to go with Driver.
"He feels the defense is in good shape," Cook said. "But you'd like to see some changes. We never talk about that, but I'm sure he'd like to see a few things on offense. I would think they would get some guys who could be playmakers."
Cook shares representation with Oakland Raiders receiver Randy Moss and said he'd love to see Favre get the opportunity to play with him. The Raiders have been rumored to be willing to trade the moody Moss, but no one knows for sure whether that's going to happen.
"It would be an awesome thing to watch," Cook said.
Said Thompson, "We don't talk about other people."
Family matters
Off the field, Favre's biggest concern with returning appeared to be family matters. His daughter, Brittany, has been attending high school in Hattiesburg, Miss., while Favre's wife, Deanna, and younger daughter, Breleigh, spend the season in Green Bay.
Next fall, Brittany is expected to attend college, and Favre was concerned about spending even less time with her. But retiring wasn't going to bring him any closer because she probably will be attending school in another state.
"Brittany is going to go away to college whether he's living in Mississippi or Green Bay," Mariucci said. "She's going away to college, I'm pretty sure. She hadn't made up her mind when I saw her in Green Bay. She was talking about a variety of schools she's considering."
Deanna, meanwhile, continues to support her husband's career.
"Evidently she (Deanna) signed off on this," Mariucci said.
Cook said Favre had shied away from having surgery on his left ankle because he didn't want to be laid up during the time he was at home in Mississippi.
"He wouldn't be able to drive those bulldozers and tractors" if he was recovering from surgery, Cook said.
Thompson said he still thought there was a possibility the surgery would take place, but he wasn't worried about it now. He said Favre and McCarthy would work out details on whether he would have to attend mini-camps in the spring.
Favre is due a base salary of $11 million next season and will count $11.8 million against the salary cap. The Packers are almost $28.5 million beneath the league's projected $109 million salary cap for next season, so they have no need to restructure his contract to give them relief.
The return of Favre would seem to be as big a boon to the NFL as it is to the Packers.
"There's a great feeling in the building today," Harlan said. "It's a great relief. I just think it's great for the NFL. I've always said it will be a sad day when he leaves for Green Bay and also the league. He presents a great image for the league. I think the fans need to see a professional football player act the way he does."
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