After 2007 Season Will QB Favre Retire?

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http://www2.jsonline.com/packer/ins...url=http://www2.jsonline.com/story/?id=640599

Despite the critics, Favre remains adored

The gray-haired old gentleman was remarkably spry as he moved about Clarke Hinkle Field. But why was there a football in his right hand where an AARP card belongs? Shouldn't this geezer be more concerned about breaking his hip rather than the passing records of Dan Marino? Hey, No. 4, time to pack it in and call it a career. Hop on your lawn tractor, grandpa, and ride off into the sunset on your way to the nursing home. These are the images and messages being sent to one Brett Lorenzo Favre as he prepares for his 17th season in the National Football League, and his 16th as the heart, soul and arm of the Green Bay Packers. The negative pictures and suggestions come from a cadre of critics, most of them toiling from a safe distance, well beyond the boundaries of the Dairy State. Some write newspaper and Internet columns. Then there are the bloggers. The squawk radio shows. And TV's talking heads. Or maybe it's your neighbor, Jerry, wailing to you over the backyard fence. Or your barber. How about that bartender in Minneapolis or the cop in Chicago?

Brett Favre's critics might be getting louder, but according to his friend, Donald Driver, teammates and fans believe in their quarterback now as much as they ever did. They all have one thing in common, according to Donald Driver, Favre's close friend and business associate: "They don't know him, plain and simple," Driver said after a recent training camp practice. "Everyone is going to say what they want to say about everyone in this locker room. Not just Brett, but everyone. But if you don't know him, then you can't make any decisions on his career. "You can have an opinion. But if you don't know him, if you haven't seen him . . . You see him out there throwing and everybody's screaming, 'I love you Brett, I love this, I love that.' "I think everyone in this locker room, especially the receivers, we know he can still throw. That's the test, that we know he can still throw."

Driver has known Favre since 1999 when the wide receiver from Alcorn State defied the odds and moved from lowly seventh-round draft choice to be become the quarterback's No. 1 wide receiver and a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Favre has thrown 414 touchdown passes and needs just seven more to break Marino's all-time NFL record. Driver has been the catcher on 34 of those strikes, trailing only Antonio Freeman (57) and Sterling Sharpe (41). But the real hookup between quarterback and receiver has nothing to do with numbers. What has Favre really meant to Driver? "Everything," Driver said. "As a friend, as a teammate. I mean, I love him just like I would love my mom, my dad, my brothers. He's like family to me. Just like I'm family to him, and I think he would say that, too.

"When you have that relationship between two people, it makes it hard to separate. Because they always say, people don't buy friends. I didn't have to buy his (friendship). He didn't have to buy mine. We just became one. "And when you have that, it makes it so easy for both of us to tell another man that you love him. Grown men don't say that. But I can be the first to say that . . . I can tell Brett that I love him, and I'll bet you he'll say the same thing about me."

Meanwhile, back at the Favre critics; there seems to be way too much focus on numbers and just not enough on, well . . . love. Last season Favre threw a career-high 613 passes, but threw the fewest touchdowns (18) since 1992, his first season with Green Bay. The number most people dwell on, however, is 38: Favre's age as of October 10. They say 38 is the age of no return for NFL quarterbacks. Nobody - or anything without a cork - gets better with age. Favre is no exception. He doesn't move as well as once did and doesn't run much anymore. And he frequently misfires on throws that were bull's-eyes 10 years ago. But football is the ultimate team game and Favre's "low" touchdown production last season had more to do with his supporting cast and Green Bay's offensive scheme than the quarterback's ability.

Green Bay was a day-care center in 2006, featuring a roster loaded with kids. Specifically, as many as three rookies could be found starting in the offensive line. To protect those linemen while they learned, the Packers frequently kept a tight end in the backfield or slot to help with pass blocking. So Favre found himself throwing more and enjoying it less. Open receivers were hard to come by. Sure, Favre threw his share of bad passes and interceptions (18), but it was the team passing game that suffered the most. Eight times in Favre's career, he threw 30 or more touchdown passes. But he got more help from his friends in those days than he did last season.

That could change his fall. The line is much improved, freeing the tight ends to look more for passes than oncoming linebackers. And Green Bay has 12 quality wide receivers. When the Packers trim that number to five, many of the casualties will find immediate employment elsewhere in the NFL. Favre led the offense on the first day of training camp Saturday, but was called away when tragedy struck his family. His wife Deanna's stepfather, Rocky Byrd, died at the age of 56, in Gulfport, Miss. Favre missed the morning workout Sunday, practiced that night, then left early Monday for Mississippi. He was expected back at practice Thursday. And when he returns, Driver will be there for his friend and teammate.

Last season, Favre and Driver launched a post-touchdown tradition, with the quarterback carrying the receiver on his shoulder after a touchdown connection. Now, with Favre stalking Marino, Driver has a new wrinkle: "Instead of him carrying me, we as a group of receivers, we may get together and just start carrying him every time he throws a touchdown. Just go grab him and carry him off the field." Meanwhile, Favre's critics will get carried away as they always have.
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http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=641707

Workouts paying off for Favre Innovative regimen keeps him in shape

There are pads you can wear on your ribs, braces you can wrap around your knees and orthotics you can put in your shoes, but when you play in the National Football League, there is no measure of protection against old age. When the body signals the end, it's over. It hasn't happened yet to the Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre, who at age 37 is the oldest starting quarterback in the NFL and the second-oldest quarterback overall. If it doesn't happen this season, Favre can at least be assured that he will be in the best physical condition he possibly could. He and his personal trainer, Ken Croner, have seen to that, teaming on an eight-week program designed to sharpen the skills Favre needs most to play quarterback.

"Brett, his focus, his determination and the effort he put in, I can't even tell you," said Croner, a performance specialist for Athletes' Performance in Tempe, Ariz. "He looks better now than he did two years ago when I worked with him. I'm talking about movement, physically, everything. "He's made the commitment to do everything he possibly could to get himself ready for the season. There's nothing that I do. It's Brett Favre. His work ethic makes this program work....But I can tell you he's moving better than (two years ago). I admire Brett, how he plays and why he plays and his work ethic. The time and effort he put in was amazing. It really is...."

Designing the program

Favre, who had to leave camp Monday after the death of his wife's stepfather and will return to practice today, sat down with Croner and broke down the quarterback position for him so he would understand what areas to focus on. Croner watched DVDs of Favre playing regular-season games and devised exercises designed to simulate the physical stress the quarterback will be under this year. Using bungee ropes tied to Favre's waist, he had the quarterback drop back to pass under resistance. Sometimes it was a three-step drop, other times it was a five- or seven-step drop. Sometimes it was a rollout. Each repetition was timed precisely to coincide with how long Favre would have to get back to the line of scrimmage in a real game.

Over and over

Croner sometimes had Favre run the drill seven times to simulate a seven-play drive. Then he had him run it three times. On some days, by the time they were done, they had gone through an entire game. "We got really creative," Croner said. "When I was out here two years ago, we really put our heads together, and it's gotten better over time. The most creative things, we had some drills where I had him hooked up to a bungee and had him go with a five-step drop. "I would drop the bungee, and I'd have him pick up an 8-pound medicine ball and throw it. Then I'd make him come back to the line. He's a little fatigued from the drop. In essence, we're trying to simulate him throwing a pass when he's tired." Croner also had an apparatus that he could connect to both himself and to Favre, allowing Favre to get more creative with the drops. "It allows him to rotate when he drops back," Croner said. "With a regular bungee he's dropping straight back. With this apparatus he's rolling out with me. He takes a three-step drop, looks, coverage is tight. He rolls right, coverage is still tight. He's got to backpedal and go to the left. All this time he has resistance.

"What does the resistance do? It forces him to focus on form and technique moving at an efficient speed." During all of his exercises, Favre wore a heart monitor so he could see his gains in cardiovascular conditioning. Getting in better condition makes his heart rate drop faster after a play and cuts the fatigue he would feel for the next play.

A big focus of the program is keeping alive the spring in Favre's legs. He doesn't run as he did a decade ago, but as long as his feet are still quick, he can sidestep pressure and plant his feet to throw after sprinting out of the pocket. "I never have him run farther than 10 yards," Croner said. "If you think about what he does in the huddle, we're working more on timing as far as his feet, being able to move efficiently. I want him to be powerful from the bottom up. It's getting Brett in a situation where he has control of his body." Favre's sore shoulder from the end of the June practices cleared up in the final weeks before training camp, so there are not too many concerns there.

Still, as he nears his 38th birthday in October, Favre knows time is running out on his career. But if he still has the mental and physical skills to be a top quarterback in the NFL, he'll not have squandered a shot at one last hurrah by neglecting his body. In a season with so many question marks, the Packers can at least be assured of that.
 

spardo62

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I really think he is the type of person who would be lost without football in his life, which makes it difficult to walk away. Throw in NFL records, money, etc. and it is exponentially more difficult.

I say, save unforeseen circumstances, he will come back next year for sure and possibly the following year as well.
 

RainX

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38 seems to be that magical age for many a HoF QB to walk away.

Elway, Marino, and Montana all retired when they were 38 which Brett will be come October.

Unless he feels this team has an absolutely stellar chance at making a SB next year, considering how much time he took to decide to come back after '05, and the media fervor he created over his disdain for the way the Packers handled their off-season this past 6 months, I think this is going to be his NFL swan song.
 

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I voted maybe.

If we have a terrible year - he'll walk.
If we make the playoffs - he'll stay, but...

If we win the Superbowl - he'll walk.
 

vike4life

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If we win the Superbowl - he'll walk.

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

That is not going to happen.
 
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ESPN JOHN CLAYTON'S VIEW

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp07/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2958304

Favre knows his future is now

Five years ago, Brett Favre's daughter tried to help him bridge the generation gap between him and his younger teammates. She bought him an iPod. Until last year, it stayed in the box. Seeing an entire locker room of 22- and 23-year-olds chilling to tunes last season, Favre finally opened the box, had his daughter download some songs and headed to the airport to catch the team plane. "Is there actually music in there?" players joked to the new, hipper Favre. "My cell phone is seven years old," Favre said. "But mine is the only one that works on a daily basis." It's not easy being Brett Favre these days. He operates in a locker room of young strangers. He knows I formations and X receivers more than he does iPods and Xboxes, and the generation gap within his huddle is growing.

"I have people tell me all the time that they feel for me," Favre said. "They say, 'You don't have any friends.' That's not necessarily true. It's business to me now. I take losses tougher now than I ever did. Most of my career, I didn't have many losses." Don't misunderstand Favre. He loves the game of football and the Packers. He loves his teammates. Remember, he decided to return and isn't looking back on that choice. Still, it's an adjustment running a huddle filled with kids only four or five years older than his daughter. He didn't create the generation gap, the reconfiguration of Green Bay's roster did. But make no mistake about Favre's agenda this year. He's focused on only one thing: winning. He hopes everyone is with him because the clock is ticking. Although many believe Favre could play past this season, Favre understands the importance of this year. "Any more 4-12, 8-8 seasons at my salary, it's time to cut your losses," Favre said. "I hope that doesn't happen."

Favre came back for a 17th season to win, but his return to the Packers may be most ironic occurrence in the NFL this season. He's on a team that is building for the future, and although he could play a few more years, those who know Favre understand his biological clock. His future, at age 37, is now. With the possible exception of Roger Clemens' tour of the Yankees minor league teams during his prep starts for this year, Favre is in one of the more amazing generation gaps in sports. He's within a couple years of being old enough to be some of his teammates' fathers. Being hip and young is one thing, but being able to communicate with youth is another. Still, Favre's teammates say it's a fun interaction. "He's a character," said 23-year-old wide receiver Greg Jennings. "He's great. I love his stories. He never stops."

One has to wonder whether Favre revealed to his young audience what he was like as a 22-year-old. How he was so wild as a rookie the Falcons traded him to Green Bay, giving the Packers a quarterback for the ages. He remembers being young and thinking he could play forever in this league. While Favre has seemingly played forever, he has also watched so many players who couldn't. Those experiences made him appreciate the importance of now. "Young guys are thinking like this is going to go on forever," Favre said. "I don't have much time left. I'm here to win."

There were times when it was tough for Favre to fly home after a loss. He'd sit in his seat doing a crossword puzzle to keep busy, but his mind would be racing through the mistakes made in defeat and the corrections needed for the next game. What was worse were some of the sounds he'd hear on those flights home. "Sometimes coming back on planes you can't tell if we won or lost," Favre said. "You hear some players in the back laughing. I don't question whether or not they care -- I know they do care -- but it's a big difference for me." While Favre loves the game, he drags through some of the mundane tasks more than he did in the past. He laughs when he sees young players eagerly zipping along for practice. He tells the anecdote of training at his daughter's high school this offseason. Favre would struggle through a workout. When he'd finish, kids would come over and ask if he was going to run with them, prompting a Favre grumble.

"I see guys here running around being energetic," Favre said. "No thanks. I'm just trying to get through the day." Favre keeps preaching to turn young energy into football efficiency. The offense, after all, doesn't work consistently if mistakes are made at 110 percent effort. He wants his teammates to be accountable and constantly improving. Although 8-8 isn't Favre's goal, he had his moments last season, and there are still has a few old-school Packers around. Wide receiver Donald Driver, 32, has been around long enough to know what makes Favre tick. "He's OK if you keep him laughing," Driver said. "I remember a play in the Seattle game last year. I caught his eye on a pass and took it 48 yards for a score. Before he threw it, he looks at me and winks. Having fun is the way to keep him enjoying the game. Once he gets to the point where he doesn't enjoy the game, that's when he will retire."

Though Favre saw some good, he also saw the bad last season. It affects him because he wants to win and mistakes drive him crazy. That, in itself, is funny. Favre used to complain about Mike Holmgren beating him up for mistakes. Now, the 37-year-old sounds Holmgren-like. Jennings, for example, ran a deep route when he was supposed to run a short hitch. Vikings corner Fred Smoot intercepted Favre's pass to the shorter route and returned it for a touchdown. That throw, toward the end of last season, was one of the nagging interceptions that stayed with him.

"The hardest thing is my focus and their focus are different," Favre said. "I guess in some ways, I was the same way when I was younger. You think you are going to be around forever. After a bad play, you think, 'Oh, well.' I just think I'm here for one reason -- to win." Camp started tough for Favre. Rocky Byrd, his wife's stepfather whom Favre was very close to, passed away. It forced him to miss a good portion of this week's practice. Favre hated to leave because he wants to practice hard and even wants to play more in the preseason. He knows the importance of this camp. "I worry because I don't have any chemistry with the running backs," Favre said. "Noah Herron has been around the longest, but I don't know how much he'll be in there. I don't know if one guy likes the handoff at one angle or another angle. We have such a small window, I need all the time we can get." Favre just wishes his daughter could download some of those experienced Packers onto his iPod.

Note: The Packers' offensive line has gone from being a weakness to a strength. Check out what else John Clayton observed at Packers camp
 

porky88

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I said Maybe and here is why.

If the Packers make it to the Super Bowl and win it, he will retire. If the Packers don't make the playoffs because they finish with a record of 7 wins or less, he will retire. If Brett Favre struggles and has a horrible season, he will retire.

I think he'll come back if the Packers make it to the playoffs or win 9 or more games this year. Ultimately though predicting what Brett Favre is going to do at the end of the season is like predicting what the weather will be like on this day in 1.5 million years. We just don't know.
 

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I said Maybe and here is why.

If the Packers make it to the Super Bowl and win it, he will retire. If the Packers don't make the playoffs because they finish with a record of 7 wins or less, he will retire. If Brett Favre struggles and has a horrible season, he will retire.

I think he'll come back if the Packers make it to the playoffs or win 9 or more games this year. Ultimately though predicting what Brett Favre is going to do at the end of the season is like predicting what the weather will be like on this day in 1.5 million years. We just don't know.

I agree 100% it kinda sucks for Rodgers tho
 
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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=halloffame/nfl1-10

Quarterback Brett Favre is No. 1 on ESPN.com's list of the 50 active players most likely to make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Who's ticketed for Canton?

The Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomes six new members into its exclusive fraternity this weekend. The additions of Gene Hickerson, Michael Irvin, Bruce Matthews, Charlie Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Roger Wehrli will bring the total number of players enshrined in Canton to 208. This made us wonder which active players will ultimately walk across the stage at Fawcett Stadium wearing tacky bright yellow jackets and huge grins. Matthews will become the 36th player from the 1985 NFL season to make the Hall of Fame. Fifty-four players from 1975 and 58 players from 1965 have been so honored. Therefore, it's reasonable to expect that at least 50 players from the upcoming season will land in Canton.

After extensive research, fact-checking, educated guessing and hunch playing, here are 50 active NFL players we predict will someday be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, listed in order of predicted Hall of Fame probability. Perhaps not everyone on this list will appear to be Hall of Fame material at first glance. Some might have to wait a few years to gain entry -- one of this year's inductees, Hickerson, last played in 1973. We rated players on a 20-point scale in five categories. Details are found in the ratings key on the right side of the page. Before you post a snarky comment at the bottom of this page … understand that these are predictions. Very few active players would be locks for the Hall of Fame if they retired today. That leaves the door open to interpretation on who else will fill the field of 50 -- even a couple players who have yet to take a regular-season snap.

1. Brett Favre
At the top of the heap is an obvious pick. Favre's body of work is unmatched among active quarterbacks. The three-time NFL MVP ranks second in career passing yards (57,500 -- 3,861 shy of Dan Marino), and is poised to break Marino's all-time record for touchdown passes. Favre has 414 career TD passes, six shy of the record. Favre's résumé also includes back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI. The face of the Packers' franchise since the early 1990s, Favre has been a fierce competitor and a model of durability. His consecutive games streak is at 237 and counting, an NFL record for quarterbacks. He also boasts 15 consecutive seasons with at least 300 completions and 3,000 passing yards.
 
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FAVRE ON ESPN NFL LIVE

http://packerfansunited.blogspot.com/2007/08/favre-speaks-on-sports-center.html

Favre speaks on Sports Center

Brett Favre was featured on a segment of today's ESPN Sports Center. He said he returned for another season because he felt he could still play. Said he'd know it was time to retire when the team either makes it clear that it's moving in another direction or he feels he can no longer make the plays he used to make and needed to make. When asked about his frustration this Spring with the Packers inability to pick up wide receiver Randy Moss, Brett said he knew the team had money available and that he doesn't have a lot of time left to develop chemistry with young players. Essentially, although he didn't say it, Brett knows his window is closing and he -- like many fans -- couldn't understand why GM Ted Thompson didn't do everything possible to bring Moss in. (The flip side of that story, as we now know, is that the Packers did pursue a trade for Moss but were beat out by the Patriots.) There will be more of an extended version of this interview segment on ESPN at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time Sunday.
 

Lare

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Personally, I think Brett's decision making process on playing another year goes something like this:

"Let's see, I get $11 million for playing, 0 for not; $11 million for playing, 0 for not,.............Hmmmmmm, what should I do?"
 

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I'd love to see Brett play until his early 40s. Why not?
This may be Brett's last year in a Packer uniform. If so, Packers will still be my favorite team and the team Brett goes to will be my 2nd favorite team until he retires, kind of like how Niner fans rooted for the Chiefs as long as they weren't playing the Niners when Montana went there.
 

Heatherthepackgirl

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Personally, I think Brett's decision making process on playing another year goes something like this:

"Let's see, I get $11 million for playing, 0 for not; $11 million for playing, 0 for not,.............Hmmmmmm, what should I do?"

I really dont think with Brett that the money is everything, Im sure it helps but hes more for the game of football, he loves it, its in his blood. Plus I think he would miss it alot when he retires.

I voted "Maybe" he would retire, we dont know what the season holds for him or any other football players, its a rough sport. He is getting older and maybe eventually he will wants to spend time with his family. We wont know til next season. Im just glad this season he was able to tell his fans he was coming back a bit sooner then last year. The wait was killing me. I hope next year he comes back, if he still has it in him why not?
 

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