What was in the Lions newspapter about Brett.

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Favre may be on last trip to Detroit
BY SHAWN WINDSOR
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

September 24, 2006

Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre will try to use his golden arm to lead the Packers (0-2) to their first win of the season today against the Lions (0-2) at Ford Field.

On the receiving end
Free Press sports writer George Sipple asked Packers rookie receiver Greg Jennings from Western Michigan about his quarterback, Brett Favre:

How tough is it to catch a pass from Brett? "I wouldn't say it's tough, you just have to be alert at all times. He's one of those quarterbacks, he'll tight-fit any ball that you wouldn't expect to put in there. Wherever you are on the field, Brett might find you when you might not expect him to."

Have your hands hurt catching his passes, or is that just a myth? "No. I don't think it's a myth. You see him drop back and it'll wake you up a little bit."

What's it like to be in the huddle with him? Is he an intimidating presence? "No, not at all. He's actually a character. He's probably the biggest character on the team. He's not uptight. He's never yelled at me, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get my share. He'll get in your ear."

Brett Favre threw 29 interceptions last year. He finished with the worst passer rating -- 70.9 -- of his 16-year career. His Packers lost 12 games.

But when Favre runs onto Ford Field today in what likely is his last visit to Detroit, Marcus Pollard won't take his eyes off the iconic quarterback.

"We all are going to have a decline," said the Lions' veteran tight end, "but I still enjoy watching him play, because I still see a quarterback that has a passion."

In fact, Pollard so admires the swashbuckling Packer that last year when Green Bay played in Detroit, Pollard asked Favre during warm-ups if the quarterback would throw him a pass, just for a story to tell.

Favre did. Pollard got ragged by his teammates. He didn't care.

"I would like to have played with Brett," Pollard said. "He's done so much for the game."

Even at 36, Favre's presence inspires near worship. He has been a fixture in Detroit the last 15 years, the face of the division rival Packers and, some might argue, the face of professional football.

Most of the current Lions can't remember the days when Favre tortured Detroit during the early '90s. Twice, Favre beat the Lions in the playoffs. Most famously, in January 1994, he led an inferior Packers team to victory, heaving a late-game bomb to Sterling Sharpe. The Packers won, 28-24.

The Packers went on to Super Bowls in the following years. The Lions clung to respectability before starting a long, painful slide.

All most current Lions know is that Favre arrives for today's game with a wounded and dangerous team. The Packers are 0-2. That start follows the worst season Favre has had since he took over the starting job in 1992. Yet Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said this week that his quarterback still has gas in the tank.

"He probably doesn't run as well as he used to," McCarthy said. "He doesn't throw the ball through the wall like he used to. He puts a dent in it, though."

And that fact, said Lions safety Terrence Holt, makes Favre unpredictable.

"He will make you pay if you are not sharp," Holt said. "He will do some things that are unorthodox."

In other words, he still flings the ball all over the field. He's always been a high-risk player, which earned him three NFL MVPs -- the only player in history to do that -- and leads him to throw interceptions most quarterbacks would rather avoid.

"He's trying to win a football game," said Lions quarterback Jon Kitna. "He doesn't care about his quarterback rating. ... He's not trying to lose pretty. That's the way Brett plays."

And that is what attracts NFL players, that aura. That is what made Lions backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky stop in his tracks last season during the Lions' home opener.

"We were warming up, and he walks out of the tunnel," Orlovsky recalled. "And I just stood there for, like, 10 minutes. I wanted to watch him. Because growing up, he was THE guy. I was in awe."

One of Orlovsky's teammates came up to him during his trance and asked him what he was doing.

"And I said, 'Bro, it's Brett Favre.' " His teammate told him to stop being star-struck.

And at that moment, Orlovsky realized he was in the NFL, "on the same field with a legend."

Today, sometime after 1 p.m., Favre will trot onto the field in Detroit one more time -- probably one last time. The team he faces will desperately want to beat him, because of who he is, because of who his team is -- a division rival -- and because, let's face it, the Lions just plain need a win. But there will be moments, too, when the old quarterback unleashes that golden arm and squeezes a football where it has no right to be. And his opponents will quietly nod to themselves.
 

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