the bush before saying something like "he needs to learn in the NFL you got to quit partying during the week by Wednesday." Atlanta indeed had some party places.
Well, I'll be, not two weeks later, Feb. 10, 1992, the Packers send a first-round pick (19th overall) acquired from Philadelphia in a draft-day trade in 1991 to Atlanta for Favre, no more than a second-round pick who had thrown all of four passes his rookie season and who had 30 inches of his intestines removed that summer of '90 following the car accident.
"If it wasn't for Ron Wolf, there wouldn't be a Brett Favre," Harlan said.
He means that, because as the story goes, when Favre came to Green Bay for his physical to consecrate the trade, the Packers medical team flunked him after examining his leftover internal destruction from the car accident. A cold, stubborn Wolf, a little more than two months into his first general manager's job, said, "Pass him."
The rest has been Pro Football Hall of Fame-worthy history.
Or could it be, still is?
Did anyone else think it strange the wording on the Packers announcement, that Favre "intends" to retire? I mean, is there some wiggle room in there? Might he change his mind? Would the Packers allow him to change his mind? Or do the Packers even want him to change his mind?
I mean, there are reports out there claiming Favre talked to Randy Moss as recent as Friday trying to convince him to sign a free-agent deal with the Packers before he finally re-inked with the Patriots on Sunday. Come on, if accurate, Favre wasn't doing the Packers a recruiting favor so Rodgers could throw to Moss. So am I to understand he wanted to play as recent as Friday but by Tuesday he realized he was mentally exhausted and didn't want to go through the process a quarterback must to prepare for another season?
Strange.
Plus, there is this quote from his agent and good friend Bus Cook in the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger: "Nobody with the Packers pushed him out the door, but on the other hand, nobody, to my knowledge, really encouraged him to stay."
The Packers officials were hesitant to address such speculation during the press conference, constantly claiming this was "his decision," and who knows, maybe it was and it's indeed final.
But even McCarthy said during the press conference, "I think he could have played at the level he played this past season . . . had a lot left in his tank."
So it will be interesting to see if Favre actually files retirement papers with the league; if the Packers place him on reserve/retired, meaning they would retain his rights should he change his mind, or if they simply release him from the team's 80-man roster, which would officially give any interested team the opportunity to persuade him to play a possible 18th season.
If not, and we've seen all we're going to see, and boy, having watched the Cowboys through Favre's career, we saw an awful lot, getting a chance to see him play 11 times in person from 1993 through this season. Now the Cowboys did win nine of those games, but every single one of them at Texas Stadium, and losing the only two at Lambeau Field.
And in those games, while Favre had a hard time beating Troy Aikman & Co., he had these numbers: 233 of 382 for 2,536 yards, 17 touchdown and 11 interceptions. Again, the only unfortunate thing from a performance standpoint was this last appearance, when he completed just 5 of 14 passes for 56 yards and the Cowboys intercepted him twice before Jones put him out of commission with an elbow injury.
As Tony Romo says, after watching Favre while growing up in his home state of Wisconsin, "Brett is someone that I always held in the highest regard, first as a young person who grew up in Wisconsin, and then as a fellow NFL quarterback. His style of play was as unique as it was effective. I admired his skills, his leadership, and especially his love for playing the game. You knew he was having fun when he played, and that made him fun to watch."
Maybe that is it, his style of play was unique as it was effective. Maybe that's why you don't want to let go - accept that this is it for Favre, especially after the truly inspiring season he had this past
