Favre, the Green And Gold Standard

"I'd like to tell you there's some big secret, but there is none," said Brett Favre, of his career resurgence this season that has the Packers at 4-1 after a loss to the Bears on Sunday. (AP)

"This game is hard to let go, regardless of who you are," Packers tight end Bubba Franks said. "We've been doing this since we were kids, and all of the sudden, not doing it one year, that's pretty much unheard of."

At a recent news conference, Favre grasped the top edges of a lectern with both hands as he peered out at a room full of reporters awaiting his response. Why were you so emotional after that Bears game last season? His forehead wrinkled momentarily as he mulled over the answer, light shining off the gray hair still flattened from the helmet he had worn at the day's practice.

And then it appeared, that sly grin Favre has flashed since his earliest days in the league. "Because I was thinking I'd probably never get a chance to be up here in front of you guys again. It really hurt me," he said before raising his right arm and hoisting an imaginary beer can in the air. "I should have actually been toasting."

Favre then spoke more seriously about how aware he was at the time that the final day on the 2006 calendar might also be the final day of his professional football career.

"It was spontaneous; there was nothing fabricated about that," he said of his response. "I wanted to get everything out of it that night like I have throughout my career, and it all just kind of came to a head. I got caught at an awkward moment, too, but here I am."

Franks said he knew all along Favre would return for another season. What was the quarterback going to do? Go hunting every day? Franks said that's not really in Favre's nature.

For all the ways in which Favre has remained the same this season, he has come to grips with his football mortality -- and it has made him a different kind of leader.

"Just from last year to this year, I think he's more comfortable with the guys around him, and I think he knows what we're capable of doing," Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings said. "He knows he's a big part of what our success will be this year."

During a 23-16 win Sept. 30 against the Minnesota Vikings, Favre hit Jennings on a 16-yard slant route in the first quarter that turned into the 421st touchdown pass of Favre's career, moving him past former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino for the No. 1 spot on the all-time list.

After hugging several teammates on the sideline, Favre sprinted over to Jennings and lifted the receiver up on his shoulders, a grin plastered on his face the entire time.

"Winning's going to give everyone an opportunity to have a little bit more fun," said Rob Davis, the Packers' long snapper for the past 11 seasons and one of Favre's closest friends on the team. "I think he's probably relieved some of those records are behind him now so he can concentrate on finishing his career in the manner that he has the last 15 years."

It's a manner Favre formed while he was still considered to be a bull-headed college prospect.

For an entire week leading up to a Southern Miss game against Tulane in 1988, Bower implored his stubborn quarterback to check for the option -- yes, the option -- at the line of scrimmage. "I told [Favre], 'You're probably going to miss it,' " Bower said. "Sure enough, he checked for it."

On a third down and five, Favre read the defensive formation, audibled to the option and took off for a 20-yard gain. As Favre ran back to the huddle, he looked up to the coaches' box and pointed right at his offensive coordinator as if to say, "I didn't miss the check, Coach." Though long past his option-running days, Favre still has the guile to make a broken play work to his advantage. And he still has the spunk to remind his audience when he has done so.

"If you watch him play now, you never would have thought this guy was contemplating retirement," said Bower, who occasionally has Favre on his weekly radio show. "You don't know till he takes his helmet off that he's as old as he is.

"I'd like to see him play another year. The guy has fun."