Profile of Brett Favre on Famous Like Me

Position:	Quarterback
College:	Southern Miss
NFL draft:	1991, 2nd round, 33rd overall, Atlanta Falcons
Pro career:	15 seasons
Hall of Fame:	None (still active)

Brett Lorenzo Favre (born October 10, 1969 in Gulfport, Mississippi) has been the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers American football team in the National Football League since 1992. Many consider Favre one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL, and he is considered to be a lock to enter the Football Hall of Fame.

Kiln, Mississippi

Favre went to Hancock North Central High School in Kiln, Mississippi (pronounced Kill). Kiln, a very small town (population 50), had no stop lights or paved roads. He played quarterback, strong safety, kicker and punter in a primarily option, run-oriented offense coached by his father, Irvin Favre.

College

Favre received only one scholarship offer after high school. It was from Southern Miss, which wanted him to play defensive back. Favre wanted to play under center and clawed his way up from the seventh string to the backup job and then to the starting position just three games into his freshman season. He took over in the second half against Tulane on September 19, 1987 and led USM to a comeback victory with two touchdown passes. Favre led the Golden Eagles to a big upset of Florida State, then ranked sixth in the nation, September 2, 1989. Favre capped off a six-and-a-half-minute drive with the game-winning touchdown pass with 23 seconds remaining. Favre's college career was turned upside down on July 14, 1990, when he was in a near-fatal car accident. Going around a bend a few tenths of a mile from his parents' house, Favre was going quite a bit over the speed limit when his car went out of control. It flipped 3 times in the air and crashed into a tree and got stuck there. Only after his brother smashed the window with a golf club could he be evacuated to the hospital. On the way there, inside of the ambulance, his mother was sitting with him. "All I kept asking (her) was, will I be able to play football again?", Favre recalled later. Doctors would remove 30 inches of Favre's small intestine. On September 8, Favre led Southern Miss to a comeback victory over Alabama. Alabama coach Gene Stallings said, "You can call it a miracle or a legend or whatever you want to, I just know that on that day, Brett Favre was larger than life."

Atlanta

Favre was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round, 33rd overall in the 1991 NFL Draft. In Atlanta, he was a second-string quarterback with unremarkable numbers and an affinity for partying. He got into repeated clashes with head coach Jerry Glanville. His most notable accomplishment, aside from going 0 for 5 passing with two interceptions that year, was missing the team photo (he'd been out the night before), for which he was fined. Packers general manager Ron Wolf traded a first round pick (17th Overall) for Favre during the following offseason. [Wolf(while general manager of the New Yok Jets) intended to take Favre in the 1991 NFL draft, but Favre was taken by the Falcons on the pick previous to the Jets'.] The trade is regarded as one of the most lopsided in NFL history, but nearly didn't happen. (On September 5, 2005, in an episode of its The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... series, ESPN Classic examines why the Falcons cannot be blamed for trading Favre.) According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other sources, during the physical after the trade, Favre was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, the same degenerative hip condition that ended Bo Jackson's career and doctors recommended he be failed. Wolf overruled them and the Packers would never be the same...

Green Bay

Favre completed his first official NFL pass - to himself - on September 13, 1992, in a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Starting the game in the second half, Favre's pass attempt was deflected by Ray Seals. Favre caught the deflection, but went down for a loss of 7 yards.

He has started every Green Bay Packers game after September 20, 1992, when Don Majkowski went down injured against the Cincinnati Bengals. Favre was summoned from the bench and proceeded to lead the team to a comeback victory, throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Kittrick Taylor with 13 seconds remaining. Favre was so thrilled that he nearly forgot that he was supposed to be the holder on the extra point try. Next week's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers began the longest consecutive starts streak for quarterbacks in NFL history, a number that continues to grow despite numerous injuries, including a broken thumb on his right (throwing) hand that he played with for all of 2003.

In the early years under head coach Mike Holmgren, Favre struggled to keep his game under control, often making high risk-high reward throws that ended in too many interceptions. Eventually he learned Holmgren's system and became one of the league's best quarterbacks, winning the first of three MVP awards in 1995, a season in which the Packers made it to the NFC Championship Game, upsetting the San Francisco 49ers to go further in the playoffs than any Packer team since the Vince Lombardi era.

But troubles surface during the following offseason. In May 1996, Favre admitted that he had developed an addiction to painkillers, specifically Vicodin, and checked himself into the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. His addiction had grown so intense that he admitted, after vomiting up the pills, he would wash them off and swallow them again. His girlfriend, Deanna Tynes, threatened to leave him if he didn't seek treatment.

Favre recovered and led the Packers to their greatest season in 30 years, winning his second consecutive MVP award in the process. Green Bay compiled an NFL-best regular season record of 13-3, dispatched San Francisco and Carolina at Lambeau Field in the playoffs, and advanced to Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome, a short drive from Kiln.

Favre threw two touchdown passes over 50 yards and scored another touchdown rushing, and the Packers won the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl XXXI over the New England Patriots, 35-21.

Favre and the Packers continued their dominance of the NFC the next season. Favre was named co-MVP of the league with Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, his third straight award. Green Bay fought their way to Super Bowl XXXII but lost to John Elway and the Denver Broncos by the score of 31-24 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Favre took the loss to the Broncos hard, and considered retirement in the offseason.

However, Favre and the Packers continued posting positive results through the next few seasons. The Packers have not had a losing season since Favre took the helm, though struggles and coaching changes contributed to 8-8 (coach Ray Rhodes) and 9-7 (coach Mike Sherman) seasons and no playoff berths in either 1999 or 2000. Favre threw six interceptions in a 45-17 divisional playoff loss to the St. Louis Rams in the 2001 playoffs, and has only two playoff wins in his last six tries (including Super Bowl XXXII).

One of the defining moments of Favre's career took place on December 22, 2003, in a Monday Night Football game against the Oakland Raiders. The day before, Irvin Favre, who had been his high school coach and lifelong mentor, died suddenly of a heart attack. Favre elected to play and passed for four touchdowns in the first half, and 399 yards in a 41-7 destruction of the Raiders on national television (receiving applause from the highly partisan "Raider Nation"). Afterwards, Favre said, "I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much and I love this game. It's meant a great deal to me, to my dad, to my family, and I didn't expect this kind of performance. But I know he was watching tonight." He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week. He then went to his father's funeral in Pass Christian, Mississippi and returned in time to lead the Packers to a 2003 NFC North title with a win over the Denver Broncos. Favre won an ESPY Award for his feat.

With a 17-yard pass to running back Ahman Green on September 18, 2005, in a game against the Cleveland Browns, Favre became only the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for 50,000 yards or more, along with Dan Marino and John Elway.

A new kind of quarterback

Favre has been admired for his outstanding arm strength and his ability to throw in positions that most other quarterbacks would not think of attempting in a game. (His release has been timed at 1.4 seconds, which is an astonishing statistic). He frequently throws off his back foot, on the run, or right before he is hit by a defender. He is also known for his great pocket presence and his knack for avoiding defenders. Favre is one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL to frequently use the "shovel pass". The shovel pass is a pitch to a reciever, underhanded.

Recent events

Several family crises followed Irvin Favre's death. Favre's brother-in-law, Casey Tynes, was killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident on Favre's Mississippi property. Soon after, Brett's wife, Deanna, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following aggressive treatment, she made progress and appears to be recovering well. (She is expected to make a complete recovery.) After much speculation regarding the possibility of retirement, Favre announced his intention of playing the 2005-2006 season on March 10, 2005.

More recently, in late August 2005, Favre's family suffered another setback. Hurricane Katrina blew through Mississippi, destroying his family's home there. However, none of his family members were injured. Brett and Deanna's own home, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was also damaged by the storm.

Honors and awards

• Favre has won the National Football League's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award a record three times, all in consecutive years (1995, 1996, and 1997; the last was shared with Barry Sanders). He is the only person in the history of football to do this.

• Favre has been selected to play in the Pro Bowl eight times in his career.

• Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle declared November 29, 2004 as Brett Favre Day to honor Favre's 200th consecutive NFL regular season start. That night, the Packers defeated the St. Louis Rams on Monday Night Football.

• According to Sports Illustrated, he was named a sports enemy of four states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Illinois).

• Men's Health Magazine voted Favre the "Toughest Person in America" in 2003.

• His high school, Hancock North Central (Kiln, Miss.), honored him in May 2004 by renaming its field, ‘Brett Favre Field,’ and unveiling a life-sized statue of the quarterback at the stadium’s entrance. The school previously had retired his jersey (No. 10) in 1993.

• Established the 'Brett Favre Fourward Foundation’ in 1996; in conjunction with his annual golf tournament, celebrity softball game and fundraising dinners, foundation has donated more than $2 million to charities in his home state of Mississippi as well as to those in his adopted state of Wisconsin.

• Is a partner in a Green Bay restaurant, 'Brett Favre's Steakhouse;' operation has a sister location, 'Brett Favre's Two Minute Grill,' in the Lambeau Field Atrium.

• Appeared as himself in the 1998 comedy film There's Something About Mary.

Records

Favre owns a number of team records, having printed his name into almost every passing category in the annals of Packers history. He has also broken several NFL records, most notably the consecutive games started by a quarterback streak. He is currently third in all-time in passing yards, behind only Dan Marino and John Elway, with over 50,000 passing yards.

Favre is closing in on a number of other NFL records and milestones. They include:

• He is now a member of the 50,000 yards club (Marino holds the record with 61,361)
• Passing Touchdowns: 388 (Marino again holds the record of 420)
• Victories by Starting Quarterback: 137-72 (Elway holds the record of 148-82-1)
• Most seasons with 3,000 yards passing: tied with Marino at 13
• Second all-time in pass completions behind Marino.
• Third all-time passing yards (Marino, Elway).
• Third all-time in pass attempts (Marino, Elway).
• Longest touchdown pass, at 99 yards (tied with several others)

Favre's most impressive record is perhaps his string of consecutive starts, the most by any quarterback. By the end of the 2004-05 regular season, Favre had set a record with 205 consecutive starts with Green Bay (225, including playoffs). During the first 200 straight games started by Favre, 178 other quarterbacks started in the NFL. In that time, the St. Louis Rams have played 13 different quarterbacks.

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