Sixth in a series:
OnMilwaukee.com is publishing exclusive excerpts from the new book, "Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute." The book was written by lifelong Packers fan Tom Kertscher, a Milwaukee news reporter who authored "Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry: The Wit and Wisdom of Al McGuire."
"Tribute" captures the highlights of Favre's career and features dozens of behind-the-scenes photos shot by Packers team photographer Jim Biever.
CHAPTER SIX – THE STREAK
“I am going to lay my body on that field for that team.” – Brett Favre, after being traded to the Packers in February, 1992.
WILL THE NFL EVER SEE A PLAYER WHO IS AS TOUGH – and as talented – as Brett Favre?
Favre didn’t play his final game until after he turned 36. But he had taken terrible pounding even before he turned 26.
"When he gets up every Monday,” his wife Deanna said in 1995, “he looks like such an old man."
And yet he played on, and on.
Even for the most ardent Packers fan, Favre’s signature record – starting more than 220 games in a row -- is hard to fathom.
And he not only eclipsed the previous consecutive-starts record for quarterbacks, he set a mark that is nearly twice as long.
He simply would not let his teammates down.
"Brett prides himself on showing up every Sunday and knowing deep down inside that, 'Hey, these guys depend on me, and I'm going to be there,'” said Packer safety LeRoy Butler.
“Ask people who know him,” Butler added with a smile. “He's not human."
Remember these moments?
In 1995, a blood vessel broke in Favre’s esophagus after he was hit by three Pittsburgh Steeler defenders at Lambeau Field. He came to the sidelines coughing up blood, but coach Mike Holmgren – after asking, How much blood? -- sent him back in. On the next play, Favre threw the winning touchdown pass, clinching a division title for the Packers for the first time in 23 years. (Footnote: the Packers did get a little help from Steelers receiver Yancey Thigpen, who dropped a pass in the end zone with 11 seconds remaining, preserving their 24-19 win.
How did it feel to win the title? ``Painful,'' Favre said with a smile, downplaying his injury. ``There's something bleeding. `That's all I know. I'm not a doctor. Something's probably jarred loose.''
Nearly nine years later, a week shy of his 35th birthday, Favre suffered a concussion against the New York Giants in another game at Lambeau. His head was driven into the turf on a tackle and he left the game. But two downs later, before the coaches realized it was unsafe for Favre to continue, he put himself back in. On 4th-and-5, with a scared-to-death home crowd suddenly cheering again, Favre threw a 28-yard pass into an 18-mile-an-hour wind. Wide receiver Javon Walker leaped between two defenders to catch it for a touchdown.
"It was like Superman just stepped back into the building," running back Tony Fisher said.
Over the years, Favre’s toughness became legendary – and not only among fans and teammates.
“Most quarterbacks you hit in the head a few times, and they get kind of queasy,” said San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ken Norton. “This guy, it turns him on.”
Favre said he thought his all-out style helped him, that you only get hurt when you play “tenderfoot.”
"I always figured if the bone wasn't sticking out of the skin, you could play. That’s what they made tape for,” he said. “But maybe I’m different."
Favre’s father, Irvin Favre -- a man whose very appearance said toughness -- loved that quality in his son.
"That's what I admire most about Brett: He’s a gutty kid, hard-nosed as heck,” he once said. “He's a quarterback who loves to hit."
Courage was part of the training the father imparted as the son’s coach. He had told Brett as a kid: “If you get hurt, you crawl off the field. When you can’t crawl off the field, I’ll come get you."
Two games stand out for the way Favre recovered from injuries and carried the Packers to victory. Both times, he tossed aside crutches to play.
It was another game, however -- when Favre performed through wrenching emotional anguish -- that must have made his father the most proud.
A cast, crutches and talk of a wheelchair led at least one newspaper to declare that, “barring a medical miracle,” Favre would miss the home game against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 19, 2000.
Favre had gotten knocked out of the previous game, a 20-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. Defensive lineman Warren Sapp sacked him in the third quarter, driving him into the grass, grabbing his left foot and tearing off his left shoe. Favre could barely limp to the sideline.
Head Coach Mike Sherman said after the game: “He cannot walk at the present time. It's too early to tell, but I anticipate that he'll miss next week's game and maybe longer."
Favre emerged from the stadium on crutches. Backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he heard Favre had also been given a wheelchair.
But on Tuesday, the day after the Buccaneers game, Favre was walking around on a removable cast. And by Thursday, he had the foot specially taped and was practicing. All he needed for the Colts was a size-larger cleat to stuff his swollen and purple foot into.
That Lambeau Field was 27 degrees, with a 16-degree wind chill, probably motivated Favre all the more.
To erase any doubt about his mobility, Favre rolled out on the first play of the game. Then he rolled over the Colts. In the first half, Favre led three consecutive scoring marches, including two 87-yard drives for touchdowns, staking his team to a 19-0 lead.
''It's important to play if you can play,'' he said. ''It hurt, but the guys were counting on me. It's part of the job. It's another day at the office.''
Favre racked up 301 yards passing, hitting eight different receivers and connecting at a 63.9% clip.
Crutches? Wheelchair?
"One thing you can't tell Brett Favre is that he can't do something," Sherman said. "As I told him a few minutes ago, he actually relished the fact that he had a bad foot going into the game. It was just another challenge for him. You can't tell him he can't do something. It's amazing.”
Harder to measure than a victory was the lasting effect Favre’s courage had on his teammates.
When your leader plays hurt – and gives an MVP-like performance – you’re bound to give a little extra yourself.
“The guy is a superstar, he's a true champion,” guard Ross Verba said after the Colts game. “I love playing for that guy."
Favre left another game on crutches, this time due to a severe ankle sprain, six days before the Packers faced the Chicago Bears on Nov. 12, 1995. For two days, Favre had the injury iced and, by the third day, he was also receiving heat treatments. All week the injured area was electronically stimulated.
The most Favre could muster was taking six snaps in a passing drill on Friday and 10 snaps on Saturday. His status was so uncertain that the Packers signed as a backup Bob Gagliano, a 37-year-old quarterback who hadn’t played in three years.
But come game day, with first place in the NFC Central Division on the line, Favre ran through the Lambeau Field tunnel, a cast-like accumulation of tape wrapped around his ankle.
During the week, Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt had said there was no quarterback in the division he’d rather have than his own Erik Kramer. But take a wild guess on whether it was Kramer or Favre that day who:
Completed 75 percent of his passes -- 25 of 33, for 336 yards and no interceptions.
Tied a club record with five touchdown passes.
Set what then was his career-best passer rating of 147.2.
Ailing in the bone-chilling cold with flurries falling, Favre didn’t even commit a turnover.
"He was like Michael Jordan when he was hitting all of those threes and couldn't believe they were going in," said Packers assistant coach Steve Mariucci.
The Bears were leading 28-21 when Favre took over the game. He tied it in the third quarter with a 44-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Robert Brooks. Then he completed four of six passes on the Packers' next possession, in the fourth quarter, moving his team through the air for 67 yards of a 69-yard drive. The drive culminated in a 16-yard touchdown pass to running back Edgar Bennett.
The 35-28 win, in the 150th meeting of the two teams, put the Packers in a tie with the Bears for first place in the NFC Central, which the Packers would later clinch.
Favre hadn’t known what to expect going into the game.
''I've never played in a game where I didn't practice, so I didn't know how I'd respond to the game,'' he said. ''I told the guys, 'Hey, just protect me. If you do that, it's going to be easy on me.' It really was.''
Over the years, Favre kept his starting games streak alive despite personal problems that hit in waves.
Before the 1996 season, Favre spent 46 days in treatment for his Vicodin addiction. Soon after that came news that Favre's sister, Brandi, had been involved in a drive-by shooting. And then their older brother, Scott, was convicted of felony drunken driving. He had driven into a railroad crossing and a collision with a train killed his passenger, a close friend of Brett’s.
In 2004, back-to-back tragedies struck. Deanna Favre’s 24-year-old younger brother, Casey Tynes, died in an all-terrain vehicle accident on Favre's property near Hattiesburg, Miss. And less than a week later, Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Perhaps the greatest test for Favre, however, was on Dec. 22, 2003, playing in Oakland on Monday Night Football.
It was a game, wrote Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that passed immediately into legend.
Little more than 24 hours before the Packers would meet the Raiders, Favre was golfing with backup quarterback Doug Pederson and two other teammates. Favre wasn’t carrying his cell phone, so Deanna called Pederson with stunning news.
Irv Favre had suffered a massive heart attack while driving near the family’s home in Mississippi. He swerved off the road and died instantly. He was 58.
Sherman told Favre he could skip the game and go home, according to an article by Peter King in Sports Illustrated. But Favre stayed with the team in California.
“I said, 'Mike, I'm playing. There's no doubt in my mind that's what he would have wanted.'
“It's almost like I could hear my dad: 'Boy, don't worry about me. I'm fine.'"
Favre spoke to the team shortly after getting the news. He began to cry as he walked to the front of the room to speak, according to SI.
"I loved my dad, I love football, I love you guys,” Favre said. “I grew up playing baseball for my dad, and I grew up playing football for my dad. It's all I know. It's my life. I'm playing in this game because I've invested too much in the game, in you, in this team, not to play. If you ever doubted my commitment to this team, never doubt it again."
The next night, Favre had to fight through pre-game jitters like never before. For the first time, he said, he felt scared before kickoff.
“I'm thinking, 'Focus. Focus. If you're gonna play, you can't go out and lay an egg.’ Everybody would have understood if I had played lousy, but my dad wouldn't have stood for any excuses."
The tension continued to mount. When Favre was introduced, Raider fans in the notorious “Black Hole” section of the stadium shocked everyone by cheering him.
"I'm hearing this, and I couldn't hardly breathe,” Favre said.
Yet, Favre completed his first nine passes, and 12 of his first 13. By halftime, he had thrown for 311 yards and four touchdowns and posted a perfect passer rating, 158.3. The Packers led 31-7 and the Raiders’ spirit was crushed.
Favre did it while playing with a broken heart, as well as fractured right thumb.
What made his play even more thrilling was that – as cliché as it sounds – he seemed to get help from above.
The first touchdown pass, a 21-yard rainbow, seemed to defy physics the way it arced sharply downward to give tight-end Wesley Walls just enough room in the end zone to gather it in. And the third TD pass, a 43-yarder to receiver Javon Walker, had no business being caught. It was as if someone reached down and prevented two better-positioned defenders from touching the ball.
“At one point, I just told myself, the hell with it, I'll just throw it up there -- the other team ain't touching it. And they didn't," Favre said.
The Packers won, 41-7. The Raiders had slipped badly that season, the one following their trip to the Super Bowl.
But no one had ever seen a performance like Favre’s under those circumstances.
"Favre didn't just bring honor to his own father, Irvin; he brought honor to all the kids and fathers who tossed the football or baseball in the backyard, particularly those who had to part before it was time," sports writer Michael Wilbon wrote in The Washington Post.
For the game, Favre was 22 of 30 (73%) for 399 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions and a passer rating of 154.9, the highest of his career. It was his most amazing performance of the 2003 season, one in which he played with the broken thumb in 10 of the 16 regular-season games. Despite the injury, he led the league with 32 touchdown passes, posted the highest completion percentage (65.4) of his career and finished second to Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon for what would have been his fourth Most Valuable Player award.
The Packers later suffered a bitter playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in what fans remember as the 4th-and-26 game.
But that took nothing away from a performance that remains in a class by itself.
“This was just pure, absolute willpower," center Mike Flanagan said after the Raiders game. "I've seen the Super Bowl years, I've seen the MVP years, but I've never been more impressed by a man in my life than I have been in the last 24 hours by Brett Favre. It's just amazing what he did.”
On the plane ride back to Green Bay, according to Sports Illustrated, Favre had a big cry when he called his mother, Bonita, to see how she was doing.
She told him that, a couple of weeks before he died, Irv had told a friend:
"You think Brett's decided who he wants to introduce him when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame? I hope he picks me."
OnMilwaukee.com is publishing exclusive excerpts from the new book, "Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute." The book was written by lifelong Packers fan Tom Kertscher, a Milwaukee news reporter who authored "Cracked Sidewalks and French Pastry: The Wit and Wisdom of Al McGuire."
"Tribute" captures the highlights of Favre's career and features dozens of behind-the-scenes photos shot by Packers team photographer Jim Biever.
CHAPTER SIX – THE STREAK
“I am going to lay my body on that field for that team.” – Brett Favre, after being traded to the Packers in February, 1992.
WILL THE NFL EVER SEE A PLAYER WHO IS AS TOUGH – and as talented – as Brett Favre?
Favre didn’t play his final game until after he turned 36. But he had taken terrible pounding even before he turned 26.
"When he gets up every Monday,” his wife Deanna said in 1995, “he looks like such an old man."
And yet he played on, and on.
Even for the most ardent Packers fan, Favre’s signature record – starting more than 220 games in a row -- is hard to fathom.
And he not only eclipsed the previous consecutive-starts record for quarterbacks, he set a mark that is nearly twice as long.
He simply would not let his teammates down.
"Brett prides himself on showing up every Sunday and knowing deep down inside that, 'Hey, these guys depend on me, and I'm going to be there,'” said Packer safety LeRoy Butler.
“Ask people who know him,” Butler added with a smile. “He's not human."
Remember these moments?
In 1995, a blood vessel broke in Favre’s esophagus after he was hit by three Pittsburgh Steeler defenders at Lambeau Field. He came to the sidelines coughing up blood, but coach Mike Holmgren – after asking, How much blood? -- sent him back in. On the next play, Favre threw the winning touchdown pass, clinching a division title for the Packers for the first time in 23 years. (Footnote: the Packers did get a little help from Steelers receiver Yancey Thigpen, who dropped a pass in the end zone with 11 seconds remaining, preserving their 24-19 win.
How did it feel to win the title? ``Painful,'' Favre said with a smile, downplaying his injury. ``There's something bleeding. `That's all I know. I'm not a doctor. Something's probably jarred loose.''
Nearly nine years later, a week shy of his 35th birthday, Favre suffered a concussion against the New York Giants in another game at Lambeau. His head was driven into the turf on a tackle and he left the game. But two downs later, before the coaches realized it was unsafe for Favre to continue, he put himself back in. On 4th-and-5, with a scared-to-death home crowd suddenly cheering again, Favre threw a 28-yard pass into an 18-mile-an-hour wind. Wide receiver Javon Walker leaped between two defenders to catch it for a touchdown.
"It was like Superman just stepped back into the building," running back Tony Fisher said.
Over the years, Favre’s toughness became legendary – and not only among fans and teammates.
“Most quarterbacks you hit in the head a few times, and they get kind of queasy,” said San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ken Norton. “This guy, it turns him on.”
Favre said he thought his all-out style helped him, that you only get hurt when you play “tenderfoot.”
"I always figured if the bone wasn't sticking out of the skin, you could play. That’s what they made tape for,” he said. “But maybe I’m different."
Favre’s father, Irvin Favre -- a man whose very appearance said toughness -- loved that quality in his son.
"That's what I admire most about Brett: He’s a gutty kid, hard-nosed as heck,” he once said. “He's a quarterback who loves to hit."
Courage was part of the training the father imparted as the son’s coach. He had told Brett as a kid: “If you get hurt, you crawl off the field. When you can’t crawl off the field, I’ll come get you."
Two games stand out for the way Favre recovered from injuries and carried the Packers to victory. Both times, he tossed aside crutches to play.
It was another game, however -- when Favre performed through wrenching emotional anguish -- that must have made his father the most proud.
A cast, crutches and talk of a wheelchair led at least one newspaper to declare that, “barring a medical miracle,” Favre would miss the home game against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 19, 2000.
Favre had gotten knocked out of the previous game, a 20-15 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. Defensive lineman Warren Sapp sacked him in the third quarter, driving him into the grass, grabbing his left foot and tearing off his left shoe. Favre could barely limp to the sideline.
Head Coach Mike Sherman said after the game: “He cannot walk at the present time. It's too early to tell, but I anticipate that he'll miss next week's game and maybe longer."
Favre emerged from the stadium on crutches. Backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he heard Favre had also been given a wheelchair.
But on Tuesday, the day after the Buccaneers game, Favre was walking around on a removable cast. And by Thursday, he had the foot specially taped and was practicing. All he needed for the Colts was a size-larger cleat to stuff his swollen and purple foot into.
That Lambeau Field was 27 degrees, with a 16-degree wind chill, probably motivated Favre all the more.
To erase any doubt about his mobility, Favre rolled out on the first play of the game. Then he rolled over the Colts. In the first half, Favre led three consecutive scoring marches, including two 87-yard drives for touchdowns, staking his team to a 19-0 lead.
''It's important to play if you can play,'' he said. ''It hurt, but the guys were counting on me. It's part of the job. It's another day at the office.''
Favre racked up 301 yards passing, hitting eight different receivers and connecting at a 63.9% clip.
Crutches? Wheelchair?
"One thing you can't tell Brett Favre is that he can't do something," Sherman said. "As I told him a few minutes ago, he actually relished the fact that he had a bad foot going into the game. It was just another challenge for him. You can't tell him he can't do something. It's amazing.”
Harder to measure than a victory was the lasting effect Favre’s courage had on his teammates.
When your leader plays hurt – and gives an MVP-like performance – you’re bound to give a little extra yourself.
“The guy is a superstar, he's a true champion,” guard Ross Verba said after the Colts game. “I love playing for that guy."
Favre left another game on crutches, this time due to a severe ankle sprain, six days before the Packers faced the Chicago Bears on Nov. 12, 1995. For two days, Favre had the injury iced and, by the third day, he was also receiving heat treatments. All week the injured area was electronically stimulated.
The most Favre could muster was taking six snaps in a passing drill on Friday and 10 snaps on Saturday. His status was so uncertain that the Packers signed as a backup Bob Gagliano, a 37-year-old quarterback who hadn’t played in three years.
But come game day, with first place in the NFC Central Division on the line, Favre ran through the Lambeau Field tunnel, a cast-like accumulation of tape wrapped around his ankle.
Completed 75 percent of his passes -- 25 of 33, for 336 yards and no interceptions.
Tied a club record with five touchdown passes.
Set what then was his career-best passer rating of 147.2.
Ailing in the bone-chilling cold with flurries falling, Favre didn’t even commit a turnover.
"He was like Michael Jordan when he was hitting all of those threes and couldn't believe they were going in," said Packers assistant coach Steve Mariucci.
The Bears were leading 28-21 when Favre took over the game. He tied it in the third quarter with a 44-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Robert Brooks. Then he completed four of six passes on the Packers' next possession, in the fourth quarter, moving his team through the air for 67 yards of a 69-yard drive. The drive culminated in a 16-yard touchdown pass to running back Edgar Bennett.
The 35-28 win, in the 150th meeting of the two teams, put the Packers in a tie with the Bears for first place in the NFC Central, which the Packers would later clinch.
Favre hadn’t known what to expect going into the game.
''I've never played in a game where I didn't practice, so I didn't know how I'd respond to the game,'' he said. ''I told the guys, 'Hey, just protect me. If you do that, it's going to be easy on me.' It really was.''
Over the years, Favre kept his starting games streak alive despite personal problems that hit in waves.
Before the 1996 season, Favre spent 46 days in treatment for his Vicodin addiction. Soon after that came news that Favre's sister, Brandi, had been involved in a drive-by shooting. And then their older brother, Scott, was convicted of felony drunken driving. He had driven into a railroad crossing and a collision with a train killed his passenger, a close friend of Brett’s.
In 2004, back-to-back tragedies struck. Deanna Favre’s 24-year-old younger brother, Casey Tynes, died in an all-terrain vehicle accident on Favre's property near Hattiesburg, Miss. And less than a week later, Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Perhaps the greatest test for Favre, however, was on Dec. 22, 2003, playing in Oakland on Monday Night Football.
It was a game, wrote Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that passed immediately into legend.
Little more than 24 hours before the Packers would meet the Raiders, Favre was golfing with backup quarterback Doug Pederson and two other teammates. Favre wasn’t carrying his cell phone, so Deanna called Pederson with stunning news.
Irv Favre had suffered a massive heart attack while driving near the family’s home in Mississippi. He swerved off the road and died instantly. He was 58.
Sherman told Favre he could skip the game and go home, according to an article by Peter King in Sports Illustrated. But Favre stayed with the team in California.
“I said, 'Mike, I'm playing. There's no doubt in my mind that's what he would have wanted.'
“It's almost like I could hear my dad: 'Boy, don't worry about me. I'm fine.'"
Favre spoke to the team shortly after getting the news. He began to cry as he walked to the front of the room to speak, according to SI.
"I loved my dad, I love football, I love you guys,” Favre said. “I grew up playing baseball for my dad, and I grew up playing football for my dad. It's all I know. It's my life. I'm playing in this game because I've invested too much in the game, in you, in this team, not to play. If you ever doubted my commitment to this team, never doubt it again."
The next night, Favre had to fight through pre-game jitters like never before. For the first time, he said, he felt scared before kickoff.
“I'm thinking, 'Focus. Focus. If you're gonna play, you can't go out and lay an egg.’ Everybody would have understood if I had played lousy, but my dad wouldn't have stood for any excuses."
The tension continued to mount. When Favre was introduced, Raider fans in the notorious “Black Hole” section of the stadium shocked everyone by cheering him.
"I'm hearing this, and I couldn't hardly breathe,” Favre said.
Yet, Favre completed his first nine passes, and 12 of his first 13. By halftime, he had thrown for 311 yards and four touchdowns and posted a perfect passer rating, 158.3. The Packers led 31-7 and the Raiders’ spirit was crushed.
Favre did it while playing with a broken heart, as well as fractured right thumb.
What made his play even more thrilling was that – as cliché as it sounds – he seemed to get help from above.
The first touchdown pass, a 21-yard rainbow, seemed to defy physics the way it arced sharply downward to give tight-end Wesley Walls just enough room in the end zone to gather it in. And the third TD pass, a 43-yarder to receiver Javon Walker, had no business being caught. It was as if someone reached down and prevented two better-positioned defenders from touching the ball.
“At one point, I just told myself, the hell with it, I'll just throw it up there -- the other team ain't touching it. And they didn't," Favre said.
The Packers won, 41-7. The Raiders had slipped badly that season, the one following their trip to the Super Bowl.
But no one had ever seen a performance like Favre’s under those circumstances.
"Favre didn't just bring honor to his own father, Irvin; he brought honor to all the kids and fathers who tossed the football or baseball in the backyard, particularly those who had to part before it was time," sports writer Michael Wilbon wrote in The Washington Post.
For the game, Favre was 22 of 30 (73%) for 399 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions and a passer rating of 154.9, the highest of his career. It was his most amazing performance of the 2003 season, one in which he played with the broken thumb in 10 of the 16 regular-season games. Despite the injury, he led the league with 32 touchdown passes, posted the highest completion percentage (65.4) of his career and finished second to Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon for what would have been his fourth Most Valuable Player award.
The Packers later suffered a bitter playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in what fans remember as the 4th-and-26 game.
But that took nothing away from a performance that remains in a class by itself.
“This was just pure, absolute willpower," center Mike Flanagan said after the Raiders game. "I've seen the Super Bowl years, I've seen the MVP years, but I've never been more impressed by a man in my life than I have been in the last 24 hours by Brett Favre. It's just amazing what he did.”
On the plane ride back to Green Bay, according to Sports Illustrated, Favre had a big cry when he called his mother, Bonita, to see how she was doing.
She told him that, a couple of weeks before he died, Irv had told a friend:
"You think Brett's decided who he wants to introduce him when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame? I hope he picks me."
