Home Again: Brett Favre's Unbreakable Connection to Green Bay | The Timeline

good morning and welcome to fan line sports radio 1075 and 1400 the fan bill and rookie here on fan line talking about brett favre's return tomorrow night the beginning of a two-stage retirement ceremony for farve and the packers i know there were a mix of emotions when brett retired when he came back these fans poured their heart and soul into brett favre and he betrayed them by leaving and going and playing for their enemy he had no idea how bad it divided this community and how bad it hurt a good portion of packer fans when he strapped on that purple and gold he said he was supposed to retire and he lied to all the green bay fans because he went to the minnesota vikings he's a trader i'm disappointed huge brett favre fan and i really don't care for him playing for you know the enemy what's up brett favre voodoo doll you stick it to him just like he stuck it to us is it still too soon or would they have been better off waiting a couple of years in your opinion will you boo brett favre will you boo him or are you going to cheer him [Music] [Applause] will you boo bret fart once upon a time that question was unimaginable in green bay football in the 70s and the 80s was pretty bad around here when brett favre came things changed it was my first super bowl staying up all night i was only eight years old at the time he's doing it it was downfield to see him celebrate the victory trophy is coming home that vision will never leave my head of him running around the field he's the reason why i love football he just makes football so fun to watch put her in the old mice with brett you never accepted you were gonna lose because he always pulled it out he's gonna throw it to the end zone he's like a man's man okay broke an arm broken like just duct tape it up and throw me back in brett doesn't back down from anybody when his wife had her cancer and he shaved his head it was awesome i love him duress red dude goes to work i just always remember that game where he threw for all those touchdown passes against the raiders right after his dad died [Music] i'm 75 years old it's one of the best games i ever saw spring steers my eyes just thinking of him that day he's one of a kind it's just he's special the crowd's turned off there's no one saying mr farv parked right over here there's no one catering to you there's no one saying hey brett you want your ankles taped no one cares you know it's over there's always a new star i've been sacked five thousand times you kind of forgot what it felt like and so with each week i thought not bad if you told me i'd be biking 20 miles actually trying to swim half a mile i said you're absolutely crazy i get that breathing now the more you stop and dog paddle you're going to get even more tired all i'd ever done was play football i never know which way he's going [Music] but it's i feel better i feel a lot better so that's a good thing who's the idiot who called up the triathlon for 16 seasons brett was green bay's iron man never missing a start [Music] then he left now he's returning to take his place among the greatest packers of all time [Music] man i'm exhausted i think i'm going to retire for so long we were a part of that community and we cared about that community and we were there for so long it was almost like a family split you know i i don't blame the packers at all for for a lot of things what i did in green bay i think speaks for itself and i'm i'm happy with it and the fans are happy with it then that's so that's that's all i need i don't need if if they're okay they're happy then i'm happy today farv is making the first of two green bay homecomings tomorrow will be his induction into the packers hall of fame then on thanksgiving night the team will officially retire his number four right about the time the announcement came out you know i'm thinking that there's one that loves me and there may be a hundred that don't whether they boo or cheer the fans voices will be heard i would like eight for the first time ever the packers will open the bowl at lambeau field to the public for a hall of fame induction what do you hope fans remember most about you well you know it'd be interesting if you went out and and asked um i'd kind of be interested to hear what they say too i mean you'd probably have a potluck of answers left one leg little yogurt sure yeah and maybe just kind of looking out down the uh this one from the negative space real comfortable jeans even if you don't forgive him and you still hold that animosity for what he did over the course of 16 years he deserves a night like tomorrow night he deserves a night like he's going to get thursday of course in november and then when it's all said and done you can go back to booing him if you want the reason i am coming back for the ceremony is because of lambeau field and the relationship that i've had with those fans over the years was a unique relationship it was then and it is now [Music] welcome home thank you it's good to be back you want me to sign the baby yes no and i've been wanting to say this for years too i want to say put her in the old vice all right guys good smile for me looking right here okay are you crying because i came back you want me to stay away who's number 12. [Laughter] everyone knows who number 12 is now but in 2005 no one in green bay expected the packers to draft aaron rodgers in the first round when they drafted aaron i didn't say well you know my days are numbered i sort of knew that we didn't go into the draft saying we have to have another quarterback we just felt like the value was so great that that it would be foolish to pass it off brett favre wasn't even a first-rounder what do you think you can learn from him fred is an amazing quarterback and he's been my favorite quarterback says joe montana retired and i just love his mental and physical toughness and the way he plays the confidence level he plays at and i couldn't be more excited about the guy i get to you know come in behind and learn from i don't think there was a situation where he was really excited about a young rookie coming in it was a tad disappointing to not be uh to be able to buddy buddy with him right away but that's the nature of this league at times there's you know it's you get older and you realize that they're always trying to replace you he played with a reckless abandonment at times he was nicknamed the gunslinger i think that's kind of a love-hate relationship there you love it when he fits into a tight spot right between two defenders i'm frustrated if he throws in the triple coverage and something bad happens brett trying to force it just wasn't there the packers missed the playoffs in both 2005 and 2006. after 15 seasons green bay began to ponder life without far someone asked me about if i thought about the end or whatever and i said you know i'm closer to it now than i have been previous years that's sort of a yogism they took and ran with it and then from that point on i was always feeling those questions i i don't know what i'm leaning towards this may be it this year it may be two years down the road i mean for the last seven years we've been talking about when i was leaving something's got to give at some point if i decide that enough is enough or or they do [Music] farve is being taken out of the game and what could very well be his final game in the national football league i was on the impression that after 05 that was going to be the last year and after six that wasn't made last year brett favre is going to get carried off the field by donald driver [Applause] wealthy is my last game i i want to remember it it's tough uh i miss these guys and i missed the game i didn't ask to come out early and to get a standing ovation from the bears um did that mean i was retiring i didn't know i was sort of confused like well that's what a nice send-off what am i thinking send off i'm not where am i going brett's future was uncertain but his relationship with rogers found solid ground we had a conversation in 2006 we just sat in the quarterback room and talked for a long time that was a special moment for me that i remember where it felt like okay now this guy sees me as a friend and a teammate he just wasn't ready to be a former teammate [Music] brett came back yet again in 2007. [Applause] i love to play i thought i was going to play forever brett feyer's got a lot of good football left in here i would keep it up 4-0 man i never would have thought it i'm scared i'm mad at it he led the packers to a 13-3 record and a trip to the nfc championship game [Music] all you hear about is that far this great father the path of the past in overtime a trip back to the super bowl for the first time in a decade was in range for the gunslinger they picked up the blitz well he throws the right side this unexpectedly blessed season is over and we came close we came really close i hate to even think about it less than two months after his season was over it seemed his career would follow i'm trying to lick my wounds he's trying to coach his team mike's like i really need to know i said well if you ask me today i mean to give you an answer am i 100 committed to playing no i'm not i i you know i couldn't i can't do it if i'm a play i'm all in and i can't do that today and the next thing i know the next day i was on a plane to green bay for for a retirement press conference i thought for sure he'd come back i was shocked when he when he retired you know it's funny i've watched hundreds of players retire and you wonder what that would be like thank you prepared i was thinking what the heck happened here how am i here and how i mean two days ago i was like i i you know i don't know and here i am now thanking everyone and how tough it is to you know what's going on it's been a great relationship and i hope that uh this organization and the fans appreciate me as much as i appreciate them i was leaving going what just happened and i know i'm not okay with this how could you not be conflicted coming up i didn't think he'd play again far returns once again that shows you how much i know and i was right in the middle of it [Music] but somebody told me that the form the retirement form had not been signed and mailed in is there a retirement form that needs to be signed and mailed in that's what i've heard yeah now have you signed it and mailed it oh i haven't signed well there you go as much success as we had the year before i retired as good as that was it also made things a little bit tougher i don't know all i'd ever done was play football and like or not that's what i knew and so what will you do when the first sunday comes around and someone else is in your position and they're throwing touchdowns and no one's cheering for you no one quite frankly cares if you're mowing grass or not just three months after retiring what was once a late night talk show joke turned into reality television it's almost like the president arriving in green bay there's deanna farve as you know not long behind her will be brett farmer he is back with the pack for a 17th season this is it a storm brewing for the green bay packers now that they have to decide between brett favre and aaron rodgers obviously the spring in the summer of 08 was difficult for all parties myself included march 17th i came in here and was told i was going to be the guy but until a decision is finally made as far as i know i'm the starter and that's my focus and that's what i'm going to stick to after a day of deliberation amongst brett head coach mike mccarthy and general manager ted thompson the packers reiterated their decision to make aaron rodgers the starting quarterback for the 2008 season still under contract brett asked for his release the packers would not grant it if i don't play here what about our division we don't want we don't want you in our division which you know my blood was boiling i was not good enough to play there but i was too good to play against them 24 hours after arriving in green bay favre left heading back to mississippi as a legend without a team ted thompson felt that i have to be worried about the green bay packers for the next 20 years not for 2008 only the packers saw that aaron rodgers was pretty good and drew a line in the sand but they were ultimately respectful the relationship got to a point where it couldn't go forward and you know i don't try to blame either side and yeah it's it's like a marriage that ends uh it happens and neither party is at fault we want to be fair to everybody involved but ultimately we had to do what we thought was in the best interest of the organization the fact was i was not coming back to green bay that was not going to happen um i knew that the fans didn't necessarily know that [Applause] so i think initially they sided with me more so than anyone else go out there and tell them not to come back that's a slap in the face it's almost humiliating for him and he deserves so much better than that i'm embarrassed at the way they treated brett when he came back to town i may go home and burn everything that says packers on it until something changes the fans they weren't willing to move on the booing that took place when they saw air that just goes to show you how powerful of an impact brett had with the fans rogers who the only place he's going to take you to is the toilet bowl and then you've got brett farr who will take you to the super bowl yeah i hear you i'm just saying we're not going to talk about that once it was decided that he was going to be moving on obviously we wouldn't trade him to a divisional opponent so we wound up working out and trade with the jets i'm not a traitor never will be it's business i've always wanted to be a packer i think i always will be a packer 16 years is hard to to forget for everyone brent would only play one season with the jets it was his next stop that shocked the football world i wanted to play for anyone who would play the packers welcome to this special edition of nfl total access brett favre announcing he plans to retire from football after 18 seasons brett favre's agent bus cook this morning he said this time it is quote unquote for good after just one season with the jets brett retired again six months later he returned again this time as a member of the minnesota vikings the packers hated rival the vikings future just landed in the twin cities it's just like a knife in your back you know it's hard to take you know if any other team we were fine with the jets but not the vikings and hard to swallow green bay fans are really angry i mean really angry a funeral procession for brett favre which left the lambeau field parking lot went by his steakhouse and then ended up at tom dick and harry's we needed three hearses uh because one to carry brett's body one to carry brett's ego and another to carry brett away from here in case he changed his mind and decided he didn't want to be dead after all i wanted to play for anyone who would play the packers minnesota played them twice it's hard for me to accept the fact that that number four was running out there with that purple jersey on seeing him in purple that one that one hurt me i'm going she did yeah it didn't have to be minnesota thanks to peterson far back [Music] so when i played against the packers i was nervous as i don't even know how to describe it i was so frightened of failing you can't imagine to say in those two games i really wanted to play well as an understatement [Music] [Applause] [Music] 40th birthday for the old man i appreciate it team on three one two three yes i thought after the first game i thought all right okay butterflies are gone i've kind of gotten back to reality when i go to lambeau it's gonna be easy wrong after all the build-up and all the hype november the first is finally here it's brett farr's return to lambeau field i mean i was just a wreck and i just played the packers a few weeks before coming out that tunnel it was pretty intimidating i didn't think it would be a good reception and it was worse than that [Music] [Applause] it's by far the worst i've ever felt seen heard it just made the way i played even sweeter my recollection of the day he came back was uh oh he wanted us in them [Music] [Applause] [Music] he knew everything every check our defenseman he knew it he was calling out blitzes before they were happy packers were blitzing off five's left side that time and that's just where farv went with the football and he picked us apart the ultimate nightmare for a packer fan brett barb has seven touchdowns and zero interceptions this year against his former team [Music] you know i don't know if i could play any better to the dismay of the packer faithful brett had maybe the best season of his career at age 40. he threw 33 touchdowns to just seven interceptions brett favre did need to apologize to the packer fans all he needed to do was to lead the vikings to the nfc championship game against the saints in the fourth quarter scramble to his right throw the ball against the grain have it be intercepted intercepted i can't believe what i'm seeing right now why do you even ponder passing i mean you can take a knee and try a 56-yard field goal he gave the vikings a year of wonderful games but heartache in the end all right love welcome back the 2009 season ended in heartbreak for brett through it all an unlikely source offered both words of encouragement and an olive branch i had to commend ted he was a bigger man welcome back thank you after we won he sent me a message in both games you know you played great happy for you um just kind of congratulations on well-played game you know i had to give the man a lot of credit in that situation that's a tough thing to do i don't know if i could could have done it so that kind of opened the door or it just it never closed it oh thank you thank you [Applause] thank you [Applause] i'm very i'm very proud of you thank you how you been i've been good how about you you can relax now can't you after all this is over once i get you settled tomorrow night i'm settled it's wonderful to see you well thank you thanks for having me how are you doing no one told you to wear jeans did you hire moocher today no no i didn't have anything to do with it there's a sympathy hire [Music] how many bullets did he take for you between he and andy too many huh too many you doing okay yeah are you going to coach again if you do was that who just po oh ted it's good good to see you what's up thanks for coming in i'm glad this is important i hope it's good yeah ted thompson and i were always good friends i wouldn't say that we were not good friends afterwards we just didn't talk for a while got two yeah one's running around here the other one just turned one today and that's that's hard to believe it is it is i'm a packer always will be a packer by no means that we ever think that we'd ever be in the situation that we eventually were going to be in now i can laugh about it oh that's a stressful job this is nice it's really good this season it's just a person it's a perfect fit perfect a divorce carries with it a range of emotions denial anger acceptance and the difficult to describe anxiety years after having moved on of seeing your loved one again there are clearly to me are already people that still have not welcomed back into the family that are still bitter about the divorce that still think he's a little egotistical i am very glad that he became a packer and i love brett favre but i tell you what i'm not ready he wanted to stick it to the packers he's a dick look at that isn't that incredible remarkable huh this whole facility is remarkable i knew that this event was going to take place and what was fresh in my mind was how i had left lambeau so we got 20 minutes there was not much love understandably so and so i just didn't know how i would be received i am shocked that six years five years after he walked into lambeau field wearing purple that brett favre had a stadium full of people i think personally he went to the vikings simply so he'd come back to the green bay and beat the packers and that's the problem that i had with him for quite a few years but fast be passed i'm glad he's coming back time will cure all wounds and guess what it has cured all walls to see him in purple was physically painful to me i'm here to welcome brett back home to the packer family brett favre is not a viking he is a packer how many people's in the stands 30. it's full is it really are you kidding me i'm so much better going out there in a football uniform good thing i'm not wearing white pants [Applause] it's your moment [Applause] all i can say is wow wow this is absolutely amazing i don't i don't have the words to express the feeling coming out of that tunnel to this amazing thank you thank you so much playing in lambeau field throwing a touchdown lambeau field certainly running out of the tunnel there's nothing like it on this earth i've also run out of that tunnel and that was scary [Applause] i can sit here and tell you thank you till tomorrow and it wouldn't be enough [Applause] but i i want you to know i celebrate this with you because we did it together i think [Applause] oh so incredible [Applause] [Music] wow can't explain that geez incredible so much for not getting emotional briley is 16. she broke her foot eight weeks ago today [Applause] it's a testament to come back two weeks before they said i don't know much but i do know how to come back from injury i do know how to play herd trying to relay that to someone else it's it's tough i try not to be one of those overbearing parents and of course i probably end up being overbearing and all the things i say i'm not going to be [Applause] well you don't know what it feels like dad yeah i do at the end of the day i'm really just a dad who wants his child to do really well the nfl's iron man finally became a spectator in 2010 when injuries forced him to the minnesota sideline what does this feel like over here um you know [Applause] i don't want to say relieved but i'm okay with it no regrets brett's record streak of 297 straight starts and his career we're at an end i'm glad i played last year it was absolutely awful when that year was over i knew as brett made peace with his decision the packers found validation in theirs the title is back in town the green bay packers are world champions i said aaron not only after that but but during that season several messages uh wishing him well i was never mad at him for being the quarterback that's the truth ladies and gentlemen please welcome to former nfl mvps aaron rodgers and brett favre in the three years after his fourth and final retirement there was little interaction between brett and his old team other than one notable cameo we're here to present the award for best comeback player you know aaron everyone loves it when a great player makes a comeback yeah well not always you know some you know some people wish you know great players would just retire and stay retired good to see you too [Applause] are you two man that was awkward uh i was excited about it i thought it'd be a good opportunity for the healing process to begin at least publicly from my side and and as a representation of the organization happy thanksgiving is it thanksgiving no i think so happy thanksgiving what thanksgiving is about coming home [Music] being with your family [Music] it's the perfect day for brett favre to return to green bay one more time been blessed been around a lot of great quarterbacks but just just the way he played the position was different than i'd ever experienced just like he's in the backyard with a bunch of his buddies it just happens to be in front of 75 000 people lambo phil that's part of his greatness that spread forward it's great to see the legacy of one of our greatest players restored to its full legacy as it should be and quarterback from southern mississippi number four rent four [Applause] [Applause] [Music] tonight we will unveil your retired number four and you will take your place among the greatest players in packers history thank you a little bit different weather than july but [Music] this is green bay weather i love it i love it it is thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for and as i i think back to to our time here in green bay i certainly thank god for the opportunity to play a game i love so much and to play it for such a long time and then the best place to play football in the world [Applause] and most importantly i thank you we now have a special person who has worked really hard to be here with you tonight this is going to be amazing ladies and gentlemen bart stark [Music] [Applause] he's fired up too he made it dramatic oh unbelievable come [Applause] [Music] well what a back this will be orange star has had a number of health issues serious ones through the past few years but here he is with his wife cherry to honor number four we love you [Music] right now how you doing mister how you doing [Music] [Applause] [Music] finally brett is back where he belongs in lambeau field among legends forever [Applause] this is awesome green bay is a special place that i don't think will ever be duplicated hey michael thanks all right yeah good times [Music] [Applause] but i didn't know how special it was until i actually left [Music] i'm a packer always will be a packard i'm thankful for that

Channel: NFL Films

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Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, American Football

Id: FDEBwtDOxy8

Length: 42min 8sec (2528 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021

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