Brett Favre News

With or without Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings' future looks bright
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February 8
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
"Even as Brett Favre mulls retirement, the Vikings can take comfort knowing that essentially the same team will return next season. Favre's return would be a welcomed gift for the Vikings, who could use his stellar play at the most important position on the field. With or without Favre, though, the Vikings have every reason to believe they can contend for a run at the Super Bowl next season. "We had a heck of a season," receiver Percy Harvin said. "We've got a lot of young players. Whether (or not) Brett comes back, I know our quarterbacks have learned from him. We'll be back (with) a lot of our firepower, our young players and people we hope to be back next year." The Vikings could have ..."
Vikings need to hear from Brett Favre soon
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February 7
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 columnist Charley Walters
"If Brett Favre has decided to retire as Vikings quarterback, it would seem an announcement could come this week, after the Super Bowl, because the NFL prefers not to have distractions that would interfere with its big game. If Favre is undecided and wants the Vikings to improve the $13 million deal for which he is signed for next season, that should be known by the end of the month. The consensus guess is that Favre, 40, will return. But Favre has proved it's virtually impossible to predict what he'll do next. If Favre has decided to retire, he no longer has any motive to drag out the drama as he did with the Green Bay Packers to get to the New York Jets, and with the Jets to get to the ..."
And now the waiting game begins
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February 4
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
"Scott Favre wants to get his younger brother out on the golf course, but . . . "Right now he couldn't swing," Scott said. Brett Favre left Minnesota last week and returned to his home in Mississippi. Wounded physically and drained emotionally after a 31-28 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game, Favre said he needs time before deciding whether to return to Vikings. Scott said Brett needs to recover after falling just short of his third Super Bowl. "He was beat up physically and mentally," Scott said by phone from southern Mississippi. "He hurt both wrists, both ankles, one leg, head bruised. He was beat all to hell. That's part of it. "I'm not going to bring ..."
Favre to make Super Bowl appearance
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February 3
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Minnesota Vikings fans watching the Super Bowl telecast on Sunday will get to see Brett Favre during the game after all. The 40-year-old quarterback, whose pursuit of another NFL championship appearance came up short this season, stars in a television ad for automaker Hyundai that plays off Favre's longevity and uncertainty about when to retire. The ad was shot late last year before the playoffs in the Vikings locker room and will run once, during the second quarter of the Super Bowl. It touts Hyundai's 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty. Favre, who holds the league record for consecutive games started, in the ad accepts the MVP award after the 2020 season."
Brett Favre: Fun while it lasted
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February 1
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Brett Favre's year with the Vikings was a blast for all parties, even despite its abrupt ending. But was it enjoyable enough for Favre to make an encore? The disappointment was still fresh on the plane ride home from New Orleans; Vikings players hadn't started to feel the gamut of emotions that would flood them later. Shock described the mood Sunday night in the nearly silent Airbus A330 headed north. The quiet was broken as Ryan Longwell approached Brett Favre. Longwell was Favre's teammate with the Packers before signing with the Vikings in 2006, and the kicker then played an instrumental role in getting Favre to join the Vikings last August. Now, in the aftermath of a heartbreaking ..."
Kris Jenkins: Brett Favre's 'superstar status' caused 'animosity' in New York
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January 31
USA Today
 
"Vikings QB Brett Favre pulled out of tonight's Pro Bowl after the vicious beating he took from the Saints in last weekend's NFC Championship Game. But even Favre's image took a bit of a shot in Friday night's NFL Total Access on NFL Network (watch the video) when former Jets teammate Kris Jenkins said Favre's presence caused a rift in the New York locker room in 2008, though it's possible the issues could have been more rooted in jealousy among Favre's teammates that season. When asked if the locker room chemistry was ok when Brett was a Jet, Jenkins replied, "No, no it was not." And though he didn't call out Favre or any of his teammates in particular, Jenkins cited some negative comments ..."
Cowboys' Tony Romo still looks positively Favre-like
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January 31
Dallas Morning News
 
"It was only fitting that when Brett Favre canceled his Pro Bowl trip to heal mentally and physically from last week's NFC championship, Tony Romo rushed to Miami to replace him. Maybe "rush" is the wrong word, since Romo arrived in time for Thursday's practice. Given the nature of this Pro Bowl, just getting there showed considerable effort from the Cowboys quarterback. But Favre and Romo have been linked at the hip ever since halftime of the Cowboys-Giants Monday night game in 2006. That's when Bill Parcells told Drew Bledsoe it was over, and the Cowboys' offense has been in Romo's hands from then on. Romo was all over the map in that game. His first pass was picked off. He finished the ..."
Shadow of Brett Favre still dogs Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers
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January 30
Green Bay Press Gazette
 columnist Mike Vandermause
"Leave it to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to set the media straight when it comes to Brett Favre's retirement plans. Rodgers is preparing to start for the NFC in Sunday's Pro Bowl in Miami, and naturally, it didn't take long for someone to ask for his opinion on whether Favre would return to play for the Minnesota Vikings. "I just think nothing is going to happen for a while," Rodgers said in an interview with the NFL Network this week. "There's not much else you can say. "I'd say just give it a rest for a while. You don't need to do anevery day. It's not going to happen." No one knows better than Rodgers that Favre retirement reports in January and February are meaningless. ..."
NFL fines New Orleans Saints defensive end Bobby McCray for late hits on Brett Favre
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January 30
New Orleans Times-Picayune
 
"The NFL fined New Orleans Saints defensive end Bobby McCray a total of $20,000 for two incidents involving unnecessary roughness against Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, according to an NFL.com report. In the first quarter of the NFC championship game on Sunday, McCray delivered a blow to Favre after the quarterback had made a handoff to receiver Percy Harvin. Officials penalized the Saints 15 yards for the unnecessary roughness infraction."
Fran Tarkenton: 'Stupid play' by Brett Favre caused Vikings to lose to Saints
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January 29
USA Today
 
"Fran Tarkenton won't lay off the criticism of Brett Favre. The Hall of Fame former Vikings QB who called Favre's return to the NFL "despicable" last year said he blames Favre for the team's loss to the Saints on Sunday in the NFC championship game. Said Tarkenton to 97.5 FM in Philadelphia: "They were the better team. Their offense turned the ball over five times, the Viking offense. But still if he didn't make that stupid play at the end of the game they would have won the game." It's the second straight week that Tarkenton (who said last summer he was rooting for Favre to "fail") has teed off on Favre. Last week, he said he would not back off his comments that Favre was out of line in ..."
Tarkenton: If not for Favre's 'stupid play,' Vikings would be in Super Bowl
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January 29
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
"Former Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton took the gloves off once again. After being fairly reserved in his comments about Brett Favre during the season, Tarkenton took some new shots at the current Vikings quarterback Tuesday during a radio interview with Philadelphia's 97.5 FM The Fanatic. Here are excerpts of what Tarkenton had to say about Favre's performance in the NFC title game at New Orleans and more, courtesy of Sportsradiointerviews.com: On the Saints vs. Vikings game and Favre throwing the interception near the end of regulation: "Well, before that I think the Vikings were clearly the best team. They held this New Orleans offense to under 300 yards. They made Drew Brees look ..."
NFL: Refs missed call on low hit on Favre
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January 29
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating, admitted on the NFL Network's "Total Access" show this week that referee Pete Morelli's crew should have called a 15-yard penalty against the New Orleans Saints in the third quarter of the NFC Championship Game on Sunday when Vikings quarterback Brett Favre absorbed a low hit from defensive end Bobby McCray. Favre was hit low by McCray and high by nose tackle Remi Ayodele and injured his left ankle on the play. His pass was intercepted by linebacker Jonathan Vilma. New Orleans took over at its own 31 with the score 21-21 but did not score on the ensuing series. A penalty would have nullified the interception and given the Vikings the ..."
Brett Favre not needed
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January 28
Boston Herald
 columnist Steve Buckley
"What you are about to read is not - repeat: not - a Brett Favre rip job. The man has already had his public beating, both in print and on the airwaves. And if you own a computer, surely you've heard Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen's fire-and-brimstone condemnation of Favre's interception against the New Orleans Saints in last Sunday's NFC Championship Game. (I'm trying to imagine the late, great Ken Coleman going off like that after the ball went between Bill Buckner's legs.) So, sorry, no gasoline here for the Brett Favre fire. (However, one more observation about Paul Allen's awesome call: Imagine how folks in Motown feel about Allen screaming, "This is not Detroit, ..."
NFL admits it missed low hit on Favre
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January 28
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"When Brett Favre threw his first interception in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints, he ended up on the ground in pain after a high-low hit by defensive linemen Bobby McCray and Remi Ayodele. McCray hit Favre in the knees, causing a left ankle injury. Favre had to be helped off the field and had his ankle wrapped on the sideline. Many people wondered why a penalty wasn't called on McCray? Hitting quarterbacks in the knees became a point of emphasis this season and that one looked pretty obvious. The league now admits that the officials missed the call."
Vikes to pursue McNabb if Favre walks
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January 27
ESPN.com
 
"I think this is a no-brainer for Brad Childress if Brett Favre retires. And by trading for McNabb, you'd basically be blocking Favre from changing his mind and trying to return to Minneapolis. John Clayton said on ESPNEWS on Tuesday that the Vikings will make a play for McNabb if Favre walks away. He thinks that the Vikes might be willing to trade the No. 62 overall pick for McNabb. Something tells me, though, the Eagles will be asking for a first-rounder. By the way, McNabb's old quarterbacks coach at Syracuse is now in the same position with the Vikings."
Will Favre return? Childress won't be shocked either way
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January 27
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Vikings coach Brad Childress spent some time with Brett Favre in the training room early Tuesday morning before Favre hopped a flight home to Mississippi. They didn't talk about Favre's future, but the biggest question of the Vikings offseason lingers: Was Tuesday his final day at Winter Park? "I don't have an expectation," Childress said. "I know he had a great experience here. I know it too well to know that emotions are a little bit raw right now. We're still too close to it. He's earned his time to be able to step away from it and talk to his family and figure out what he wants to do. But I don't have a strong expectation one way or the other. It would not surprise me one way or the ..."
Vikings are better with Favre than without him
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January 27
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 columnist Jim Souhan
"An open letter to Brett Favre: Today would be the best day to say that I was right about you, that the killing interception you threw against the Saints justifies the Packers' decision to ditch you, justifies those, like me, who said this summer we had tired of your internal dramas and wished you would just stay home and mow. I'm still not sure why a quarterback of your experience would throw across his body, late in a play, late in a tied game, to a covered receiver. Those of us who predicted the return of Bad Brett late this season could seize on that moment to justify any criticism we want to level at you. Today, though, is the right day to say that I was wrong about you, that despite ..."
Childress says he has 'no expectation' on Favre decision
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January 27
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Vikings coach Brad Childress held his season-ending press conference Tuesday and Brett Favre's future naturally was a big topic. Childress said he talked to Favre briefly in the training room at Winter Park on Tuesday morning before Favre took a flight home to Mississippi. The question is, will it be Favre's final day at Winter Park? "I don't have an expectation," Childress said. "I know he had a great experience here. I know it too well to know that emotions are a little bit raw right now. We're still too close to it. He's earned his time to be able to step away from it and talk to his family and figure out what he wants to do. But I don't have a strong expectation one way or the other. ..."
If Favre retires, Vikings' options could include McNabb, Hasselbeck, Tebow, McCoy
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January 26
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
"The Minnesota Vikings will have tickets to sell and a stadium to get, so it would seem to behoove them to get an answer and make a subsequent announcement before long on the uncertain future of quarterback Brett Favre. Favre this season gave the Vikings a needed buzz throughout the NFL. Try doing that with unproven Tarvaris Jackson and/or Sage Rosenfels at QB. The Vikings, suddenly, are at a crossroads. This is a team that was built to win this season. It wouldn't be surprising if Favre finally retires — for good. He came back this season, at age 40, to embarrass the Green Bay Packers twice, and as he mentioned after Sunday's crushing overtime loss in New Orleans, he would go out on top. ..."
Favre's in decision mode
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January 26
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"The corpse that was the Vikings' 2009 season hadn't even had time to become cold late Sunday night when the first report surfaced that Brett Favre had said he was "highly unlikely" to come back for another year. The information provided by ESPN promised to be the first of many Favre-related nuggets that emerge in the coming weeks and perhaps months as the quarterback ponders whether to return for a 20th NFL season and second with the Vikings. The most important thing is to take every report with a grain of salt. Favre, 40, retired following the 2007 season and again last February, only to change his mind on both occasions before missing any regular-season games. Even Favre's teammates know ..."
The Brett Favre Watch is in full swing.
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January 25
USA Today
 
"The Vikings QB said Sunday night that it was too soon to decide if he would return for a 20th NFL season following the NFC title game loss to the Saints. But Favre told ESPN that it's "highly unlikely" he will play again. Fans may be skeptical of anything that Favre says at this point, however. The three-time NFL MVP has retired -- and returned -- after each of the past two seasons."
Brett Favre's magic act is one trick short
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January 25
Palm Beach Post
 
"The New Orleans Saints surely earned their first trip to the Super Bowl. They outlasted Brett Favre, didn't they? For 19 seasons that has been a pretty tall task for every NFL team that's gone against the old warhorse. On Sunday night it was almost more than the high-powered Saints and league-leading quarterback Drew Brees could manage, and that was with the advantage of a crowd so certifiable that the Louisiana Superdome's cement roof is all that kept them going into orbit. New Orleans won NFC Championship 31-28 on an overtime field goal. That's way too tight for a game in which the Vikings turned the ball over five times to only once for the Saints. Way too tight for a game in which ..."
Brett Favre not ready to say no to next year just yet
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January 25
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 columnist Bob Sansevere
"It wasn't supposed to end the way it did, with Brett Favre rubbing his eyes in a locker room here while an assistant coach tried to console him. It was supposed to end in Miami, in the Super Bowl. That was why Favre ended yet another retirement. He wanted one more crack at the Super Bowl. That would have been the storybook finish. Not this. Not Favre in the locker room, being consoled by defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Not Favre, a half-hour later, at a podium, talking about coming close, so very close. "I'd love to win a Super Bowl," he said. "Who wouldn't? I'm going out on top, one way or another. I don't feel I have anything to prove." Nobody should read too much into that ..."
Brett Favre's play marred by New Orleans Saints' late interception
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January 25
New Orleans Times-Picayune
 
"The Minnesota Vikings' locker room looked like a funeral home after Sunday's 31-28 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game, and quarterback Brett Favre was the chief mourner. Many of his teammates walked to his locker, hugged him, whispered in his ear and consoled him as he consoled them. Favre's interception with 19 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that ended a possible game-winning scoring drive garnered most of the attention. "I prefer to look at the positive, watching 4 compete in purple and gold was great," Vikings Coach Brad Childress said. As for if he thinks Favre will return to play again Childress said: "I told him to go home, lick his wounds, ..."
BIG QUEASY: Over and out in overtime
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January 25
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"The signs hung in the locker stalls of several glassy-eyed Vikings players as they dressed quietly inside the visitor's locker room at the Louisiana Superdome and tried to come to grips with the fact their season had ended like this. The message read: "There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come ... Our time is now." Only hours before, these words had served as a source of motivation for players. Now, they were a cruel reminder for a franchise whose time never seems to come. The latest reminder arrived in the form of a mistake-strewn 31-28 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game before an announced (and often deafening) crowd of 71,276. It ..."
Berrian, Favre finally connect during season finale
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January 25
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Bernard Berrian finally got on the same page with Brett Favre, but the wide receiver's best game came in a season-ending loss. Berrian caught nine passes for a season-high 102 yards Sunday night in a 31-28 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome. Berrian's season was hampered by two separate hamstring injuries. He finished fourth on the team in catches and third in receiving yards. But he was Favre's favorite target Sunday night. "I think we've been looking for that all year," Berrian said. "You have to make your opportunities count." Berrian has now had two of his best games as a Viking at the Superdome. He caught six passes for 110 yards and a touchdown in a victory in ..."
Saints defenders salute Favre's grit after injury
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January 25
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Bobby McCray hit him high. Remi Ayodele hit him low. Watching Brett Favre practically being carried to the sideline and lying on a table had the Saints' defensive linemen thinking that they had knocked the Vikings quarterback out of the game. But, McCray confessed, he wasn't really surprised when Favre returned for the fourth quarter, leading his team to a tying touchdown and having the Vikings in field-goal range for the game-winner before Tracy Porter's interception intervened and sent the game to overtime. "Let me tell you, that is one tough son of a gun," McCray said. "We tried to put everything on him, but he just kept coming back. "That just shows the heart of a champion, and that's ..."
No. 4's interceptions help send Minnesota packing
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January 25
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
"Joy reigns in Packerland. Brett Favre has struck out. Unless his extraordinary career has other chapters to write, Favre won't be going to the Super Bowl wearing the purple and white No. 4 jersey of the Minnesota Vikings. The 40-year-old quarterback reverted to his old bad Brett form Sunday night, forcing a pair of costly second-half interceptions that cost the Vikings the opportunity to win the NFC Championship Game in regulation time. Then the Vikings lost the overtime coin flip, and Garrett Hartley's 40-yard field goal with 10 minutes, 15 seconds left gave the New Orleans Saints a historic and gut-wrenching 31-28 victory and sent them to the Super Bowl for the first time in their ..."
Life goes on without old No. 4
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January 25
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
"There is a misconception out there that most Wisconsinites are still bitter that Brett Favre and his merry band of Norsemen are still chucking and toting the hogbladder while their Green Bay Packers are setting up tee times. Nonsense. Nothing could be further than the truth. It can now be revealed that just the other day when good 'ol Bert was dropping 34 points and four touchdown passes on the Dallas squad, there were no incidents on the police blotter about bricks of Velveeta going through television screens in America's Dairyland. Nobody was spotted flinging Cheese Whiz at the guy's steakhouse, either. The novelty of this man being a Viking has worn off, too. Let him have those horns. ..."
Don't blame Favre for Vikings coming up short
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January 25
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 columnist Sid Hartman
"Well, Brett Favre failed in his first attempt to bring the Vikings to the Super Bowl, when the team -- while completely outplaying the Saints -- lost on an overtime field goal 31-28 on Sunday night in New Orleans. It wasn't Favre's fault that the Vikings lost, although he was involved in a key interception that cost them a chance at a winning field-goal attempt at the end of regulation. Three lost fumbles and an earlier Favre interception didn't help the Vikings' cause. Although Favre might be through with football -- it would be hard to blame him after he took a good beating from the Saints -- he has indicated that he is very happy here and now that he failed to get the prize he was ..."
Beaten down Favre makes no promises about the future
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January 25
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Fighting off tears that welled in his eyes and dealing with a sprained left ankle, Brett Favre stood at a podium inside the Superdome on Sunday night and made no promises about what the future may hold. The Vikings' painful 31-28 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC title game less than an hour old, Favre said he did not expect to take long to make a decision about whether he will return for a 20th season. Favre signed a two-year contract when he ended his second consecutive attempt at retirement last August in order to join the Vikings. "I wouldn't say months," Favre said when asked for a timetable. "I know people are rolling their eyes or will roll their eyes. In a ..."
Brett Favre's Mississippi hometown has awkward allegiance for NFC championship
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January 24
Palm Beach Post
 
"It's not really what you'd call a turf war. Folks around here are too friendly, too wrapped up in each other's lives, for that. There's no debating the awkwardness of it all, though, when Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, the pride of Kiln, matches up against the Saints, the heart and soul of this country crossroads an hour's drive east of New Orleans. Over at Da Burger Barn there's a banner inviting customers to gather for tonight's NFC Championship Game, and calling it a big-screen TV "Saints Party." Just 50 yards away, however, a security gate marks the entrance to a long private drive, along which stand a U.S. flag and a large purple-and-gold Vikings banner flapping in the ..."
Working his game plan Favre's big goal within reach
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January 24
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
"If Brett Favre had a to-do list this season, it probably would have gone something like this: Beat the Green Bay Packers twice. Win the NFC North Division. Reach the Super Bowl. Win the Super Bowl. So far, so good. Favre's brilliant season has included a most satisfying sweep of the Packers, the division title and a smashing divisional-playoff victory over the Dallas Cowboys one week ago. The 40-year-old Favre has driven the Minnesota Vikings to the cusp of the greatest season in the franchise's 49-year existence. Late Sunday, Favre can deliver a Super Bowl to Minnesota for the first time in 33 years with a victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game at the Superdome. ..."
Enjoy Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre's magical story
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January 24
Green Bay Press Gazette
 columnist MikE Vandermause
"Many diehard Green Bay Packers fans will have trouble watching Sunday's NFC championship game and can't bear the thought of Brett Favre leading the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl. On the flip side, many fervent Favre backers will view a Vikings' victory over the New Orleans Saints as damning evidence against Packers General Manager Ted Thompson and his decision to let the Hall of Fame quarterback get away. Both sides have it all wrong. The 40-year-old Favre has produced the best season of his remarkable career. The fact he has guided the Vikings within one victory of the Super Bowl at such an advanced age is the best NFL story of the year, if not the past decade. Is the hate for the ..."
Minnesota Vikings' Brett Favre pines for one more
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January 24
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"It has been 12 seasons since Brett Favre last played in a Super Bowl. That's a couple of careers ago for some players. John Elway, the opposing quarterback in that game, has been retired for 11 seasons. "Elway being retired for so long, people actually forget that I actually had success - had been in a Super Bowl," Brett Favre told reporters Wednesday. "I have to remind them of that sometimes: 'Hey, you know I've played in the Super Bowl.' "And they say, 'Really?' " Favre added, drawing laughter. "I guess I've played so long that I kind of have to re-justify that I was actually pretty good at one time." Obviously, no one has forgotten. But with the exception of the 2007 season, when ..."
Minnesota Vikings' three-way gamble might pay off today
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January 24
St. Petersburg Times
 
"The wager was made five months ago by a handful of men for a handful of reasons. One was betting his legacy. Another was betting his job. A third was betting his business. All were gambling on essentially the same thing. That a capricious 40-year-old with a damaged right shoulder could become the oldest starting quarterback to win in the NFL postseason while taking a troubled franchise to its first Super Bowl in more than 30 years. That's all. Just a minor mira"
To become the story, New Orleans Saints have to beat the story - Brett Favre
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January 24
New Orleans Times-Picayune
 
"Here it is, folks, the dream of a lifetime, a chance for the New Orleans Saints to win their way to the Super Bowl, and do it in front of a full house of delirious Who Dats. Has there ever been a better story in the march to this championship? I'm afraid, if you asked the NFL, there is. This year. It's quite simple. All the Saints have to do to become THE story of Super Bowl XLIV is vanquish THE story of the moment. All they have to do is hope the Cinderella Jets lose, then defeat that ageless wonder playing quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, playing it better than Brett Favre ever dreamed he'd be playing in a 40-year-old body after more than 300 professional football games. "He's ..."
Saints vs. Vikings: A case of class vs. crass
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January 24
Los Angeles Times
 columnist Bill Plashke
"One team is led by an ancestral chant, stolen from early vaudeville and turned into a guttural cry that has become a Cajun heartbeat. "Who Dat?" the New Orleans Saints fans scream this weekend, the two syllables echoing hope through the mist and cobblestone. The other team is led by a tune rejected from "American Idol." "Pants on the ground!" Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre sang to his teammates last week, botching the words to the shallowest of songs. As with most things in life, when trying to figure out today's NFC championship game, just feel the rhythm. Both teams would be great Super Bowl stories filled with personality and punch. But only one of those stories thumps real. ..."
A change of colors at home: Favre's hometown is going purple.
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January 24
Philadelphia Inquirer
 columnist Al Jones
"Move over Green Bay, Brett Favre's hometown is going purple.Dolly's, a popular quick stop in Kiln, will also toss in a little red, blue, green - and a twist of black and gold - as its favorite son prepares to lead Minnesota into the Superdome on Sunday against New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game.For the last 17 years, the north side wall at Dolly's has featured a Green Bay mural, with Favre being the center of attention for his days as a Packer when he won a Super Bowl and laid claim to three MVP honors.Keith Lee, owner of Dolly's, said the wall will no longer be dedicated to the Packers."We supported the Packers for 17 years," Lee said. "But what [Packers general manager] Ted ..."
This is why Vikings went after - and got - Brett Favre
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January 24
Dallas Morning News
 columnist Rick Gosselin
"This is why the Minnesota Vikings coaxed Brett Favre out of retirement. This is why the Vikings initially took no for an answer from Favre in July, then patiently waited a month while he pondered life without football. This is why the Vikings welcomed Favre with open arms in August even though he hadn't spent a day in training camp bonding with his new teammates. For decades, the Vikings had been a quarterback away from serious Super Bowl contention. They believed Favre could finally get them over the hump. The hump comes today when the Vikings visit the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game. The winner advances to the Super Bowl on Feb. 7. The Vikings had winning seasons with ..."
Favre's quest to NFC title game has been costly
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January 24
Washington Examiner
 columnist Rick Snider
"Brett Favre continues to call audibles in his life. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback says beating New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday to reach his third Super Bowl isn't about exiting a storied NFL career with the perfect ending. And it's not about redemption after faltering late the last two seasons with Green Bay and the New York Jets. Favre says it's about living in the moment -- enjoying the game for as long as he can. Maybe, but there's a lot of redemption and polishing of a career that will one day make him a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer. "After I had the [offseason] surgery and felt a little bit better, I don't think there was ever a time in my mind when I didn't ..."
Working his game plan
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January 24
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
"If Brett Favre had a to-do list this season, it probably would have gone something like this: Beat the Green Bay Packers twice. Win the NFC North Division. Reach the Super Bowl. Win the Super Bowl. So far, so good. Favre's brilliant season has included a most satisfying sweep of the Packers, the division title and a smashing divisional-playoff victory over the Dallas Cowboys one week ago. The 40-year-old Favre has driven the Minnesota Vikings to the cusp of the greatest season in the franchise's 49-year existence. Late Sunday, Favre can deliver a Super Bowl to Minnesota for the first time in 33 years with a victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game at the Superdome. ..."
Vast majority of Packers fans want to see Favre, Vikings go down in flames
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January 23
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 columnist Don Walker
"Whether it's Karl on a car phone, or Debbie calling in from De Pere, Green Bay Packers' fans want Brett Favre and his Minnesota Vikings to lose this weekend, denying the Vikings the chance to go to the Super Bowl. Steve (The Homer) True, sports-talk show host on WAUK-AM (540) certainly thinks so. "If he was playing for the New York Jets, this would be entirely different," True said. "I just can't conceive the Vikings winning their first Super Bowl with Brett Favre. "Just saying it sounds wrong." He's right. The rivalry between fans of the Packers and Vikings is real. And while the Vikings had the upper hand this year (they defeated the Packers twice), Packers fans can always say that the ..."
Former New York Jets QB Brett Favre may meet old team in Superbowl with Minnesota Vikings
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January 23
New York Daily News
 
"When Brett Favre came to New York before the 2008 season, he was hailed as the man who would finally help the Jets make a run at their first Super Bowl appearance in 40 years. It turns out, that might be exactly what he did. "You know, if I was there, maybe we wouldn't be in it, I don't know," said Favre, who now is trying to lead the Vikings to their first Super Bowl since the 1976 season. "Obviously I wasn't good enough to get us there last year. They've gotten to this point for a lot of reasons. And I guess you could say the biggest reason is that I'm not there." That bit of self-deprecating humor is funny because it just might be true. Jets fans surely wouldn't argue the point, given ..."
Terry Bradshaw: If Vikings don't win Super Bowl, Brett Favre will play another season
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January 22
USA Today
 
"Will Brett Favre play again in the 2010 season? Hall of Fame QB Terry Bradshaw says it all depends on whether Favre and the Vikings advance to -- and win -- Super Bowl XLIV. Bradshaw, now a Fox analyst, told USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand that if Favre wins the Super Bowl, he will likely hang up his cleats -- for good. Bradshaw says Favre is motivated by a desire to show up the Packers, the team he divorced in 2008. Favre, Bradshaw said, wants to "embarrass them, put it in their face. And nothing would throw it in their face more than winning the Super Bowl.""
Brett Favre is bitter pill in Minnesota Vikings territory
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January 22
New Orleans Times-Picayune
 
"If you feel for the folks in Kiln, Miss., as they struggle with their divided loyalties between the Saints and hometown hero Brett Favre, consider the season-long plight of Green Bay Packers fans as they've watched the former object of an entire state's affection take snaps with their most bitter cross-border rivals. "I've tried to take the high road, but people are mad," Mary Heyer said. "I still can't believe it." What she can't believe isn't that the player who was to the Packers what Michael Jordan was to the Chicago Bulls decided to continue his career elsewhere. Large portraits of Favre hung on the wall of Heyer's Wasau, Wisc., home even after he joined the New York Jets in 2008. ..."
Rooting for the dream matchup
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January 22
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 columnist Bryan Burwell
"With a Super Bowl trip on the line, the NFL's conference championship weekend provides an annual desperation that routinely makes this the NFL's most compelling weekend. But there's a little something extra on tap this weekend, and we all know it. It's the potential for a rare Super Bowl dream matchup that could make the regular mega-hype of Super Bowl Week turn into something even larger than life. If an incurable NBA lover's ultimate Finals showdown would be Kobe vs. LeBron, then the NFL's equivalent fantastic dream is the very real possibility of two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time facing off in Super Bowl XLIV. Brett Favre vs. Peyton Manning. "The Favre story is the obvious ..."
Brett Favre says he has nothing left to prove
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January 21
New Orleans Times-Picayune
 
"Certainly there's no emotional conflict, because all Brett Favre wants to do is ruin the biggest game in New Orleans Saints history, in the building where he had the biggest win of his statistically unparalleled career. All he wants to do at the Superdome on Sunday is what he did there 13 years and two days ago, on Jan. 26, 1997. Then, in Super Bowl XXXI for the Green Bay Packers, his team posted a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots. This time the objective of the now 40-year-old quarterback is to lift the Minnesota Vikings over New Orleans in the NFC championship game, to give Favre a third trip to the Super Bowl and deny the Saints a first, on the Saints' home turf."
Big game is familiar to Favre
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January 21
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"Brett Favre admitted he choked Sunday. After throwing four touchdown passes in a 31-point victory over the Dallas Cowboys in a second-round playoff game, Favre struggled through his own rendition of "Pants on the Ground" in the Vikings locker room as his amused teammates looked on. By now, most everyone has seen the Internet video of Favre attempting to sing the ditty made popular on "American Idol." "It's not like that song has a lot of words to it," he said Wednesday after wrapping up a news conference at Winter Park. "It's 'Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool' -- which I was. That's why I left that out [the rest of the words] because I said it's bad enough." ..."