Favre Quiets Haters, Gets Last Laugh

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Shame on them for booing him, mocking him, staging funerals for him, wearing flip-flops and eating waffle fries to ridicule him. The hostility toward Brett Favre was an embarrassment to a community that never looked smaller, an affront to the idea that the publicly owned Packers and their fans form a unique family bond amid the greed and sleaze of 21st-century sports. If the Cheeseheads truly had perspective, they would have stood and applauded the man whose swaggering presence defined a franchise and state for 16 years, and then they'd have rooted like hell for their boys to beat the old dude and the despised Minnesota Vikings.

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Instead, they booed him when he arrived at Lambeau Field, booed him when he emerged from the tunnel for warmups, booed him when he barked signals at the line of scrimmage, booed him when he came to the sideline. "We drove up Ridge [Road],'' Favre said of the bus ride from the Vikings' Appleton hotel, which was new to him, "and I saw all Packers fans -- some cheers, a couple of [middle] fingers, people, uh, not mooning but ... That part seemed really weird." Most of the good vibes, sadly, were drowned out by haters. Amazingly, all his personal records and playoff berths, all the special times in the two Super Bowl years, all the love for No. 4 during an epic period in football history -- it was sucked in by blind amnesia, the ignorant and short-sighted view that if he would cross enemy lines and play for the Vikings, then he must be a worthless S.O.B.

"I wasn't hoping for anything, said Favre, looking a little hurt when asked if he expected a kinder reception. "Sure, I would have loved better ... but it was about what I expected. It got worse every time I took the field. But I know what I did here. No matter what people say, good or bad, it doesn't matter. What I've done speaks for itself."

You know the rest. Hearing the rude reception, Favre had only one option in his surreal return to Lombardi Avenue. In what became an emotional, entertaining shootout between the legendary ex-Packer and the quarterback who replaced him, Aaron Rodgers, Favre would have to shut them up in the end.

And when he did, with four more touchdown passes tacked onto the three he threw against the Packers last month in the Metrodome, the place grew deathly silent. What if they tried to throw a funeral for Favre, only to have Favre turn it around and throw the funeral for them in a 38-26 victory? As night fell over Wisconsin, there was a numbing, haunting realization that he not only was the enemy now but that he was winning the cold war with a new team that could reach the Super Bowl this season. Remember, Packers management didn't want him anymore. Remember, general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy preferred Rodgers and shipped Favre away to the Jets last year. Remember, America is a free country, and as a free agent, Favre had every right to sign with the Vikings last offseason, even if he drove us all batty again with his maddening mood swings. He wanted to prove he could still play. He wanted to "stick it" to Thompson, as he admitted months ago.

Stick it, indeed. The two-game sweep gives the Vikings a 7-1 record, a 2 1/2-game lead over the Packers in the NFC North and the revenge he no doubt savored when he signed over the summer. It helps to have a plethora of weapons -- the world's best running back in Adrian Peterson, an emerging gamebreaker in Percy Harvin, potent receivers ranging from Bernard Berrian to Visanthe Shiancoe to Sidney Rice -- that Rodgers and other quarterbacks surely envy. But Favre was brought to Minnesota to manage the weapons, make sure he distributes the ball to them. At 40, he has been more effective and dynamic than anyone dreamed.
"I've never been one to rub it in a guy's face. I have a lot of respect for that organization and those fans. Nothing will ever change how I feel about them."
-- Brett Favre
This was unlike any day in sports history. We've seen legends join other teams -- Michael Jordan to the Wizards, Joe Montana to the Chiefs, Joe Namath to the Rams, Johnny Unitas to the Chargers, Wayne Gretzky to various U.S. clubs -- but never has an athlete who so embodied a franchise sided up with an arch-rival. That's what made it such a mental taffy pull for the Green Bay faithful, especially given the bitter circumstances behind the Favre-Packers divorce 15 months ago. They can boo all they want, but he got the last laugh in this post-split drama.

"I know I didn't have anything to prove to anybody," he said in the visitors' quarters, another new experience. "Am I glad it's turned out this way? Absolutely. But I knew I could play, and coming back had nothing to do with proving myself. I still have passion for the game. My arm feels great. My mind is in a good place. The team has welcomed me in.

"I'm not gonna sit here and throw any daggers. I think I've always handled myself with class. I've never been one to rub it in a guy's face. I have a lot of respect for that organization and those fans. Nothing will ever change how I feel about them.''

He didn't have to throw daggers. The scoreboard and statistics spoke for him: 17-of-28, 244 yards, four TDs, no interceptions, no sacks. "To have no picks, no sacks -- that's special,'' said Favre, shooting a sly smile. Rodgers, who was sacked six times and may not survive the season, was terrific in rallying the Packers from a 21-point hole to within 24-20 late in the third quarter. But Favre and the potent Vikings offense answered with touchdown drives and consistent big plays. He has had countless big moments in this stadium and elsewhere in the NFL. "But this ranks high," he said. "Where on the list, I don't know.''

In the personal gratification department, it might be No. 1. Let's not kid ourselves: When he has accomplished everything imaginable in the game -- virtually every major passing record, a Super Bowl title, an all-time Ironman starting streak, fame, wealth, a movie gig with Cameron Diaz -- Favre is still playing for reasons beyond his love of football. He also is going out on his terms, refusing to let the Packers tell him when. If the joyride ends up in Miami at the Super Bowl, we're looking at one of the classic sports stories ever. For now, he's content to enjoy the fun, such as his 16-yard touchdown pass to Berrian that put the game away with 3:48 left.

He reacted as if he was 25 again, leaping like a wild man, throwing his arms in the air, looking for people to hug. He ended up hugging everyone, including Berrian, who was lifted into the air by Favre as both grinned. This is the snapshot we'll record. Once again, when challenged by difficult circumstances to play well, he delivered. Favre was brilliant on a Monday night in Oakland after his father died. He was brilliant throughout much of his wife's breast cancer ordeal. He was brilliant in Minneapolis last month. And he was brilliant Sunday in Lambeau, his personal playground, against the team that disowned him.

"He's playing at a very high level," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "We talked about him not doing too much, and he did just about what he needed to do. He didn't get too creative. He kept it in the body, not out of the body."

Asked about the fallout between Favre and the Packers, Childress seemed to fire a shot at Green Bay management. "I wanted him as the starter. That wasn't what he was going to do in Green Bay," he said, referring to McCarthy's insistence that he fight for the job with Rodgers last year before the trade.

So much for the nonsense that Favre's arrival would create a "schism" in the locker room, as reported in training camp. Anyone mentioned Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels the last two months? His teammates love him. "It's Brett Favre, that's all I can say," said pass-rushing monster Jared Allen, who had three more sacks of Rodgers against a porous offensive line and now has 10.5 halfway through the season. "The guy is amazing, and we're blessed to have him on our team.''

"He's played this game a long time, he sees a lot of stuff that a lot of quarterbacks can't see," said Harvin, who accounted for 261 yards on total offense, including a 77-yard kickoff return when the game was in doubt. "And he can make a lot of throws that a lot of quarterbacks can't make. With us being explosive, to add him was like a blessing in disguise."


Speaking of disguises, Halloween weekend was the wrong time for this Cheesehead spectacle. It added to the animosity toward Favre, with a local bar called Tom, Dick and Harry's conducting a mock funeral. There it was, a mannequin Favre corpse wearing a purple No. 4 jersey, with a grave stone that read, "R.I.P. Brett Favre 10-1-69, 8-18-09. He must be dead. He turned purple."

If that wasn't nasty enough, someone wanted to change his street name from "Brett Favre Pass" to "Brett Favre Interception," though some suggested the 'P' simply be removed from Pass. The mayor of Green Bay declared Flip Flop Friday.'' The Titletown Brewery served waffle fries. If some of those stunts were kind of humorous, nothing was funny about death threats that reportedly were dialed in to the Appleton rock station that sponsored the funeral.

Which made it all the more pleasing for Favre to overcome the rancor. Maybe he didn't win the big public-relations battle locally. But the ultimate football warrior ended up one-upping Packers management forever with a double-whammy on the field. If this was a business tug-of-war, Thompson and McCarthy have slid into the mud. To Favre's credit, he made a point of wading through the post-game people scrum to approach McCarthy with a handshake. "Way to battle. Good to see you," Favre said as McCarthy, 0-2 against his nemesis, shook his hand and moved away quickly.

Some old Packers weren't happy weeks ago, when Favre called these Vikings the most talented team he has played with. What about the 1996 team that won the Super Bowl? "I was disappointed with only one thing he's done, and that was him saying recently that the Vikings are the best team he's ever played with," Jerry Kramer told USA Today. "Now he's bringing his teammates into the discussion, (the late) Reggie White and Frank Winters and Mark Chmura and all the guys he went to war with and won a Super Bowl with and saying they aren't as good as these Vikings. I wish he hadn't said that. I didn't think that was right."

Favre didn't shy from the criticism Sunday. "I'd venture to say my teammates would speak positively about me as a leader and a player," he said. Nor did he take back the most-talented comment, though he did point out that the Vikings have played just half a regular season.

"We haven't done anything other than go 7-1,'' he said. "The '96 team won the Super Bowl.''

It may or may not be the last time he plays at Lambeau. I'm done trying to forecast if Favre will play in the future. But as he prepared for a much-deserved week off in his new city, he tried to rationalize what Packers fans really feel about him.

"Packer fans cheer for the Packers first. I know that," he said. "But I hope that everyone in the stadium watching tonight said, 'I sure hate those jokers on the other side, but he does play the way he's always played. He brings excitement and passion to the game.' That's what people have admired me for. And I'd like to believe they still do.''

Oh, they do. They're just not going to tell him. Why give him the satisfaction when he already knows he has won?