One day after Brett Favre declared that he was "done with football," his former team, the Green Bay Packers, announced they will retire his number, according the *Green Bay Press Gazette* .
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"He deserves that for what he did as a Packer," team president Mark Murphy said during the Packers' annual Tailgate Tour. "There are very few players in our history that had their number retired. He deserves it though. But it's a very, very meaningful honor and we want to do it at a time when it's meaningful for both him and the organization."
Guard Josh Sitton, linebacker Desmond Bishop and backup quarterback Matt Flynn are traveling with president and CEO Mark Murphy on the team's sixth annual Tailgate Tour, which left from Lambeau Field on Tuesday morning.
Former receiver Antonio Freeman made an appearance on the tour Wednesday. He said the league and the world are about second chances.
"So, I think at one point in time we'll have to give Brett Favre a second chance to come back home," Freeman said. "He did have a very meaningful career here. I'm personally biased because he and I shared so many magical moments. He was my quarterback for, basically, my entire career. He was a guy who threw me all of my touchdowns."
Even though Favre, 41, has filed retirement paperwork, the Packers will take their time planning the ceremony that will take No. 4 out of the team's uniform rotation forever.
"I think it's probably going to be a few years," Murphy said. "We want to make sure that he's really retired first. We made that mistake when he first retired after the 2007 season. Ironically, we were going to retire his number and have a big ceremony at the opening game that next season against the Minnesota Vikings. Little did we know he'd end up playing that season for the Jets."
Since Favre left the Packers, Murphy has said he expected the team to eventually repair its relationship with Favre, the former face of the franchise now led by Aaron Rodgers. And Favre seemed to take a step toward reconciliation before the Super Bowl, telling ESPN that he was rooting for the Packers to "win it all."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
