Brett Favre acquired but one Super Bowl title during his otherwise iconic 16-year run with the Green Bay Packers, but he remains intrigued that his successor, Aaron Rodgers, took so long to do the same.
Emerging from the Mississippi wilderness this week for a rare interview with WQXI-AM (via SportsRadioInterviews.com), Favre riffed on Rodgers' career thus far, saying: "I'm going to be honest, I was not surprised (he won a title). The biggest surprise to me would be that he didn't do it sooner.
"I'd like to think that he watched, he learned, and then when he got a chance to play, he brought in his ability, which obviously is very good or they wouldn't have drafted him in the first round," Favre said of Rodgers, who won the Super Bowl in his third season as Green Bay's starter after three years as the backup. "He's got tremendous talent, he's very bright, and he got a chance to watch and he saw successful teams do it right. ... He just kind of fell into a good situation. On top of that, he's a good player. ... The talent around him is even better than when I was there. So I'm really kind of surprised it took him so long."
If it reads like a backhanded compliment from Favre, who won his Super Bowl in his fifth season as a starter, his voice suggested no resentment or bitterness. It's just the Favre we've always known -- competitive, heart on his sleeve -- but one year removed from the game and content with his new life farming in his "tight little shorts, no shirt and his little red hat."
Favre, who turns 42 on Oct. 10, isn't about to stage another comeback. Guy's clearly over it. He bemoaned the monotonous grind between games and the "draining" week-to-week pressure to perform at peak level.
Still, there's this gem, floating in the ether.
"That's not to say one day I'll become bored. We all become bored with whatever we do, at some point," Favre said. "But I've got this philosophy right now to kind of just take everything as it comes, don't get hurried, there's no reason to -- and just enjoy life."