Brett Favre was in Dallas on Friday as the featured speaker at an Southern Methodist University athletic forum luncheon, but the former Green Bay Packers quarterback probably made his most interesting comments while on "The Bob and Dan Show" on KTCK-AM.
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Favre particularly was revealing about the notorious indecision that gripped him toward the end of his career.
Favre's many will-he-or-won't he melodramas -- first with the Packers, later with the Minnesota Vikings -- made him the butt of nationwide jokes, and were taken as a sign of the future Pro Football Hall of Famer's selfishness, even diva mentality. According to ESPN's Jason Wilde, however, Favre said the exact opposite was true.
"If we didn't win it (the Super Bowl) at the end of the year, which 19 out of 20 we didn't, then it was a disappointing year for me," Favre said. "Later on in my career, it just got more and more disappointing. Even though I might've had a great year. The last thing I wanted to think about was football. So when I was asked that question of playing or not playing, I could have easily said, which I probably should've, 'We'll see you in July. At this point I can't commit to a team, I'm burned out.' Which was true. That's not to say that in July I wouldn't be recharged. It's kind of like when you go on summer break from school. You can't wait. But then the first day of school, you're kind of looking forward to it again. And that's the way I was. It was just the timing of the questions and how I answered them.
"I wasn't that type of player. Regardless of what people think. It's just like holding out. I never held out. ... It just wasn't my nature. I think someone said back then, I was holding the team hostage. The team was a lot more important to me than individual."
Favre also explained what it felt like when his career ended on a concussion suffered during a 2010 Vikings home game that had to be played outdoors at TFC Bank Stadium because of roof damage to the Metrodome.
"Miserable night, the dome had collapsed, our season had gone from bad to worse. I didn't have to play in the game, wanted to," he said. "I remember telling myself in pregame, 'You're an idiot. What do you stand to gain in this?' But I thought, 'I'll survive this game, I'll be fine.' One of the most minor hits I've ever (taken). The guy didn't even hit me, he pushed me. I threw the ball, and the field of course was solid ice, it was like concrete. He pushed me, I slip, fall, nothing hurt, I hit the left side of my head, and the next thing I remember, I was snoring as our trainer is kind of shaking me, saying, 'Are you OK?'"
"... As I started figuring it out as I was getting to the sidelines, I thought, 'Now, if there was ever a time where the writing is on the wall, this is it.'"
Favre predictably was asked about a possible reunion with the Pack. His answer: "We'll do it one day."
