Brett Favre hasn't committed to rejoining the Minnesota Vikings next season or retiring. And coach Brad Childress isn't rushing the quarterback into a decision.
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Childress told The Star Tribune of Minneapolis that he visited Favre at his Hattiesburg, Miss., home Wednesday, the day before the quarterback's appearance on NBC's "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. Childress reiterated to the newspaper that he wanted Favre to know he could take as much time as he needs to choose between playing or retiring for a third time.
"He brought it up to me -- 'When are you guys going to need to know?'" Childress told the Star Tribune on Friday. "I said, 'You know what, Brett? That's not why I came down here. I came down here to see how you're doing. It's been five weeks since we played.' We hashed through the season, we hashed through (the season he spent with) the Jets. We went backward and forward (on various subjects)."
Childress went on to tell the newspaper that Favre is in a unique situation and should have the right to take his time.
"He's earned the latitude," Childress said. "I guess I would say this. There wasn't a manual for a 40-year-old quarterback. All the naysayers said, 'The guy has got a bad arm, he finished the year poorly [in 2008]. Didn't come to OTAs, didn't want to come to ...' And everybody made him bad for that. No training camp. As I told him, 'Check all those off the list.'"
During his "Tonight Show" appearance, Favre told Leno, "Well Jay, it's only been a month, and I know now that I'm just not going to say anything anytime soon, just going to kind of sit back, relax, enjoy the offseason." Those were Favre's first comments since his season ended with the Vikings' 31-28 loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game.
This indecision is nothing new for Favre.
In 2008, Favre retired from the Green Bay Packers, then later told the team that he wanted to return. Green Bay instead traded him to the New York Jets. After a rocky season in which he suffered a torn biceps tendon, Favre once again retired, then was released by the Jets.
Childress and the Vikings began a long courtship of Favre throughout the 2009 offseason, culminating with him joining the team. Favre then enjoyed perhaps the best season of his 19-year NFL career, posting a career-high 107.2 passer rating and throwing a career-low seven interceptions (not including his rookie season when he played just two games). He completed a career-high 68.4 percent of his passes for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns.
