Favre leaning toward retiring
CHICAGO — After shredding the Chicago Bears in an otherwise meaningless 26-7 victory for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, Brett Favre certainly sounded like a man who was ready to leave the game.
Standing on the 20-yard line at Soldier Field after taking a photo with his offensive linemen, Favre got choked up during a TV interview, saying he would decide "soon" whether he would retire or return next season.
"It's tough. It's tough," Favre said. "I'm going to miss these guys and miss the game."
Still, Favre stopped short of saying he was retiring. Asked whether he had already made up his mind in a brief interview session after the game, Favre would not comment.
He is returning to Green Bay and will have arthroscopic surgery on his sore left ankle on Monday. A buildup of bone spurs has been bothering Favre since the beginning of training camp.
But will he walk away after the surgery?
"For us, that was our Super Bowl today," Favre said. "If it was the last game, I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome."
The emotion Favre showed after the game was in stark contrast to the prevailing sentiment going into Sunday night: That Favre would come back — and why wouldn't he?
After a fairly successful season in which he helped the Packers rebound from last year's 4-12 fiasco — their first losing season with Favre under center — to win their final four games and finish 8-8, teammates, opponents and even Favre's own family have said that they see no reason why he should retire.
"I'd love to have him back," Packers tackle Mark Tauscher said. "I'm sure everybody else would, too."
Favre still has milestone to pursue: After completing 21 of 42 passes for 285 yards and a touchdown Sunday, Favre is only seven touchdown passes shy of breaking Dan Marino's career mark of 420. With the Packers' victory, Favre tied Marino for No. 2 in career victories (147) and is only one away from tying John Elway for the record.
And unlike last offseason, Favre won't have to decide whether he wants to play for a new coach and learn a new offense.
But while Favre maintains that he still enjoys loves to play, he doesn't seem quite as convinced as everybody else that he should keep playing.
He exchanged handshakes and hugs with teammates before he was pulled in favor of backup quarterback Ingle Martin with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Wide receiver Donald Driver tried to carry him off the field.
"This is a young football team," Favre said. "Take me out of the mix, it's really young. But I tell you, I had a blast this year. I really have. I would love to be in the playoffs. We gave ourself a chance. And we had a lot of ups and down. But I had a blast with these guys."
Packers center Scott Wells said he appreciated the fact that Favre wanted to take a photo with his linemen after the game. Favre said the photo was at the offensive line's request.
