Aaron Rodgers attempted only 16 passes as a rookie, but if the Packers struggle, he could see more action this season. Stan Liu/US PRESSWIRE

"Phil says, 'I have no idea. But I think him being the competitor he is, he'd continue playing. I know if it was me, I'd make 'em drag me off the field. I don't care what he's doing down there in Mississippi. He's got the rest of his life to do that. He's only got a year or two more he can play this game.'

"And I thought," said Favre, "that really said it all. That helped make my decision a lot clearer. He was right. I still loved it. I wanted to play and I still thought I could be good. And there was nothing else I wanted to do as much as this.''

I called Simms after talking with Favre and told him the story.

"Holy crap!'' he said. "Holy crap! You are kidding me. That is unbelievable. You're serious?''

"Very,'' I said.

"Well, he's right. I remember it," said Simms. "I was on with Bob Papa that day, I think. I think I said, 'If it was me, they'd have to tear the uniform off me.'

"You get to that point in your career, and you're on top of everything so well mentally, and nothing the defense throws at you can confuse you, and you just want to keep playing. Because when it's over, it's over. But that's something.

"I've heard a lot of people say, 'Oh, Favre's coming back to a lousy team and it's going to be an awful year for him. What's he doing that for?' And I can tell you from personal experience -- sometimes your favorite year can be a year when you weren't supposed to do anything and you go 8-8. That's fun. You're just out there playing as hard as you can with a bunch of guys, nothing's expected of you, and you win some games and have fun. It's like [Bill] Parcells used to say when he was giving players advice: 'You can't always drive a Cadillac.'''