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Bleeding green and gold New deal ensures Favre will always be a Packer
Chip. Chip. Chip. One lazy Saturday afternoon last December, I stood inside the Green Bay Packers' practice facility and interviewed Brett Favre while he lofted golf balls toward a makeshift pin 60 yards away. The subject of his future came up. I asked him: Do you want to finish your career with Green Bay? Favre leaned on his wedge for a second, thinking. "Definitely. If in two years, say, they want to trade me, I'd probably walk away. Retire." In an era of me-first athletes, the Green Bay quarterback pulled another Favreism on Friday. Arguably the best quarterback of the half-decade, still in his prime, gave away the right to freedom for the rest of his pro football career. He signed to what amounts to a lifetime contract with the Packers, his first and only love in football –- and said he would never wear another uniform than Green Bay's classic green and gold. "I want to be a Packer for life," Favre said today. "This solidifies I will be a Packer for the rest of my career." Favre still has three years remaining on his current contract. This new deal will pay him a signing bonus of approximately $10 million and, according to agent Bus Cook, will guarantee his income for the next three years regardless of injury or performance problems. In addition, the deal reportedly calls for Favre to play for no team other than the Packers through the 2010 season, after which time he will be 42 years old. Favre, a simple man who said today that one of the delays in announcing his contract extension was that he had to cut his grass in Hattiesburg, Miss., talked at length about how important it was for him to play for only one team for the rest of his professional life. Drafted in the second round by Atlanta in 1991, Favre was traded to Green Bay the following winter for a first-round draft pick. And in the decade since, he has moved into or near the top 10 of every major passing category in NFL history. And he has been the on- and off-field leader for the winningest team in football the past eight years. This is something he didn't want to abandon. "I remember growing up," Favre said, "And you could almost name every player on every team at every position for years. You can't do that anymore. But I just enjoy it here and I want to stay for as long as I can play." After he thought the Packers could remain a contender for the rest of his playing career, Favre said, "I don't see any reason we can't get back to where we were. We had a great four-game stretch at the end of last season, and even though we didn't make the playoffs, I remember when we came into the locker room after beating Tampa in our last game there was jubilation in there. We were so pleased about the way we played down the stretch. There are probably a lot of things I should worry about but I don't. I really don't worry about the things around me most of the time. I'm kind of narrow-minded. I just want to go out and play." Sweeter words the Packer Nation could never hear. Brett Favre is home for the rest of his career. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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