March 12, 2008

BRETT FAVRE THE PLAYER WAS CERTAINLY SPECIAL, BUT BRETT FAVRE THE PERSON IS EVEN MORE SO

JOHN BIEVER HAS COVERED MANY SUBJECTS AS AN SI PHOTOGRAPHER, BUT THE PACKERS, AND ESPECIALLY BRETT FAVRE, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A FAVORITE ASSIGNMENT FOR THE WISCONSIN NATIVE. HERE HE SHARES HIS...

BEFORE HE WAS A RECORD-SETTING QUARTERBACK, BRETT FAVRE WAS THE NFL'S HOTTEST YOUNG PASSER. BACK THEN, HE ESCAPED THE MOUNTING PRESSURES OF FAME BY RETREATING TO HIS FAMILY'S HOME IN KILN, WHERE...

A YEAR-BY-YEAR CHRONICLE OF BRETT FAVRE'S 16 SEASONS IN GREEN BAY AND HIS AMAZING JOURNEY FROM BOY WONDER TO LIVING LEGEND, AS REPORTED IN THE PAGES OF SI

HIS JOY FOR THE GAME WAS CONTAGIOUS AND HIS FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC WAS EVIDENT WHEN BRETT FAVRE FINALLY GOT HIS HANDS ON THE CONTROLS IN GREEN BAY

THAT'S WHAT FAVRE WAS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR—AND WHAT HE BECAME—DURING A SEASON CAPPED BY A THRILLING COME-FROM-BEHIND WILD-CARD VICTORY OVER THE LIONS

NEARING THE END OF HIS FOURTH NFL SEASON, FAVRE WAS PROVING—TO HIS COACH AND HIS LEGIONS OF DOUBTERS—THAT HE WAS NO LONGER GREEN IN GREEN BAY

EXECUTING THE GAME PLAN TO NEAR PERFECTION ON THE FIELD AND CLOWNING AROUND OFF IT, THE FUN-LOVING FAVRE LED THE PACK TO THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

WEARIED BY PERSONAL TRAGEDY AND WORN DOWN BY THE FLU, THE LOCAL BOY WAS SIMPLY SUPER IN THE BIGGEST GAME OF HIS LIFE AND HELPED BRING THE TITLE BACK TO TITLETOWN

OFFSETTING COACH MIKE HOLMGREN'S BAD COP ROUTINE, A PLAYFUL FAVRE LED THE PACK TO SUPER BOWL XXXII WHILE ONCE AGAIN SHOWING HE'S AN ABSOLUTE GAS

ONE 4 ALLNEVER AFRAID TO LEAN ON HIS TEAMMATES, BRETT FAVRE'S OWN DEDICATION TO THE PACKERS WAS EVIDENT IN HIS 253 CONSECUTIVE STARTS.

YES, HE OFTEN SHOT FROM THE HIP, BUT THE PACKERS' QB HAD MORE HITS THAN MISSES AND WAS RIGHT ON TARGET WHEN A GAME—OR THE SEASON—WAS ON THE LINE

ON THE CUSP OF HIS 30TH BIRTHDAY, FAVRE'S LAST-MINUTE MIRACLES HAD MORE TO DO WITH HIS (NOW) METICULOUS PREPARATION THAN THEY DID WITH SHEER GUTS AND LUCK

WITH THE PACKERS STRUGGLING TO REACH THE PLAYOFFS UNDER THEIR THIRD COACH IN THREE SEASONS, THEIR LEADER KEPT THE TEAM LOOSE AND HIMSELF FOCUSED

PLAYING WITH NO FEAR AND A DEADLY ACCURATE RIGHT ARM, FAVRE HAD THE BEST GAME OF HIS LIFE AND BAGGED A BIG ONE: THE SUPER BOWL—CHAMPION RAVENS

FAVRE'S ENTERTAINING BLEND OF RECKLESSNESS AND BRILLIANCE WAS ON DISPLAY ALL SEASON AS THE VETERAN QUARTERBACK LED GREEN BAY TO SEVEN STRAIGHT WINS

THE NIGHT AFTER HIS FATHER'S SUDDEN DEATH, FAVRE HONORED HIS MEMORY—AND THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME BOTH MEN LOVED—WITH ONE OF HIS FINEST PERFORMANCES

BESET BY A STRING OF PERSONAL PROBLEMS, FAVRE FOUND HIS SANCTUARY ON THE PLAYING FIELD AS HE RETURNED THE PACKERS TO THEIR WINNING WAYS

IN AN OTHERWISE FORGETTABLE 4-12 SEASON FOR THE 36-YEAR-OLD QUARTERBACK AND HIS TEAM, THERE WERE A FEW SIGNS THAT THE OLD BOY WASN'T DONE JUST YET

WITH THE QUESTION OF HIS RETIREMENT LOOMING, FAVRE PUSHED BACK AGAINST AGE AND TIME AND ONCE MORE—FOR HIMSELF AND FOR ALL PACKERS FANS—FOUND JOY IN THE GAME

THE INCOMPARABLE FAVRE PLAYED HIS FINAL PACKERS SEASON THE WAY HE PLAYED THE 15 BEFORE IT—AS A RECORD BREAKER, A MASTER OF HIS POSITION AND A WINNER

AT 38 THE PACKERS' IRON MAN CLOSED OUT AN EXTRAORDINARY CAREER WITH ONE OF HIS FINEST SEASONS. HIS PASSING WAS MORE PRECISE, HIS LEADERSHIP MORE EVIDENT THAN EVER. BUT THE REAL MEASURE OF FAVRE'S...

FRIENDS AND FOES ALIKE HAVE THEIR FAVORITE BRETT FAVRE MEMORIES. HERE, IN THEIR OWN WORDS, IS WHAT THEY'LL REMEMBER ABOUT NUMBER 4

STATS DON'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY, BUT THEY SPEAK VOLUMES ABOUT BRETT FAVRE'S CAREER

THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, NUMBER 4 WAS AT THE FOREFRONT FOR SI