“Never in my life did I think”: Leonard Shapiro, “The Pack Comes from Favre Back,” Washington Post, December 23, 1992.
After the throw to Sharpe, Favre sprinted down the field: Favre: For the Record, p. 142.
162 By the time Sunday arrived: Clay Lambert, “Falcons Can’t Stop Favre but Win 24–10,” USA Today, October 5, 1992.
164 Lynn, the Bengals’ defensive coordinator, compared Favre to John Elway: Ray Didinger, “Packers’ Favre Makes His Move,” Chicago Tribune, November 15, 1992.
“I wondered, ‘Who is this guy?’”: Cameron, Brett Favre: Huck Finn Grows Up, p. 88.
At halftime Clarence Novotny: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Favre: The Man, the Legend, p. 35.
165 The statistics were strong: Terry Larimer, “Pack Stuns Eagles on Last Play,” Allentown (Penn.) Morning Call, November 16, 1992.
167 Three hours before kickoff, thousands of fans: Shapiro, “The Pack Comes from Favre Back.”
“We’ve got 20 seconds to go”: Kevin Isaacson, with Tom Kessenich, Return to Glory: The Inside Story of the Green Bay Packers (Iola, Wis.: Krause, 1996), p. 83.
“If there was one game we could have back”: Jerry Bonkowski, “Hot Pack Not About to Back Down,” USA Today, December 22, 1992.
168 “We keep telling ourselves that we had a good year”: Mel Antonen, “Packers Pack It In with 27–7 Loss to Vikings,” USA Today, December 28, 1992.
13. God and the Devil
170 He even encouraged his sorta girlfriend: Deanna Favre, Don’t Bet Against Me!, p. 27.
172 Without much warning, the NFL offseason: Peter King, “Trip to Bountiful,” Sports Illustrated, March 15, 1993.
In Atlanta, Georgia governor Zell Miller: Timothy W. Smith, “2 Teams in New York Want White,” New York Times, March 16, 1993.
In Philadelphia, a crowd of 2,000 held: Gerald Eskenazi, “Reggie White’s Tour Plans Stop on Jets’ Pad,” New York Times, March 4, 1993.
At his core, White was a simple man: Johnette Howard, “Up from the Ashes,” Sports Illustrated, September 2, 1996.
“I used to tell my mom I’m going to be a pro football player”: Rick Gosselin, “Coming In from the Cold,” Dallas Morning News, September 2, 1993.
173 (“Tougher than nine miles of detour”): Rich Cimini, “For Gang Green, It’s What Coulda Been,” New York Daily News, January 20, 1997.
“This,” White said, “is what I was looking for”: Timothy W. Smith, “Packers Land White with $17 Million Deal,” New York Times, April 7, 1993.
No, it starts in training camp: Cliff Christl, “Tracing the Roots of Players Riding Bikes,” www.packers.com, July 23, 2015.
174 “After years of icy disappointments”: Gosselin, “Coming In from the Cold.”
175 “A win over the Broncos would change things quickly”: Jeff Schultz, “Brother, Can You Spare a Healthy Quarterback?” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 8, 1993.
176 Before the game, White held a players-only meeting: Gruden, Do You Love Football?!, p. 132.
“Every once in a while he plays young”: Don Pierson, “White’s 2 Key Sacks Stuff Pack,” Chicago Tribune, October 11, 1993.
“I got thrown into the toughest offense in the game as a starter at 22”: Peter King, “Warmed Up,” Sports Illustrated, January 27, 1997.
“I want to hug him more than strangle him”: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Favre: The Man, the Legend, p. 36.
177 “I was so excited I wanted to swap some spit with the guys!”: Michael Madden, “Favre, Packers Don’t Pass Up Opportunity,” Boston Globe, January 9, 1994.
“Being with Favre was like hanging out with an overdeveloped”: Ken Fuson, “Maybe It’s True Favre Has Retired. Maybe,” Des Moines Register, March 5, 2008.
ever since having 30 inches of his small intestive removed: Ken Hayes, “Top Ten Farting Animals (Including Us),” www.kkcb.com, January 4, 2012.
His gas became the stuff of legend/tragedy: Rupal Christine Gupta, “What’s a Fart?” www.kidshealth.org, May 2015.
The Bucs were 3-7 and predictably bad: Dan Bickley, “Packers Drive by Bucs,” Chicago Sun-Times, November 29, 1993.
178 “I thought I could run it in”: “Favre Comes Through in Clutch,” Associated Press, November 29, 1993.
“It’s like Jerry West, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan”: Rick Gosselin, “Comebacks Still Favre’s Calling Card,” Dallas Morning News, November 30, 1993.
“The field was like concrete”: “Chilled Packers Thrilled,” Associated Press, December 27, 1993.
180 He then bumped into Bob Noel, the team’s equipment man: Harlan, Green and Golden Moments, p. 135.
14. The Wheels Fall Off
183 “My opinion,” Favre said, “was if you”: “Sports News,” Associated Press, September 2, 1994.
“Brett told some reporter that he wasn’t going to change: Cameron, Brett Favre: Huck Finn Grows Up, p. 154.
184 He hated sitting, and rightly viewed Brunell as a threat: Peter King, “Warmed Up . . .” Sports Illustrated, January 27, 1997.
186 “If he’d gotten back in there”: Peter King, “Bitter Pill,” Sports Illustrated, May 27, 1996.
“He knew I had a separated shoulder”: Favre: For the Record, p. 24.
187 “My headache was gone”: Ibid., p. 25.
“If I saw a teammate who was injured”: Ibid.
188 “I was actually excited about moving up there”: Deanna Favre, Don’t Bet Against Me!, p. 30.
“I began to realize that Brett was no longer the man I knew”: Ibid., pp. 30–31.
192 “Why?” she asked. “My teeth are fine”: Ibid., p. 31.
193 “I’d do anything to get it”: Favre: For the Record, p. 18.
“It got to the point,” Favre recalled: Ibid., p. 26.
194 Asked in camp whether he missed the star receiver: “Training Camp Report,” San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, August 13, 1995.
195 “Opie with a robust arm”: Jon Saraceno, “Pass on the Ordinary,” USA Today, December 1, 1995.
“the NFL’s best quarterback”: Jean-Jacques Taylor, “Brett Favre, the League’s Hottest Quarterback and MVP, Gives Green Bay . . .” Dallas Morning News, January 14, 1996.
T. J. Rubley, the journeyman third-stringer: Paul Rosik, “Remembering Rubley,” Bleacher Report, May 17, 2009.
Ron Wolf signed Bob Gagliano: Doug Moe, Favre: His Twenty Greatest Games (Madison, Wis.: Trails Books, 2008), p. 65.
196 On Wednesday Favre was still on crutches, and trainers: Ibid., p. 67.
“There was nothing wrong with the guy from the start”: Mike Kiley, “A Feast for Favre,” Chicago Tribune, November 13, 1995.
Gayle Mariucci, the wife of quarterbacks coach: Deanna Favre, Don’t Bet Against Me!, p. 32.
197 “They thought,” she recalled, “I was only feeling insecure”: Ibid., p. 34.
The inappropriate weirdness of an NFL linesman: “Referee Turned Autograph Hound Forces Favre to Make the Call,” Los Angeles Times, November 28, 1995.
When he was told that Andre Rison: “No Star Receiver but Favre Still Shines,” Associated Press, December 3, 1995.
“There are some great quarterbacks”: Saraceno, “Pass on the Ordinary.”
198 “Right now, Brett Favre is probably the hottest quarterback”: “Packers’ Favre Calls ’Em, Wins ’Em Like He Sees Them,” Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, December 4, 1995.
199 Afterward, he rightly called the loss a “step ladder”: Rick Cleveland, “Green Bay Learns What Dallas Knows: Ground Game Wins,” Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, January 15, 1996.
15. High and Dry
200 “Brett Favre was one of the most sought-after people”: Tom Silverstein, “Green Bay Packers,” Sporting News, February 5, 1996.
“I had about 15 pills left,” he recalled: Favre: For the Record, p. 35.
201 At the conclusion of Brittany’s school year: Deanna Favre, Don’t Bet Against Me!, p. 367.
202 “Get his tongue!” Deanna screamed. “Don’t let h
im swallow his tongue!”: Favre: For the Record, pp. 40–41.
“You’ve just suffered a seizure, Brett”: King, “Bitter Pill.”
He traveled to Chicago to meet with four league-appointed doctors: Favre: For the Record, p. 43.
203 The press conference was held on the afternoon: Arnie Stapleton, “Painkillers Land Favre in Rehab Program,” Associated Press, May 14, 1996.
204 “I’m entering a treatment center”: King, “Bitter Pill.”
“Every morning I would get up at 7”: Farve: For the Record, p. 51.
205 Now, hearing things like, “I saw my mom blow her boyfriend’s head”: Favre: For the Record, p. 54.
Every time she arrived, Brett proposed: Ibid., p. 58.
“I realize that while I am in this program”: Arne Stapleton, “Favre: I’m Going to Beat This Thing,” Associated Press, July 17, 1996.
206 “For the first time in a long time, I began to see”: Deanna Favre, Don’t Bet Against Me!, p. 42.
207 “On summer nights”: Barry Meisel, “Favre at the Crossroads,” New York Daily News, January 21, 1997.
“due to his negligence”: “Favre Said He’s Traumatized by Friend’s Death, Brother’s Arrest,” Associated Press, August 16, 1996.
208 “Any further punishment would be more punishment”: Meisel, “Favre at the Crossroads.”
An ESPN/Chilton Sports Poll showed him to be: Jeff Richgels, “Marketing Brett Favre,” Madison (Wis.) Capital Times, November 15, 1996.
209 The average NFL quarterback’s hand measures: Jonathan Bales, “Exploring QB Hand Size,” www.rotoworld.com, April 30, 2014.
211 Over the final two months of the season: Dick Schaap, Green Bay Replay: The Packers’ Return to Glory (New York: Avon Books, 1997), p. 24.
212 “If anyone wants to play Dallas”: Ron Green Jr., “Green Bay Fans Want Dallas,” Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, January 5, 1997.
“I didn’t think Dallas could beat us in Green Bay”: Favre: For the Record, p. 171.
For two days, the lead story on every local network: Chuck Carlson, Titletown Again: The Super Bowl Season of the 1996 Green Bay Packers (Lenexa, Kans.: Addax Publishing, 1997), p. 108.
213 “Just a typical Sunday evening at home in Green Bay”: Schaap, Green Bay Replay, p. 169.
16. Super Bowl
214 Only, New England was (yawn) sort of dull: Bill Parcells and Nunyo Demasio, Parcells: A Football Life (New York: Crown Archetype, 2014), p. 266.
215 At Rooster’s Café, a stuffed ribeye was renamed the “Brett Favre Special”!: Mary Foster, “Packers’ Fever Hits Quarterback’s Home Town,” Associated Press, January 18, 1997.
“ground zero of the football world”: Jere Longman, “A Bayou Town Catches Favre Fever,” New York Times, January 19, 1997.
216 In another one-on-one session: Steve Buckley, “Bayou Brett,” Boston Herald, January 21, 1997.
In the four days before the media tour, the Favres had 52 reporters: Culpepper, “Trip to the Favre Side Seemed a Super Idea.”
“There is no private life”: Schaap, Green Bay Replay, p. 187.
217 Except for one night where he was reportedly caught out at a strip club: Michael Felger, “Belichick Must Take a Hard Line,” Boston Herald, July 16, 2000.
A handful of paparazzi trailed him: George Kimball, “Favre Makes the Rounds,” Boston Herald, January 20, 1998.
On Thursday he came down with the chills: Michael Silver, “Pay Dirt!” in Sports Illustrated Presents: The Champions, February 1997.
219 At one point, bored by the long wait, Favre reached for his cell phone: Favre: For the Record, p. 69.
“This is what we’ve worked for since that first meeting in training camp”: Ibid., p. 72.
220 “Black meant we’re changing it”: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Favre: The Man, the Legend, p. 61.
Rison was now standing across from Otis Smith: William C. Rhoden, “Cornerback, as Always, Is on an Island,” New York Times, February 2, 2002.
221 “Pull your head out of your asses”: Silver, “Pay Dirt!”
“I started licking my chops”: Schaap, Green Bay Replay, p. 212.
“Once I caught the ball”: Ibid., p. 213.
“Even though the Patriots still had some fight left in ’em”: Favre: For the Record, p. 78.
“This guy doesn’t have any flaws”: Thomas George, “Extra! Extra! Redskins Get Howard, Dickerson Dealt,” New York Times, April 27, 1992.
223 “Brett, I’m gonna take one of these kicks back”: Silver, “Pay Dirt!”
“It was a dagger that put us away”: Jerry Rice, and Randy O. Williams, 50 Years, 50 Moments: The Most Unforgettable Plays in Super Bowl History (New York: Dey Street Books, 2015), p. 141.
17. Low
225 As soon as the plane landed: Don Terry, “Now It’s Welcome to Party Town, USA,” New York Times, January 28, 1997.
226 In the aftermath of the Super Bowl: Paul Arnett, “Brunell Better Late Than Never for AFC,” Honolulu (Hawaii) Star-Bulletin, February 3, 1997.
227 “But to [Deanna], Brett Favre is the perfect husband and father”: Al Jones, “Stands by Her Man,” Biloxi (Miss.) Sun-Herald, January 26, 1997.
229 His life has not been an easy one: Brad Kessie, “Henegan ‘Sorry’ for Killing Two Gulfport Neighbors,” WLOX.com, February 8, 2008.
In July he inked the largest contract in NFL history: Arnie Stapleton, “MVP Signs Blockbuster Contract,” Associated Press, July 25, 1997.
230 In the years leading up to the Super Bowl: Barry Horn, “Tyson-Holyfield Rematch Has Makings of a Classic,” Dallas Morning News, February 5, 1997.
He even earned a spot on the Forbes sports rich list: Michael Lynch, “The Big League Is a Class of Its Own,” Age (Melbourne, Australia), December 6, 1997.
231 “I’ve exorcised one demon”: Dave Goldberg, “Packers 27, Vikings 11,” Associated Press, December 2, 1997.
232 “They wanted me to do more wild things”: Mike Mosedale, “Favre’s Karma: Shock Jock Shocked,” City Pages, May 17, 2005.
“He got what he deserved”: “Prankster Pays for Favre Hoax,” Beloit (Wis.) Daily News, December 5, 1997.
233 “The quality and amount of sleep athletes get”: Max Hirshkowitz, “Sleep, Athletic Performance, and Recovery,” National Sleep Foundation, November 2015.
234 “Oddsmakers envision another trouncing”: Jon Saraceno, “Reeves: NFC Will Win Again, but Game Won’t Be Blowout,” USA Today, January 19, 1998.
237 They ate at George’s, a fancy La Jolla restaurant: Peter King, “A Penny’s True Value,” SI.com, December 5, 2007.
238 “Just between you and me, we’re going to win the game”: Michael Silver, “At Last, the Best,” in Sports Illustrated Presents: Super Bowl Champions Denver Broncos 1997, February 4, 1998.
239 “No one said it was over on our sideline”: Favre: For the Record, p. 278.
Beginning when he was seven and growing up in a small house: Terrell Davis, with Adam Schefter, TD: The Memoirs of Terrell Davis (New York: HarperCollins, 1998), p. 27.
“I could see nothing clearly”: Ibid., pp. 1–2.
240 “He was lying down out there”: Silver, “At Last, the Best.”
242 “I didn’t give up,” he recalled: Favre: For the Record, p. 281–86
Of the four options, the one Favre trusted: Martin Hendricks, “Receiver Mayes Never Caught On,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 30, 2007.
243 “I know you feel bad and everything”: James Beckett, John Elway (Dallas: Beckett Publications, 1999), p. 66.
18. Something About
244 On November 13, 1997, six members of the New England Patriots: Barry Petschesky, “Brett Favre Was the Third Choice for There’s Something About Mary,” Deadspin, November 6, 2014.
Toward the end of the show: “Lane, Bledsoe Settle Stage-Dive Lawsuit,” Associated Press, March 20, 1999.
“I can’t come and do your movie in Miami”: Bernie Augustine, “Brett Favre Was Third Choice for ‘There’s Someth
ing About Mary’ Role Behind Drew Bledsoe and Steve Young,” New York Daily News, November 5, 2014.
245 “That’s the funniest script I’ve ever read”: Petschesky, “Brett Favre Was the Third Choice.”
246 (his knee was bothering him): Rick Stroud, “Favre, Elway to Skip Game; Young, Bledsoe Will Start,” St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, January 30, 1998.
Rex Valenti wound up serving 60 days: “Man Gets 60-day Prison Sentence for Faking Brett Favre Autographs,” Associated Press, August 29, 1998.
signed on to have Treat Entertainment sell a six-and-a-half-inch: Tim Doherty, “Favre Figurine Selling Well,” Hattiesburg (Miss.) American, June 3, 1998.
247 “He was quieter than he’d been in the past”: Harlan, Green and Golden Moments, p. 192.
“I was even more depressed than I’d been”: Deanna Feavre, Don’t Bet Against Me!, pp. 70–71.
248 “Brett, I love you to death”: Mike Mulligan, “Favre’s Wife Almost Threw QB for a Loss,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 26, 1999.
249 “For the first time in a long time”: Charles Bricker, “Collins Bares Soul to Bury Subject for Rest of Week,” Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, January 23, 2001.
“I don’t want 15 years to go by”: “Favre Boots Booze out of His Life,” New York Post, April 2, 1999.
250 “In this job, guys drink beer”: Mulligan, “Favre’s Wife Almost Threw QB for a Loss.”
Training camp commenced on: Mike Freeman, “The Best from 1 to 100, and Subject to Debate,” New York Times, August 1, 1999.
in the Acclaim Sports’ NFL Quarterback Club 2000: Daiji Giambalvo, “Super Bowl XXXIV Champion and Top NFL Performers Predicted by Acclaim Sports’ NFL Quarterback Club 2000,” Business Wire, September 10, 1999.
251 But in an August 23 exhibition game: “Quarterback Tells of Thumb Injury that ‘Ruined’ Season,” Associated Press, December 26, 1999.
“When Favre extended both thumbs”: “Report: Damage to Favre’s Right Thumb Is Obvious,” Associated Press, November 13, 1999.
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