EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - Brett Favre’s latest retirement lasted all of three weeks.
The three-time NFL Most Valuable Player has done an about-face for the second time in as many years and will play for the Vikings this season.
“I felt I did everything I possibly could do to get where I need to be,’’ Favre said yesterday. “You’re 39, your arm may not feel like it did at 21. But the pieces are in place that you don’t have to do that much and I agree with that.
“If they were willing to take that chance, I was, too.’’
If the wait for Favre’s decision seemed never-ending, it was resolved in a few short hours. He jumped on a team plane in Mississippi and was picked up at the St. Paul airport by coach Brad Childress. The two drove to the team’s practice facility, where Favre waved to hundreds of cheering fans.
Ninety minutes later, Favre was on the field in his familiar No. 4 jersey with purple shorts and a purple helmet, a vision that has had Packers fans cringing for months. He shook hands with a few of his new teammates and quickly began throwing as fans peeked through the security fence to catch a glimpse.
Shortly after practice began, the Vikings confirmed the agreement that seemed inevitable all summer, only to be held up July 28 when the man who holds every major NFL career passing record told Childress he wasn’t ready to play, citing a lack of confidence in his beat-up body to hold up over an entire season.
Favre also had been told by doctors that he had a tear in his rotator cuff.
“The bottom line is it’s football,’’ Favre said. “Once you step into the huddle, I don’t look at the helmets. I look at the faces.’’
Childress a few weeks ago said he had not planned to pursue Favre after the quarterback said he was staying retired. And yet here comes Favre, once reviled by a Vikings fan base that hustled to welcome him to town.
“I don’t have any problem rooting for one of the greatest quarterbacks ever,’’ said Phil Setala, a 23-year-old from Minneapolis who was at practice proudly wearing a purple No. 4 jersey.
Last month, Favre explained his decision by saying he had to be “careful not to commit for the wrong reasons.’’
“I’m 39 with a lot of sacks to my name,’’ he said.
He has a lot of interceptions to his name, too, more than anyone in NFL history. The last time Favre appeared in the playoffs - a bitter loss at Lambeau Field by the Packers to the Giants in the NFC Championship game following the 2007 season - he put up one of his worst performances in recent memory.
Now the question becomes how Favre will fit in with a team that’s already done with the grind of training camp, not to mention how his health will hold up. Favre had arthroscopic surgery to fix his throwing shoulder in May.
