Brett Favre interview: Most memorable play and fart machine among the highlights
Brett Favre, the ol’ gunslinger, is a pro on and off the field. His most recent interview provides lots of insights.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph
Brett Favre appeared on the ESPN 1310 The Ticket radio show (see the video below) yesterday and talked about topics that ranged from tackling teammates to fart machines on the team bus, but as always expressed his love of team and how the game and the people he played with and for brought out his humility.
Roger Staubach was Brett Favre’s boyhood hero.
On the Southern Methodist University campus, Favre was relaxed and honest in answering questions for the billionth time. Obviously he’s done this before, but there were some things that came out that I didn’t know about. He said that he always wanted to be Roger Staubach growing up and loved the Cowboys. I think everyone thought he was a big Saints fan.
He talked about his spontaneity, especially when it came to tackling teammates early on in his career. He probably would have continued had head coach Mike Holmgren not have set a fine of $5,000 each time he continued it. “I was such a tightwad back then,” he said. “Nothing was scripted … the excitement got the better of me.”
He also said that he was proud of his relationship with the fans and was especially proud of how the average fan in the stands thought about him – saying that he always felt that the guy in the stands thought that if he were a football player he would be Brett Favre. That, to Favre, was humbling.
But he also talked about being in the public eye and the fact that there was a faction of fans who resented him for his success. “It didn’t change me. From day one, I felt I was lucky. If I didn’t look over my shoulder, the next guy would play. I couldn’t worry about what people were saying.”
His most memorable play? The bomb he threw for a touchdown to Sterling Sharpe in the back of the end zone at Detroit in 1994.
Brett Favre diving for a touchdown against the Falcons.
He also talked about his run for a touchdown on the game’s final play to win against the Atlanta Falcons in the Packers’ final game at County Stadium in Milwaukee. “I do remember Holmgren saying, ‘whatever you do, don’t run … and what do I do? I run.”
He also reminisced a bit about Holmgren, saying with regret in his voice, “if he had stayed … we could have won a lot. Was he hard on me? Yeah. But he was perfect for me at that time in my career. He was patient … he saw something that maybe even I didn’t see.”
Favre also talked a bit about how quickly the game has changed and what might have been had he been born a bit later. In high school, Favre admitted that playing for his dad, Irv, didn’t allow him to throw the ball. If they threw it five times a game, that would have been a lot.
Today’s quarterbacks are playing the pro offense in high school and learning how to read defenses is becoming the norm at all levels. Favre said that had he been schooled from such a young age, he may have done even greater things.
But it was his statement about being a champion that hit home for me. He said that any season where they didn’t go home as the champion was a disappointment. That means that out of the 20 years he played in the NFL, 19 of them were unsuccessful. And that’s coming from a guy who holds every passing record possible.
To end the interview, Favre talks about his best prank. I’ll let him explain it on the video, but let’s just say it involves a remote controlled fart machine … where does one get one of those anyway.
Enjoy the interview …