Behind the Numbers 10.05.07: Brett Favre

Posted by Chris Widner on 10.05.2007

Many people are saying that Brett is playing better than he ever has. Are they just making noise, or is he really putting together an All Pro year?

In my first edition of Behind the Numbers we take a look at Brett Favre. Favre has endured his share of criticism over the years and is in the middle of a career season. He has broken a few records already this year and looks to do more of the same. Let's take a look at the history of number 4.

Humble beginnings

While Brett Favre will go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, but he didn't start out as a blue chip prospect destined for the NFL. Brett was raised in Kiln, Mississippi, the second of Irving and Bonita Favre's four children. He earned his first varsity letter in baseball, playing as an 8th grader. When it came to football, Brett was an all-around player. While he played quarterback, he also played strong safety, placekicker, punter, and even as a lineman. Due to the depth at running back on his teams his offensive coach, and father, decided to run a wishbone offense. Brett rarely had more than 5 attempts per game so, needless to say, he wasn't a highly recruited quarterback. In fact, he was only offered one scholarship, from Southern Mississippi, and that was to play as a defensive back. Ever the competitor, Brett went to Southern Miss but decided to play quarterback. His freshman year Brett was the 7th string quarterback, which is probably somewhere between water boy and "who's that kid over there wearing number 4?" As luck would have it Brett was given his chance very early, during the second half of the third game of the season versus Tulane. Battling a hang-over from the night before, Brett led his team to a comeback victory, tossing two touchdowns in the process.


Player on the rise

By his junior year, Brett was ready to breakout. He led the Golden Eagles to a major upset over sixth-ranked Florida State, throwing the game winning touchdown with 23 seconds remaining. Right before his senior year, Brett was involved in a serious car accident that resulted in him having 30 inches of his small intestine removed. As someone that has gone through stomach surgery (colostomy) I can tell you that it is not easy to bounce back from such a surgery. Just six weeks later, Brett led the Golden Eagles to an upset victory over Alabama. Alabama Coach, Gene Stallings, said after the game "You can call it a miracle or a legend or whatever you want to. I just know that on that day, Brett Favre was larger than life." By this time, Brett was ready to play in the NFL and was selected in the second round, 33rd overall by the Atlanta Falcons.

More struggles

As a second round draft pick, many players expect to have a bright future with their team. Unfortunately for Favre, head coach Jerry Glanville did not like the selection of Favre and was quoted as saying that it would take a plane crash before he'd put Favre into a game. At the time, the Falcons were led by Chris Miller and were the #5 offense in the league. Brett's first pass during that regular season was an interception returned for a touchdown. He only attempted three more passes that year and none of them were completions. Needless to say, his future was not looking good in Atlanta. During the off-season Green Bay GM, Ron Wolf, traded a first round pick (used on fellow Southern Miss teammate Tony Smith, RB) to bring Brett to the packers as a backup to Don Majkowski. As part of the trade process, Brett was required to take a physical. The physical revealed that Brett had avascular necrosis, which is the degenerative hip condition that ended the career of superstar Bo Jackson. This was obviously a huge concern for the doctors, so they recommended to fail Brett on the physical. Wolf was so impressed with Brett that he overruled the recommendation and the trade went through. Brett was given his NFL opportunity during the second game of the 1992 season against the Buccaneers. The Packers were down 17-0 at half time, so head coach Mike Holmgren sat Don Majkowski and handed the offense over to Brett. His first pass was deflected, which he caught himself for -7 yards, the only reception of his career. The Packers went on to lose that game 31-3 and Brett was far from impressive. The next game, Majkowski injured his ankle against the Bengals and was out for four weeks. Once again Brett filled in for Majkowski and had a horrendous performance, fumbling 4 times during the contest. The Packers' fans were so upset that they began chanting for fellow backup QB, Ty Detmer, to enter the game.

The Legend Begins

When fans are hoping for Ty Detmer, you know things aren't looking good, so how did Brett respond? By giving the Packers faithful a glimpse of the future. With 1:07 left in the game, he led the Packers on a 92 yard drive that ended when Brett threw the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining. Brett led the Packers to another win the next week, against the Steelers, but they went on to lose four of their next five games before going on a six game winning streak. Unfortunately they missed the playoffs with a 9-7 after getting shelled by the Vikings 27-7 during week 17. Even though they saw a disappointing end to their season, Brett went to his first Pro Bowl and it was clear that the Packers were ready to ascend to the next level. The 1993 season saw the Packers go 9-7 again but this time they made the playoffs, beating the Lions and then lost to the Cowboys 27-17. Although the 9-7 record was far from impressive, the Packers were 6th overall in total offense, a ranking that would improve over the next few years. Brett was a free agent, but Ron Wolf worked hard to sign him to a five-year, $19 million contract, making it clear that Brett was the face of the franchise. The next season the Packers went 9-7 for the third straight season, but their seven losses were only by a six point average, including three games decided by three points or less. Just like the year before, the Packers beat the Lions in the Wild Card game and then lost to the Cowboys in the Divisional game. This was the first time since Vince Lombardi that the Packers made the playoffs in back-to-back years. It was clear that the Packers were a team to reckon with. The 1995 season saw the Packers with an 11-5 record, with three of the losses being by just three points. This was the franchise's best record since 1972 when they went 10-4. Brett won the first of his three consecutive MVP awards as he led the league in passing yards (4,413) and touchdowns (38) along with his personal record of a 99.5 quarterback rating. Unlike the previous two playoffs, the Packers won their Divisional game and advanced to the NFC Championship game. Unfortunately they were stopped by the Cowboys for the third year in a row with a 38-27 loss. The last time a Packers team had gone this far was in 1967 when they won Super Bowl II. Even with all the excitement, one question still remained: could they make it all the way? The Packers were one of the top 10 defenses, and were a top 5 offense, but when it came playoff time they always seemed to fail. The team was extremely talented, but they needed to come together at the right time. Sure, it's great to win during week 5 and 6, but it's more important to be top notch at the end of the season.

As Brett has shown his entire career, it's not wise to question him and his team's abilities. The next season Brett led the Packers to a 13-3 record, best in the NFL and took them all the way to Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans. This was only an hour drive from the town where Brett was raised, so it was a coming home of sorts for the Mississippi-born slinger. The Packers had the number 1 offense and defense and looked prime to destroy the Patriots. On the biggest stage of his career, Brett was 14 of 27 for 246 yards and scored 3 touchdowns, including 1 on the ground. For the first time since Super Bowl II, the Packers were world champions and looked prime to repeat. The next season, the Packers again went 13-3 and advanced to Super Bowl XXXII, heavily favored over John Elway and the Broncos. Although Brett was 25 of 42 for 256 yards with 3 touchdowns and only 1 interception, the Broncos won 31-24, cementing the legacy of Elway.

A Long Decade

After the disappointing loss in Super Bowl XXXII, the Packers were looking to redeem themselves. Unfortunately the defense dropped from 5th to 11th, along with the offense going from 2nd to 6th. Brett was in the top 5 for every major passing category, but the defense couldn't keep their end of the bargain. The Packers went 11-5 and lost to a tough 49ers' team 30-27 in a Wild Card game. At the end of the season, head coach Mike Holmgren left for Seattle and Ray Rhodes took over for a disappointing 8-8 season and was replaced by Mike Sherman. Although the Packers missed the playoffs in their first season under Sherman, they were back from 2001-2004. In 2005 they suffered their first losing record (4-12) in 14 seasons, the longest non-losing record in the NFL at the time. During this time Brett continued to play at an exceptionally high level, but as with most quarterbacks he received pretty much all of the blame for his team's struggles. During the final game of the 2001 regular season, Brett Favre was sacked by Michael Strahan which gave Strahan the NFL single-season record at 22.5. Many people have criticized Brett, claiming he gave Strahan the sack. When looking at the type of player Brett is, this is a very unfair criticism. I personally doubt that Brett had intended to hand Strahan the sack because he's too much of a competitor to let the other team have anything. Unfortunately, so much was written about this that it is likely to be remembered for a long time. Since 1998, Favre and the Packers are 2-5 in playoff action, with Favre showing a 70.1 quarterback rating. These stats have seen many people, including myself, questioning whether or not Brett should be playing at this time. We should have learned by now not to question him, but what's the fun in that? Even though Brett had overcome so many obstacles, things were still not so bright in Green Bay. In 2005 he led the league in interceptions with 29, and only had 20 touchdowns and his 70.9 quarterback rating was 31st in the league. What most of us forgot was the fact that the Packers lost a number of players to injury, including Ahman Green and Javon Walker. Statistically this was the worst season of his career which led many of us to assume that he would retire, which he did not. 2006 was supposed to be Brett's last year but due to the talent on the team, and a four game winning streak to end the season, he came back for 2007. At the beginning of the season Brett commented that they had the most talented team since he had been there. Needless to say, many people slammed him for the comment, but looking at their performance lately, it's hard to disagree with him. During the off-season the Packers were interested in trading for Randy Moss, but refused to guarantee him money so he went to the Patriots. Brett was livid over the situation and there are rumors that he asked for a trade. He had denied the trade request and I highly doubt that he ever asked for it.

Personal Struggles

Brett has seen his share of personal issues during his time in the league, but has always overcome them. The first word that comes to most people's minds when they hear Brett Favre is "tough." You have to be a tough player to set the consecutive starts record for quarterbacks after taking hits for years on end. His brother-in-law was killed in an ATV accident on his property. Hurricane Katrina destroyed his family's home in Mississippi and his property there as well. His wife, Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 but, much like her husband, she fought through it and was expected to make a complete recovery. In response to this hardship, Deanna created The Deanna Favre Hope Foundation, which focuses on breast cancer prevention and services for all women, even those without current medical care. The biggest tragedy Brett has endured was the loss of his father, Irving, who died from a sudden heart attack while driving. Brett played the day after his father's death against the Raiders, a Monday night game. Losing a parent is one of the hardest things you'll ever endure. As someone who lost his father last year, I can tell you that even now I'm still not over it. How Brett could lace the cleats the day after is beyond me. I say that with great respect for him, not criticism as some did. When writers and sportscasters criticized him for playing the game in honor of his father, that shows that they are willing to do anything for a story. As always, Brett responded remarkably, going 22 of 30 for 399 yards and 4 touchdowns, 311 yards and 4 touchdowns coming in the first half. The performance has gone down as one of the greatest of all time. Unless you've been in that type situation, you really don't understand how amazing his performance was. By the end, the Raiders' fans were cheering for Favre, something that probably hasn't happened before and might not happen again in Oakland.

The Legend Returns

The Packers were a big question mark going into the season, but I don't think that anyone could have expected the production they've shown so far. At 4-0, they tied for the best record in the league and Brett is looking like himself 10 years ago. Lately, many writers and sportscasters have said that he is playing better than he ever has. Usually you can take such comments with a grain of salt, but looking at his numbers you will see that such comments are not so far off base. During his 3 consecutive MVP seasons, Brett averaged 4059 yards passing, 60.7% completion, 37 touchdowns and 14 interceptions for a 95.97 quarterback rating. Currently he is on pace for 4820 yards, 65.9% completion, 32 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. Those would be the best numbers of his career, with the exception of touchdown passes. Even if he sees a drop in production, he is on pace to do better than his career averages of 3833 yards passing, 61.2% completion, 27 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. So far this season he has set the record for most wins by a quarterback, most touchdown passes, and he will tie or break the records for most interceptions, most games played by a quarterback, and most 20+ touchdown seasons. And with the NFC being weak this year, there is a decent chance that he could lead the Packers back to the Super Bowl. Not bad for a guy that should have retired two years ago.

Looking Ahead

Many people, including myself, forget how awesome Brett Favre truly is. He has set almost every major quarterback record and has done so by overcoming many obstacles in his life. Next year will probably be his last season, but no matter what, we should enjoy watching him now. When a Hall of Fame player is putting up career numbers, it's an exciting time to be an NFL fan. Even if Brett doesn't win another Super Bowl, it looks like he's going to go out with quite a bang. What a fitting way to end the career of one of the most enjoyable players to ever strap on a helmet.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at the career of Brett Favre. Feel free to send any comments, suggestions, hate mail, etc to [e-mail]