Packers' full embrace awaits Favre at overdue ceremony
The original plan was to do this seven years ago.
The Green Bay Packers would retire Brett Favre’s number during their 2008 regular-season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, ushering in the Aaron Rodgers era on the same night the team and its fans said goodbye to Rodgers’ legendary predecessor.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said with a laugh in a phone conversation with USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “You’d probably get a pretty good penny for that, but there were tickets with his picture on it, I believe.”
Then, Favre had second thoughts about retirement and … well, you probably know the rest.
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What started mostly as support from fans for the three-time NFL MVP – and angst towards the Packers brain trust that traded Favre to the New York Jets – soon flipped as Favre retired again, then came back with the rival Vikings and beat the Packers twice during the 2009 season.
But over 67,000 fans packed Lambeau Field in July to cheer Favre on the night his number was retired and he was inducted into the team’s hall of fame, making Thursday night’s festivities to unveil No. 4 on the stadium façade less about closing an ugly chapter than opening a new one.
“That was an emotional time,” said Murphy, a former NFL safety just a few months into his tenure as the Packers’ top executive when Favre first retired in March 2008. “But it’s certainly good to see where things are now and it’s going to be a really special night on Thursday.
“I think the vast, vast majority of our fans feel the same way: This is the right thing. He should be back. In my time in the NFL, I can’t think of a player that had a bigger impact on an organization or a team than he did on the Packers.”
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Favre, 46, is “laying low” leading up to the Thanksgiving game, a team spokesman said. But his emotions were apparent as he addressed fans at the July 18 event, which became something bigger once the team sold tickets to watch the indoor ceremony via video boards in the stadium.
“It sold out in less than 2 hours,” Murphy said. “I think I made an executive mistake. We priced them at $4.”
Roughly $275,000 in proceeds went to the former quarterback’s Favre4Hope foundation, Murphy said. The event was broadcast across the state and on NFL Network, too.
Now the team is dusting off old inventory and making new Favre memorabilia in advance of Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bears. Another long standing ovation figures to await Favre at halftime.
“I think time is what’s healed it – and the fact that Green Bay has been really good, won a Super Bowl since he left,” former Packers tackle Mark Tauscher said. “He put in a lot of great years here, and I think he deserves to be rewarded with that.”
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Murphy said 16 of Favre’s old teammates are expected to attend Thursday. Another Packers legend, Bart Starr, also is slated to make an appearance on the field after battling recent health problems.
Favre figures to join Starr in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible next year, meaning more celebrations ahead. There’s a “really good chance” the Packers play in next summer’s hall of fame game in Canton, Ohio, Murphy said, and there’d be a ring ceremony in the fall.
All for a player who had his No. 4 jersey burned by some Packers fans when he joined the Vikings.
“Usually, players’ careers don’t end smoothly,” Murphy said. “Oftentimes it’s kind of messy like this. It wasn’t anything personal. He retired. We had made a decision to move on with Aaron as our starter.
“Looking back on it, Brett has said it: It worked out well for us, and in the long run, it worked out well for him, too.”
Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero