Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers appear to have set a date to officially bury the hatchet. According to a statement posted on Favre’s website over the weekend, the former NFL quarterback will have his No. 4 jersey retired next summer and be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame.
“It was a tremendous honor to play 16 years for the Green Bay Packers,” the statement read. “Now to have my name placed among others such as Starr, Hornung, Kramer, Taylor, Lambeau, Nitschke, Lombardi, Davis, White and Hutson is a special honor that I share with all of my teammates and coaches, and that would not have been possible but for the foresight of Ron Wolf, the greatest GM In the history of the NFL.”
Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports that the Packers will make the announcement official on Monday afternoon with an event at Lambeau Field. Favre is not expected to be present but will communicate by telephone.
Last month, Packers president Mark Murphy said the team is waiting to retire Favre’s jersey because the Lambeau legend “wouldn’t want to come back and get booed.” Favre, who spent 16 seasons with the Packers and won a Super Bowl, later insisted that is not true.
“I’ve heard that was a concern of mine, and I’m here to tell you I’m not,” Favre told ESPN 1000 in Chicago. “I’m not worried about that. I’m well aware that you can’t please everyone. Not everyone’s going to like you regardless, and you know what, so be it. But I think the 16 years that I had in Green Bay speaks for itself.”
Favre’s not going to get booed. Sure, he left on bad terms and held back a clearly NFL-ready quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, but Packers fans understand what Favre meant to the franchise. They’ll be more than willing to forget that he signed with a division rival.
