FAVRE, Brett Lorenzo

(b. 10 October 1969 in Gulfport, Mississippi), quarterback for the Green Bay Packers best known for winning Super Bowl XXXI and for earning three National Football League (NFL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors.

Favre has always been bigger than life. He was nine pounds, fifteen ounces and twenty-one inches long at birth. Favre grew up in Kiln, Mississippi. His father, Irvin Favre, was a driver's education and physical education teacher as well as a baseball and football coach. His mother, Bonita French, was a special education teacher. "If you slapped him when he was little, he'd say it didn't hurt. He would never give in," said his mother about Favre.

Favre and his three siblings grew up immersed in sports. He attended Hancock North Central High School from 1983 to 1987, and his father coached him in baseball and football. In football he played quarterback, strong safety, place kicker, and punter. In baseball he was a pitcher and led the team in batting every year. Because Irvin Favre preferred a running game, Brett Favre ended his high school football career with just 800 passing yards. On the personal front Favre met Deanna Tynes when he was thirteen, and they dated throughout high school and college.

When Favre arrived at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in 1987, he was a seventh-string quarterback, but he worked his way up to starting quarterback in his freshman year. In his sophomore year (1988) Favre led his team to a 10–2 record, and they won the Independence Bowl, 38–18, over the University of Texas–El Paso (UTEP). On 6 February 1989 Tynes gave birth to their daughter. In Favre's junior year (1989) the football team went 5–6. In July 1990 a car accident threatened to end Favre's football career. His injuries included a fractured vertebra, a lacerated liver, and a bruised abdomen, and doctors removed thirty inches of his intestine. Favre made a miraculous recovery and led his team to an 8–2 record in his senior year (1990), but they lost to North Carolina State, 31–27, in the All American Bowl. Nevertheless Favre was the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP). He finished his career at USM with school records for yards (8,193), pass attempts (1,234), completions (656), completion percentage (53 percent), and touchdowns (55). Favre's major was special education, but he did not graduate.

The Atlanta Falcons selected Favre in the second round of the 1991 draft. In the 1991 season his total offense was five passes, and two were interceptions. Before the 1992 season he was traded to the Green Bay Packers. Favre replaced an injured Don Majikowski in the third game of the 1992 season, and he never relinquished the starting quarterback position. The Packers finished 9–7, and Favre went to the Pro Bowl. In 1993 Green Bay went 9–7 and became the first Packers team to make the playoffs in a nonstrike year since 1972. They beat Detroit 28–24 but lost to Dallas 27–17. Favre also played in the 1993 Pro Bowl. Although Favre had made great strides in his first two seasons at Green Bay, he was an inconsistent player. He threw thirty-seven touchdown passes, but he also threw thirty-nine interceptions.

In 1994 the Packers finished 9–7 and again made the playoffs. In a repeat of the 1993 season finale, they beat Detroit 16–12 but lost to Dallas. The year 1995 was a milestone for the team. Favre finished the season with a best in the National Football League (NFL) with 4,413 passing yards, he became the first player in team history to post 3,000 yards in 4 individual seasons, and he led the National Football Conference (NFC) with a 99.5 passing rating. He started in the Pro Bowl and won his first NFL MVP award. The Packers went 11–5 and won the NFC Central Division title. In the playoffs they beat Atlanta 37–20 and San Francisco 27–17, but again they lost to Dallas 38–27.

While everything was going well professionally for Favre, he had become addicted to Vicodin. He had taken the prescription drug on and off for years to manage pain, but it became an addiction in 1995. At one point he took up to fifteen pills a night. In 1995 he blacked out on the flight home after the Pro Bowl. He quit cold turkey soon after, but the saga did not end there. In February 1996 Favre had a seizure prior to surgery on his ankle, which his doctors reported to the NFL. At a meeting with NFL doctors, Favre admitted his addiction, and the NFL made him check into the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. He was released from the clinic in June 1996. Changed by his stint in rehabilitation, Favre married his longtime girlfriend Tynes on 14 July 1996. They subsequently had another daughter.

The 1996 Packers went 13–3 in the regular season, won their division, and beat San Francisco 35–14 and Carolina 30–13 in the playoffs. Super Bowl XXXI was in New Orleans, where the Packers faced the New England Patriots. On the Packers' second play Favre audibled a risky play. He connected with the receiver Andre Rison on a twenty-yard pass that Rison ran in for the touchdown. The Packers went on to win the Super Bowl 35–21. Favre started in the Pro Bowl and won his second regular season MVP award.

In 1997 the Packers again went 13–3 in the regular season, and they beat Tampa Bay 21–7 and San Francisco 23–10 to advance to the Super Bowl. The game was a thriller, but Denver won 31–24. Favre went to another Pro Bowl, and he won his third consecutive MVP, sharing the award with Detroit's Barry Sanders. In 1998 the Packers were 11–5 in the regular season but lost to San Francisco 30–27 in the playoffs. Favre led the NFL in passing yards, and he made a tongue-in-cheek acting debut in the movie There's Something About Mary (1998).

During the 1999 and 2000 seasons the Packers hit a rough spot, finishing 8–8 and 9–7 respectively with no playoff berths. However, Favre continued to rack up personal achievements, including reaching 30,000 passing yards in 1999, having his third career 4,000-yard passing season in 1999, and setting an NFL record of starting in 141 consecutive regular season games in 2000.

In 1996 Favre founded the Brett Favre Forward Foundation, which donates money to charities, including Special Olympics, Make-A-Wish, and Boys and Girls Clubs. He established an annual golf tournament and softball game to generate money for his foundation. The Sporting News named him one of the "100 Good Guys" in sports in July 2000 in recognition of his philanthropy. Signed by the Packers to a ten-year contract in 2001, he splits his time between homes in Mississippi and Green Bay.

Favre said about his quarterbacking, "No one can change the part of me that attempts plays some quarterbacks shouldn't even attempt." Taking risks in football, he proved himself a quarterback for the ages. Loved by fans, feared by opponents, and a friend to people in need, he also exhibited his human side, beating an addiction and becoming a better person in the process. Perhaps that is his greatest victory.

Brett Favre with Chris Havel, Favre: For the Record (1997), is a full-length autobiography. Other comprehensive biographies are Steve Cameron, Brett Favre: Huck Finn Grows Up (1996), and Irv Favre, Brett Favre (1997). Valuable articles about Favre include Dan Dieffenbach, "I Think I'll Be in the Hall of Fame One Day," Sport (Nov. 1995); Ken Fuson, "Guts and Glory," Esquire (Oct. 1996); William Plummer, "Beating the Blitz," People Weekly (24 Oct. 1996); Steve Wulf, "Leaders of the Pack," Time (27 Jan. 1997); Dave Kindred, "He's Green Bay's Latest Starr," SportingNews (3 Feb. 1997); Barry M. Bloom, "Born a Rebel," Sport (Aug. 1997); Bob Der, "Guts and Glory," Sports Illustrated for Kids (Sept. 1997); Richard Justice, "It's Superman," Washington Post (20 Jan. 1998); and Paul Attner, "A Wiser Brett Favre … Really," Sporting News (24 July 2000).

Kristan Ginther