Brett Favre says it’s not about revenge

MINNEAPOLIS — Brett Favre is paid to play football. He’s been doing it most of his life, and the reality is that often the game seems to come easy to him. The sport also affords Favre the chance to remain a 10-year-old forever. Throwing blocks he has no business throwing, telling jokes only a third-grader would love and running around like recess is about to end.

Brett-Favre vs Greenbay Packers MNF

Perhaps that’s why Favre seemed so uncomfortable Thursday, cast in the role of adult. It’s also why the Vikings’ quarterback might have gotten his most difficult assignment of Week 4 of the NFL season out of the way when he conducted a conference call with members of the Wisconsin media and then did an interview before a large contingent at Winter Park.

As everyone knows by now — and if you don’t you haven’t been paying attention — Favre will face the Green Bay Packers on Monday night at the Metrodome. It will be Favre’s first game against the franchise with whom he underwent a bitter divorce last summer when he was traded to the New York Jets [team stats].

This meant Favre had to confront (and suppress) his emotions Thursday when continually asked about the topic. Throwing a last-second pass to Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone is second nature to Favre. Delving into the emotional upheaval that came from his separation with the Packers? That appeared to be another story.

’Every game is big’

While Favre was cordial talking to a large group of reporters at Winter Park, his tone with the media in Green Bay was far more curt and at times seemed to border on anger. While many of Favre’s Vikings teammates have admitted they know how important this game is going to be to him, the quarterback did his best to downplay this fact with everyone to whom he spoke. “We let everyone else make the game bigger,” he said. “Every game is big that we play in. It’s just another game.”

Favre also said the way things ended for him in Green Bay “doesn’t even cross my mind.”

Perhaps he was trying to convince himself more than anyone that this was true. Since signing with the Vikings on Aug. 18, Favre never has admitted that part of the reason he wanted to play for one of Green Bay’s archrivals is to show Packers General Manager Ted Thompson that he should have taken Favre back when he attempted to end his brief retirement in the summer of 2008. However, after retiring from the Jets last February, Favre told Peter King of Sports Illustrated: “Part of me coming back last year, I have to admit now was sticking it to Ted.”

Favre attempted to say Thursday he wasn’t talking about getting revenge when asked about that quote, although he seemed to be splitting hairs.

“I never played or would play for quote-unquote revenge,” he said. “It’s too long a season. It’s only one, maybe two games. What do you do the rest of the time? … What I said, and would say to anyone, (is) I think it’s human nature to say, ’I still can do it. I want to prove someone wrong.’ In your business there’s competition, I would assume, in wanting to be the best. If either you’re told you’re not the best, or you feel like someone’s going in a different direction, I think you would want to prove you could still do it. Now, in a nutshell that’s what I was saying.”

Favre made it clear that his top choice when he decided he didn’t want to remain retired in 2008 was to return to the Packers. “Why wouldn’t it be?” said Favre, who guided the Packers to a 13-3 record and a spot in the NFC title game in 2007. “I’d just had probably, in my opinion, the best year in my entire career.”

Favre gave Wisconsin reporters a lengthy answer about his initial decision not to have surgery on his biceps tendon when they asked him why he decided to call it quits again last February and not remain with the Jets. When it was pointed out Favre went so far as to ask for his release from New York, he responded: “First of all, none of that matters now anyway. What matters is this game Monday night, and that’s all that matters.”

’Serial-killer mentality?’

Favre can afford to grow impatient with the media. But he can’t afford to let his emotions get the best of him on Monday. Vikings coach Brad Childress acknowledged he likely would talk to Favre about this but isn’t concerned it will be a problem once kickoff arrives. “He’s an emotional guy, and I’m sure there will be a wave of emotion before the game and then kind of hopefully a cold, kind of a serial-killer mentality when the game starts,” Childress said.

Said Favre: “Serial-killer mentality? I don’t know if I would have put it that way, but I just want to play the way I played last week (against San Francisco), with a few more improvements. Trying to keep your emotions in check any time is part of it. But I think that’s a key part to any player’s success — you want to be excited, emotional.”

There is little doubt Favre will be both on Monday.

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