Iron man Brett Favre

After the NFL 2007-2008 season, Brett Favre (Green Bay Packers, Jersey No. 4), one of the best ever quarterback to play the game is expected to retire. His career spans 17 years from 1991 to 2008. A remarkable player, Brett Favre started in the NFL when legends and superstars played in the game. He competed against, and even bested, some of the premier quarterbacks at the time such as Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, and John Elway. All of these players are retired and are members of the NFL Football Hall of Fame. But Brett’s years playing football outlasted them all, allowing him to surpass many NFL records.

College and early NFL years

Brett Favre played collegiate football at the University of Southern Mississippi. In his junior season, he lead the Golden Eagles to an upset of the sixth ranked Florida State. In the 1991 NFL draft, the Atlanta Falcons picked Brett Favre in the second round as the third quarterback to be selected overall. Dan McGwire was drafted 16th in the first round by the Seattle Seahawks and Todd Marinovich was drafted 24th in the first round by the Los Angeles Raiders.

Brett Favre only played a handful of games for Atlanta then he was traded to Green Bay for a first round pick in 1992. He backed up Don Majkowski (nicknamed the Magic Man by the sports press) until Majkowski’s injury in the third game of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals. By engineering a come-from-behind victory and Majkowski’s injury, Brett Favre earned the right to start the fourth game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has not relinquished that position ever since.

The Best All Around Quarterback?

A case could definitely be made for Brett Farve as the best NFL quarterback of all time. He holds some of the most prestigious awards for his position:

* Most wins by a starting quarterback (NFL) regular season career: 159 (Regular season record: 159-93)
* Most career passing touchdowns: 440
* Most career passing yards: 61,556
* Most career pass completions: 5,368
* Most career pass attempts: 8,747
* Most career interceptions thrown by a quarterback: 288
* Most career games with at least three touchdowns: 63

Furthermore, he’s taken the Green Bay Packers twice to the Superbowl, beating the New England Patriots in Superbowl XXXI (1996) and losing to the Denver Broncos in Superbowl XXXII (1997). Perhaps when making a case for the best quarterback, probably the strongest of his cards is his longevity. Brett Favre owns the most consecutive start by an NFL quarterback. He hasn’t missed a game since he started for the Green Bay Packers in 1992, the fourth game of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was 253 regular season games ago (not including the 20 or so playoff games).