Brett Favre's glorious return to LambeauBy Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
July 16, 2015
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/brett-favres-glorious-return-to-lambeau-b99539231z1-316081491.htmlGreen Bay — Brett Favre came through the home tunnel for pregame introductions at Lambeau Field approximately 170 times during the course of a 16-year career with the Green Bay Packers.
He entered twice through the visitor tunnel.
The two times he wore a purple and white helmet to a cascade of boos could have spoiled the lasting memory of so many trips out of the darkness and into the light of his sprawling backyard at 1265 Lombardi Ave.
They are the most recent recollections of what it was like to enter the stadium he once owned.
So, when Favre comes out to greet a crowd of 67,000 people Saturday night at Lambeau Field, he will enter through the home tunnel one more time. And instead of the invectives he heard as a Minnesota Viking, the reception should take him back to the place he once was.
"This goes for any player who's had a chance to experience even just somewhat close to what I've been able to," Favre said in a phone interview this week. "Catch a touchdown pass, have a sack; it may be one, it may be 20. Run a touchdown in, whatever.
"If you've had a chance to experience that, then you know what an amazing feeling that is. But you also know that when you leave the game, there's never anything that can even come close to comparing to that feeling.
"To be able to go back again and to enjoy that one more time is awesome. I mean, I don't know what else to say. To see that in an hour and a half, you're sold out. I mean, are you kidding me?"
Favre was off a bit on the time it took to sell out tickets for a stadium view of his induction into the Packers Hall of Fame and the retirement of his number Saturday evening. It actually took eight hours.
But when you consider those folks are paying to watch the actual induction ceremony and unfurling of a banner bearing his No. 4 inside the Lambeau Field Atrium on a video board, you understand his disbelief.
Before the induction banquet, Favre will address the crowd through a short question-and-answer session at midfield with WTMJ broadcaster Lance Allan. Just weeks shy of the seven-year anniversary of when his estrangement from the Packers organization began, Favre will return to the place some think he built.
"A lot of people might want to take credit for it all, but he was the one who brought about the reformation around here," former general manager Ron Wolf said. "All of what you see, all of the remarkable transformation of this place, that's all the result of Brett Favre.
"I don't know who else you can give credit to. He changed the whole complexion of the Green Bay Packers. They called old Yankee Stadium, 'The House That Ruth Built.'
"This is the house that Favre built."
The Packers' resurrection in the early 1990s had many other components, not the least of which were Wolf's keen personnel decisions. But when you talk about the injection of life on the field, the explosion in popularity off it and the millions of dollars that allowed the Packers to build their Taj Mahal, Favre is the single most identifiable reason.
The Packers had a 9,000-name waiting list for season tickets in 1987. By the end of the 1990s, it had reached close to 100,000.
Every year Favre was with the Packers, his jersey was among the most popular purchased in souvenir stores. In 1989, three years before Favre was acquired from the Atlanta Falcons for a first-round draft choice, the Packers ranked 20th in total merchandise sold. By 1997, they ranked first in the NFL, creeping ahead of the Dallas Cowboys for the first time.
Favre made the Packers a must-see in the state and a regular on national TV, too.
In 1992, the local rating for Packers games was 31. In '97, when they went to Super Bowl XXXII, the ratings had jumped to 48.5. Since Favre joined the team, the local ratings for Packers football have been among the highest in the NFL.
"I think his leadership, his personality made him popular," former president Bob Harlan said. "I think Green Bay was a perfect fit for Brett Favre. He was comfortable here. He liked his beer and his pizza, and I think that resonated with fans.
"Part of the leadership was the way he played through injury. He made 253 consecutive starts. Every Sunday, everyone knew he was pretty beat, but he refused to not play. He's the greatest competitor I've been around."
Even as late as 2006, Favre's popularity was booming. According to a Harris Poll of American sports fans, Favre was their favorite player. He topped the '03 and '04 polls as well and finished second to Peyton Manning in '05.
When Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2009 — a year after he and the Packers had severed ties — the team sold 2,000 season tickets and 6,000 single-game tickets on the day the news broke.
Favre's split with the Packers was ugly, but it wasn't unprecedented. Fans felt betrayed when Vince Lombardi left his general manager's position to coach in Washington. Curly Lambeau resigned in 1950 after a dispute with the team over financial matters and went on to coach Chicago and Washington.
The vitriol toward Favre was extensive. Favre had agonizingly contemplated retirement year after year until making it final after the '07 season, then changing his mind just as training camp was about to end. People thought he undermined the career of heir apparent Aaron Rodgers.
The way fans lined up on one side (for Favre) or the other (against him) now looks like a precursor for the split in Wisconsin politics.
"I couldn't grasp all that," Wolf said of Favre's split with the franchise. "To this day I don't know what happened. It was unfortunate. But that's going to happen. At some point the Packers were going to have to divest themselves of Brett Favre.
"Maybe it didn't come off the best way, but to be vilified the way he was made no sense. He didn't quit the Packers; he was traded. But none of it matters now. They're retiring his number and they sold the place out in something like five hours."
Time seemed to heal the hurt both sides felt and with the Packers repeatedly reaching out to Favre but also giving him time and space, the perfect moment came when Harlan, a member of the Hall of Fame committee, suggested that the Packers team with the Hall of Fame to honor Favre twice.
Thus, after seven years away, Favre will return to the stadium to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and have his number retired. The induction ceremony and unfurling of the banner displaying his number will take place inside the Lambeau Field Atrium.
For his part, Favre said he is thrilled to be back in the embrace of the Packers fan base but doesn't feel there is anything anyone owes him for his contribution. Asked whether he felt like he built the Packers into what they are now, Favre said no.
"I still believe this 100% that the brand, the magnitude of where the Packers have grown to really... I mean, they were always big, but from '92 on, I think a lot of that, if not all of the credit, goes to Ron Wolf," Favre said. "He's going to say different as he always does.
"But he hired Mike Holmgren. He made the crazy trade for me. He was instrumental in making coming to Green Bay cool, and he did that by bringing in Reggie White, the biggest free agent signing in history, in my opinion."
Favre said he doesn't even want to think about Lambeau Field belonging to him because that would diminish the contribution all the players, coaches, administrators, trainers, equipment managers, maintenance people and others played in making the Packers what they are now.
"I always felt like, I don't want to say borrowed time, but I knew that you run your course," Favre said of his legacy ending. "Football is not something you play forever. Each game could be your last. Obviously, each season, too. Thankfully, for me, I had 16 greats.
"That's a lot of years."
On Saturday, Favre will not only return to Lambeau, he'll be able to speak to the fans again. He said he's pretty sure he won't get emotional, but he knows he'll run out of time when it comes to thanking people.
"Yes, sort of," Favre said of having a prepared speech. "I'm sure I'll be deviating some. I'll think of stories. I'll probably tell more stories than maybe other players have told, but I think I've amassed more stories than most.
"It's like when they said, 'Hey, who you want to invite?' I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?'"
