Brett Favre: “4″ says “No More”
It’s hard to call yourself an NFL fan without acknowledging the omnipresent retirement talk surrounding Brett Favre the last few seasons. Whether it be a hasty press conference at a charity golf tournament to tell us he hasn’t decided yet, or the constant paralysis by analysis last offseason until he made it official; Favre has been toying with retirement for a few seasons now.
Ironically, it was THIS offseason when the chatter had died down some. Coming off a 13-3 season and an MVP-caliber performance (by far his best personal stats in years), most [myself included] assumed Favre would return in 2008 to make one more run at a Super Bowl title.
That’s what we all get for becoming complacent. 
This morning, Brett “4″ Favre announced his retirement.
Listening to that voice mail, you get the sense of what enormous pressure Favre put on himself to improve on 2007. And he’s right, anything less than a Super Bowl appearance would’ve been “less” than what they accomplished this year in many people’s minds.Today is a day to salute one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game.Favre’s Accomplishments
- Three time (3) MVP [the only 3-time MVP in league history]
- Seven (7) All Pro selections
- Nine (9) Pro Bowl selections
- 253 consecutive starts [something that will probably never be broken]
- 1st all-time, pass attempts (8,758)
- 1st all-time, pass completions (5,377)
- 1st all-time, passing yards (61,655)
- 1st all-time, passing TDs (442)
- 2 Super Bowl appearances
- 1 Super Bowl victory
It wouldn’t be right for a Footballguys tribute not to mention what a potent fantasy football player Favre was…
Favre’s Fantasy Accomplishments
Exhibit 1: Favre is the all-time leader among QBs in fantasy points scored (1960-Present)
| Rank | Player | Name | Years | Games | FanPts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett | Favre | 1991–2007 | 257 | 4,819 |
| 2 | Dan | Marino | 1983–1999 | 242 | 4,559 |
| 3 | John | Elway | 1983–1998 | 234 | 4,086 |
| 4 | Fran | Tarkenton | 1961–1978 | 246 | 4,012 |
| 5 | Warren | Moon | 1984–2000 | 208 | 3,703 |
| 6 | Vinny | Testaverde | 1987–2007 | 234 | 3,401 |
| 7 | Peyton | Manning | 1998–2007 | 160 | 3,318 |
| 8 | Joe | Montana | 1979–1994 | 192 | 3,268 |
| 9 | Drew | Bledsoe | 1993–2006 | 194 | 3,165 |
| 10 | Steve | Young | 1985–1999 | 169 | 3,159 |
| 11 | Dan | Fouts | 1973–1987 | 181 | 3,052 |
| 12 | Dave | Krieg | 1980–1998 | 213 | 2,956 |
| 13 | Boomer | Esiason | 1984–1997 | 187 | 2,902 |
| 14 | Randall | Cunningham | 1985–2001 | 166 | 2,896 |
| 15 | Steve | McNair | 1995–2007 | 165 | 2,726 |
| 16 | Jim | Kelly | 1986–1996 | 160 | 2,693 |
| 17 | Ken | Anderson | 1971–1986 | 192 | 2,612 |
| 18 | John | Hadl | 1962–1977 | 224 | 2,590 |
| 19 | Mark | Brunell | 1994–2006 | 157 | 2,547 |
| 20 | Sonny | Jurgensen | 1960–1974 | 184 | 2,517 |
Exhibit 2: Fantasy points per game (Min: 100 games played)
| Rank | Player | Name | Years | Games | PassYds | PassTD | INTs | RushYds | RushTD | FPTs/Gm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peyton | Manning | 1998–2007 | 160 | 41626 | 306 | 153 | 696 | 16 | 20.74 |
| 2 | Donovan | McNabb | 1999–2007 | 118 | 25404 | 171 | 79 | 2962 | 24 | 19.62 |
| 3 | Dan | Marino | 1983–1999 | 242 | 61361 | 420 | 252 | 87 | 9 | 18.84 |
| 4 | Tom | Brady | 2000–2007 | 112 | 26370 | 197 | 86 | 533 | 5 | 18.80 |
| 5 | Brett | Favre | 1991–2007 | 257 | 61657 | 442 | 288 | 1786 | 13 | 18.75 |
| 6 | Steve | Young | 1985–1999 | 169 | 33124 | 232 | 107 | 4239 | 43 | 18.69 |
| 7 | Jeff | Garcia | 1999–2007 | 112 | 22825 | 149 | 77 | 1984 | 25 | 17.94 |
| 8 | Warren | Moon | 1984–2000 | 208 | 49325 | 291 | 233 | 1736 | 22 | 17.80 |
| 9 | Trent | Green | 1997–2007 | 117 | 27950 | 162 | 108 | 910 | 6 | 17.65 |
| 10 | John | Elway | 1983–1998 | 234 | 51475 | 300 | 226 | 3407 | 33 | 17.46 |
| 11 | Randall | Cunningham | 1985–2001 | 166 | 29979 | 207 | 134 | 4928 | 35 | 17.44 |
| 12 | Joe | Montana | 1979–1994 | 192 | 40551 | 273 | 139 | 1676 | 20 | 17.02 |
| 13 | Dan | Fouts | 1973–1987 | 181 | 43040 | 254 | 242 | 476 | 13 | 16.86 |
| 14 | Jim | Kelly | 1986–1996 | 160 | 35467 | 237 | 175 | 1049 | 7 | 16.83 |
| 15 | Steve | McNair | 1995–2007 | 165 | 31304 | 174 | 118 | 3602 | 37 | 16.52 |
| 16 | Drew | Bledsoe | 1993–2006 | 194 | 44611 | 251 | 206 | 764 | 10 | 16.31 |
| 17 | Fran | Tarkenton | 1961–1978 | 246 | 47003 | 342 | 266 | 3674 | 32 | 16.31 |
| 18 | Mark | Brunell | 1994–2006 | 157 | 31826 | 182 | 106 | 2433 | 15 | 16.22 |
| 19 | Neil | Lomax | 1981–1988 | 108 | 22771 | 136 | 90 | 969 | 10 | 16.20 |
| 20 | Jake | Plummer | 1997–2006 | 143 | 29253 | 161 | 161 | 1853 | 17 | 15.62 |
Exhibit 3: Consistency from start to finish
- Finished no worse than 13th among fantasy QBs for SIXTEEN (16) consecutive years
- Finished among the top 10 fantasy QB a record FOURTEEN (14) seasons
- Finished among the top 8 a record TWELVE (12) seasons
- Seven (7) top-5 finishes
- Five (5) top-2 finishes
- Three (3) CONSECUTIVE #1 fantasy rankings
Nothing makes a fantasy player happier than a gunslinger who piles on the yards. Favre was one of the best, let’s never forget that.
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