Brett Favre's ode to his late father leaves few dry eyes in Packers-filled house
The hordes of Green Bay Packers fans who made the trip to Canton, Ohio to see Brett Favre be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame had to be a bit patient.
First, Favre was the final man who spoke Saturday night, with the other six members each getting their chance to deliver their heartfelt thanks to friends, family, coaches and teammates.
Packers fans, those who wanted to hear the war stories and the jokes and relive the good old times on the field, had to wait more than 22 minutes into Favre’s speech to hear actual talk about football.
But no one cared about that. Not Packers fans, not Minnesota Vikings fans, fans of Favre’s one-year teams, the New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons, or anyone else who turned in for one of the most anticipated Hall of Fame speeches in years.
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That’s because Favre spoke from the heart — for nearly 10 minutes alone — about Irv Favre, Brett’s father, and the man he said would have presented the quarterback had he been alive.
Irvin Ernest “Big Irv” Favre died in 2003, and Favre paid honor to his father by going out and playing one of the best and most memorable games of his career, beating the Oakland Raiders in tremendous fashion.
But that was not Brett Favre’s finest hour in honoring his father. Saturday night was.
Favre spoke about how his father, who was his high-school football coach, would tell two assistants that his son hadn’t played well but that his son would redeem himself.
“I want you to know, Dad, that I spent the rest of my career trying to redeem myself,” Favre said through a trembling voice. “I hope I succeeded.”
And then some.
Favre’s 36-minute speech was much like his career — full of ups and downs, twists and turns, riding the razor’s edge of frisson throughout. And it was all from the heart.
Favre told the story about his wife, Deanna, his presenter and the girl who has been a huge part of his life since Dec. 18, 1983 (yes, he remembered the date) telling him about what Irv said to her. On the emotional plane ride back from Oakland, she relayed the story about Irv telling her how much it would mean to him to be able to present Brett for the Hall of Fame one day.
“Up until that moment, I had never thought about the Hall of Fame,” Favre said. “So a new goal entered my mind. I said to myself, ‘I will make it to the Hall of Fame so I could acknowledge the importance of him in my career and my life.’”
Favre then drew back tears and had to catch his breath.
“This is tougher than any third-and-15,” he said after a long pause.
Forget Father’s Day and the U.S. Open. This was a moment any son or father could have related to.
On fathers, Favre said: “You’re very important.”
He added: “The lesson is, we come and go very quickly, so love [your children] every day.”
It would be fascinating to tap into Verizon’s analytics to see how many fathers texted their sons, and vice versa. The time was just after 10:30 p.m. EST when Favre finished his thoughts on Irv. The guess here is that cellular activity spiked right then.
Favre’s relationship with his father was complex. Irv was a demanding man who, Favre said on Saturday, didn’t heap superfluous praise on his son. “Short on praise, long on tough love,” he said of Irv. But there was little question well past the halfway point of Favre’s touching speech how much Irv meant to him.
“I would not be here before you today without my father,” he said. “There’s no doubt, whatsoever.”
Favre’s stats Saturday night were fascinating. It took him almost nine minutes before he choked up for the first time and had to pause — “I’m not even halfway through!” he said — one of at least four such timeouts during the speech. The 36-minute length was not stunningly long, but it did go overtime (of course), and it was mostly not about football.
Of course, few are better storytellers and ramblers than Brett Lorenzo Favre, and he started off with a whiz-banger to get the hugely pro-Packers crowd revved up.
“I might ask Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy if I can play the first series tomorrow night,” Favre said of the Packers’ Hall of Fame Game on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. The Packers fans couldn’t get enough of it. Aaron Rodgers, the man who replaced Favre in Green Bay and one of the few teammates of his there who is still on the team, just laughed.
We heard Favre talk about Deanna and his mother in-law, Ann, aka Maw Maw (“I’ve never thrown an interception that was my fault in her mind,” he said of her). We heard about the great group of coaches Favre had with the Packers, including Mike Holmgren and Steve Mariucci, and his great Packers teammates from those mid-1990s juggernauts.
But it was Favre talking about his dad, more than football or anything else, which set the tone for the night. It was special stuff.
Favre said before the speech that he was going to wing it, and what else could we have expected? It was off the cuff and from the heart, and his no-notes speech belied his country-bumpkin image he jokingly liked to project — even in his not-so-ironic jeans commercials.
He finished with one final emotional heave down the field.
“Did we win every game? No. Did I make mistakes? More than I can count. But there was never one time I didn’t give it all I had,” Favre said.
And with that, having heard Favre speak about all the complex relationships in his life, you got the feeling that he was not just talking about football. This induction speech was about the people he occasionally let down but always looked up to the most.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
