Event proceeds sent to Calhoun Traumatic Brain Injury Foundation
Hundreds of fans — dozens in green and yellow Brett Favre jerseys — made their way to the Township Auditorium Thursday night to listen to the former face of the Green Bay Packers franchise talk about his playing days.
Favre, a 20-year NFL veteran now retired, took part in a question and answer forum in support of the Calhoun Traumatic Brain Injury Foundation.
The foundation collected proceeds generated by a silent auction and a live auction of NFL memorabilia, a majority of which related to Favre.
Favre, who played with Gamecocks Robert Brooks, Sidney Rice and Sterling Sharpe during his tenure in the NFL, was met by a rousing applause as he took the floor. As the cheering died down and silence once again began to fill the auditorium, one voice rang, “You’re still the man, Brett!”
Sitting on a stage littered with memories of his career, Favre fielded questions ranging from playing for his father in high school to his four-touchdown performance on Monday Night Football the night after his father died.
“There was no question I was going to play the game. But if I would have not played, the reason for that is I didn’t want to play bad,” Favre recollected about the 2003 game. “Could you imagine? It’s Monday Night Football; nobody wants to play bad. If you’re going to play, all this attention is going to be on you because your father passed away. Wouldn’t you want to play well?”
Favre went on to throw for 399 yards, while completing 22 of 30 passes that night.
The future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback was quick to praise his teammates from South Carolina Brooks, Rice and Sharpe.
Favre played three seasons with Sharpe in Green Bay, including Sharpe’s career-best 1,461-yard season in 1992, Favre’s first year with the team.
“No matter how bad the throw was to Sterling, at worst it was incomplete,” Favre said. “I think without him, especially early in my career, I wouldn’t have made it; just because he was a tremendous crutch, and bailed me out so many times.”
Sharpe was a first-round pick by the Packers out of South Carolina in the 1988 NFL Draft. He amassed 2,702 total yards from scrimmage as a Gamecock, scoring 22 times as well.
Brooks joined the team a few years later, a third-round selection in the 1992 NFL Draft.
“Robert kind of came in as a punt returner, kickoff returner … small guy, not nearly like Sterling — not big and physical,” Favre said. “And really, throughout my career at Green Bay, he was kind of typical of the players that I played with. Antonio Freeman, fifth-round pick, Donald Driver who was a track guy who played one year of college football at Alcorn [State]. Just guys.”
Favre also mentioned that he and Brooks share an NFL record 99-yard pass and completion that took place on Sept. 11, 1995 against the Chicago Bears.
Favre’s third Gamecock receiver would come at the tail end of his career while he was playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
While Sharpe made his NFL debut in 1988 and Brooks in 1992, Rice was born in 1986 and wouldn’t make his entrance into the league until 2007.
“I think of all the years I played, [Rice] had the most productive year as a receiver in one season,” Favre said. “I was off the streets. And here I am working with Sidney, who, at the time I thought lacked a little confidence.”
In Favre’s first year with the Vikings, Rice caught 83 passes for 1,312 yards, which was good for his first and only Pro Bowl selection.
Rice played four more seasons in the NFL for both the Vikings and Seattle Seahawks before retiring during the 2014 offseason.