Record-breaking quarterback Brett Favre sat out the final game of what he has called his last NFL season on Sunday and then said he knew it was finally time to walk away.
After watching from the sidelines with lingering effects of a concussion while his Minnesota Vikings capped a disappointing season with a 20-13 loss to the Detroit Lions, Favre suggested the risk of injury was a factor in his decision.
“If you just talked about head injuries, and there’s been lots of discussion on that this year, it wouldn’t be worth it anyway, but it’s time. I know it’s time. And that’s OK. It is,” Favre told reporters.
The 41-year-old quarterback has come out of retirement twice before, but after 20 seasons in the NFL, the career-record holder in nearly every major statistical category for passing, simply said it was time.
“I hold no regrets and I can’t think of too many players off hand that can walk away and say that,” Favre said. “I played with some great, great teammates over the years and was honored to play with them, and I just know it’s time.”
Despite his advancing years, Favre had one of the best statistical seasons of his career in 2009, throwing for more than 4,200 yards, 33 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, as he led the Vikings to the NFC Championship game.
Minnesota lost that game to the New Orleans Saints, but his decision to come back for a shot at reaching what would have been his third Super Bowl, proved to be ill-fated.
The Vikings struggled and Favre looked a shadow of the player who had enjoyed so much success a year earlier.
He threw for 2,509 yards and 11 touchdowns, the lowest totals since his rookie season when he played just two games.
“This year did not work out the way that we would have hoped, but that’s football and I don’t regret coming back. I enjoyed my experience here,” Favre said.
He also said that he understood that some fans would be skeptical of his decision being truly final.
“I don’t know if, for me, it’s ever easy. I’m sure throughout this year the comment has been made that we’ll wait and see in August or September, but it’s time,” Favre said. “I’m OK with it. It’s never easy, in my opinion, it’s never easy for any player, but people will ... say ‘wait and see,’ but that’s OK.”
Should this prove to be the end of his career it will be at the end of a season which was riddled with interceptions and mistakes, but also tinged with scandal.
Favre was fined US$50,000 by the NFL earlier this week for not cooperating with an investigation into allegations he sent lewd messages to a female employee of the New York Jets when he played with the club in 2008.
However, Favre will be remembered longer for his series of records.
Favre is a three-time winner of the NFL’s MVP award and holds most major records for a quarterback, including career touchdowns, passing yards and wins.
“It’s been a wonderful ride for me. One game, one season does not define me. They will be saying: ‘Hey, it’s a shame he went out that way,’ or this or that,” Favre said.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
RSS