Doug Barber: Favre's number retirement highlights big football weekend in Mississippi
The 2015 football season will become even more memorable for the Coast and the state of Mississippi on this Thanksgiving night.
Coast and Southern Miss football legend Brett Favre will be at Lambeau Field in Green Bay as his name and his number -- 4 -- are unveiled on the north façade of the stadium during halftime of the nationally televised Packers-Bears game.
It comes amid a big week as Mississippi fans await the annual Egg Bowl in Starkville, the state high school football semifinals and Southern Miss' return to football prominence.
Favre was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in July. But surely, the former quarterback will reflect on the strange twists of life on Thanksgiving. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1991 -- and almost by the New York Jets. Packers general manager Ron Wolf traded for him in 1992 and Favre delivered the goods for the Packers. Oh, how he delivered!
His passing skills helped rejuvenate a Packers franchise that had been marking time since the Super Bowl championship seasons of quarterback Bart Starr. Favre would lead the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XXXI, beating Carolina in the 1996 NFL championship game and the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
The next season, the Packers would lose to the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. In the waning days of his career at Green Bay, he would take the Packers to the NFC title game again before losing to the New York Giants and Eli Manning.
The former Hancock North Central High School quarterback currently holds 24 Green Bay records. That for a guy who rarely threw the ball in high school for his coaching father, Irvin Favre.
Yes, he was a "Gunslinger" for the Packers, and that certainly was a roller-coaster ride. He threw for 61,655 yards and 442 touchdowns from 1992 to 2007, and with his arm, he certainly could squeeze the ball between defensive backs and into the hands of his receivers. And sometimes not.
He was an "Ironman" as well, with 253 consecutive starts for the Packers -- 275 if you include playoff appearances. It didn't
matter if he was hurt physically. Or mentally -- as when he played at Oakland on Dec. 22, 2003, even after learning of the death of his father the day before. He threw for 399 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 41-7 win, knowing his dad would have wanted him out there.
Favre will join five other Green Bay legends who have had their numbers retired -- Bart Starr, Reggie White, Don Hutson, Ray Nitschke and Tony Canadeo.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has kept the magic going in Green Bay after he succeeded Brett.
And as in Brett's season when he won the Super Bowl, it looks like the Packers have to go through the Panthers and Patriots to gain another Super Bowl title.
But that is for the future. The spotlight is on Brett on this Thanksgiving night. Too bad John Madden can't call the ceremony.
Doug Barber, a longtime Sun Herald sports reporter and columnist, can be reached at sports@sunherald.com.
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Doug Barber: Favre's number retirement highlights big football weekend in Mississippi ."