Brett Favre believed his future Hall of Fame NFL career was over after the Vikings dropped a dramatic 31-28 overtime loss at New Orleans in the NFC championship game last year. The Kiln native returned to his home outside Hattiesburg while the Saints captured the franchise's first Super Bowl with a win against Indianapolis in Miami.
Favre called the defeat one of the hardest he had to deal with. He thought about his 19-year career, which included possible retirement.
A month away from his 41st birthday, Favre will lead the Vikings into one of the most anticipated rematches in NFL history on Thursday when the Vikings invade the Superdome against the defending champions.
"Believe me, when I left New Orleans, a big part of me was -- I don't want to say done -- but the fact that we lost that game, how hard it is,'' Favre said. "It was a tough game. All losses are hard. But that was a tough one. It's a now or never thing. It's like that a lot in this league. The window opens and closes very quickly.''
In that game, Minnesota turned the ball over five times, including a pair of interceptions by Favre.
Favre, in his fourth NFC title game, would not get a chance in overtime. The Saints won the coin toss and secured the win on a 40-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley.
"It's not like we were shut down offensively," Favre said on his website, officialbrettfavre.com. "We went into a hostile environment and were extremely productive on offense but yet it proved costly (with) the turnovers. So do I think we'll face the same style of defense this week? Sure."It was loud down there because their fans are so passionate.''Favre sustained an ankle injury against the Saints that required offseason surgery by Dr. James Andrews. Not only did Favre hurt the ankle that required his third surgery, he was the recipient of what some teammates called borderline cheap shots.One teammate, running back Adrian Peterson, said the focus will be on protecting Favre."For the simple fact that all the respect, me personally, and the other guys I know they feel the same way, all the respect that we have for Favre, his heart and his leadership and what he brings to this team, we really feel like those guys got some cheap shots in,'' Peterson told Vikings.com. "We are going to definitely eliminate those hits and protect him more. We're definitely going to be the ones delivering the blows.''Favre, who needs three touchdown passes to become the first NFL quarterback to throw 500 career TD passes, never pointed a finger. The play before he threw the interception to Porter, the Vikings were penalized for having too many players in the huddle. That forced the Vikings to change offensive plays that eventually led to Favre's interception.
"It was a tough loss,'' Favre said. "It was a game we felt like we should have won, but we did not. Give them (Saints) credit. You cannot turn the ball over five times like we did and expect to beat a good football team.''This time around, New Orleans coach Sean Payton expects Favre to be on top of his game."He's as good a competitor as this league has seen in many years,'' Payton said. "Week to week he's a guy that certainly moves on. I think with his experience level, little to nothing at all.''When the dust settled from the NFC title game, Favre walked off the field with a thigh bruise and a cut on his forehead.Favre, however, never used the word cheap shot but did call the thigh bruise the worst hit, not the one on the ankle."All the other hits, believe it or not, didn't really hurt'' Favre said. "Did they take their toll over time? Sure they did. It might be the same thing (Thursday night). Who knows? It might be different. I'm not worried about it."Sean Payton and I are good friends. I talked to him several days after the game and said, great win for you guys. A win's a win. In a roundabout sort of way, every defense wants to get the opposing quarterback out and that's just the way it is. Had that been us and say we played Drew (Brees) here and we were able to hit him like that and we sure would have been saying, great. I wish we had won the football game.''
