Iron Man: Brett Favre's Consecutive Games Streak put into Perspective
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by Ryan Koski
Toughness. When looked up in a dictionary you’ll find its definition is enduring strength and energy, however, it would be simply be easier to just put a picture of Brett Favre in its place instead.
To many fans of his, Favre will always be known as the gunslinger from Kiln, Mississippi, with possibly every major passing record in NFL history by the time he retires. Yet, the record he will most be remembered for has nothing to do with actually passing the ball.
Currently at 244 games, Favre holds the record for most consecutive games started by a quarterback. However, the magnitude of the record is something else, as the odds were stacked against him before he was even drafted.
On July 14th, 1990, Favre was involved in a car accident that not only put his future career in jeopardy, but also his life. Doctors treated him for a concussion, lacerations, and cracked vertebrae, along with 30 inches of his small intestines that were removed following complications.
Miraculously, Favre returned to quarterback his Southern Miss team to an 8-4 record during his senior year with the Golden Eagles. Favre’s first game back was an upset victory over Alabama on September 8 th, just eight weeks after his accident.
Favre was drafted the following April by the Atlanta Falcons with the 33rd pick. However, after just one season in Atlanta, the Falcons decided to trade Favre to the Packers for a first round pick.
It was not long afterwards that Favre was running the plays for the Packers, replacing starter Don Majkowski, who was injured during the third week of the season. The following week, the Packers beat the Steelers 17-3 in Favre’s first career start. However, later on in the season, Favre suffered a separated shoulder and feared losing his starting spot he had just gain a few weeks previously.
“Mike Holmgren looks at me and says, ‘Can you play?’” Favre told reporters after the game. “I saw Majkowski back there, warming up, raring to go. If he got back in there, I may never get my job back.”
“I heard everything kind of grind together in there, and I knew the damage was bad,” Favre said. “The doctors said they could shoot it up with Novocain without any further injury, but it was my choice. I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
“They had to pull my shoulder out, and they stuck the needle way down in my shoulder and shot me. In a little while, I didn’t feel any pain,” Favre explained in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
After fixing his shoulder on the sidelines, Favre showed his toughness by leading the Packers to an upset win.
By 1995, Favre had yet to miss a game, but his streak became severely endangered after he suffered a badly sprained ankle during a game in Minnesota. However, despite reports that his ankle was swollen six times its normal size, Favre made his next start against the Chicago Bears, and played valiantly by throwing for five touchdown passes. The next time he was forced to leave a game won’t happen until the 2000 season.
The injury occurred after Tampa Bay Defensive Tackle Warren Sapp fell onto Favre’s planted leg, forcing Favre out of the game with a mid-foot sprain. Initially rumored to be out several weeks, Favre suited up against the Indianapolis Colts just seven days after his foot was injured. The Packers prevailed by a final score of 26-24 as Favre’s legend continued to grow.
Just two seasons later, Favre sprained his left knee so badly that he was unable to walk off the field under his own power. At first it was feared that Favre might have tore his ACL or MCL, which would have ended his season, but after an MRI exam it was revealed that the only damage was a sprained lateral collateral ligament, which was much less severe.
“There have been times where, for a brief second, I almost felt invincible,” said Favre. “But I am aware that at any point it could be taken away… You’re just a hit away.”
Favre didn’t play the following weekend, if only because the Packers were fortunate enough to have their bye week scheduled for the weekend following his injury. If not for the bye, it’s likely that Favre’s consecutive games streak would have ended at 164 games. Favre recovered in time to make start 165, but he was required to wear a knee brace for the remainder of the games.
The next season, Favre suffered his worst injury to date. While facing the St. Louis Rams, Favre slammed his hand on a lineman’s shoulder pads so hard that he accidentally broke his thumb on his throwing hand. Favre would later say that it was the closest he had ever come to missing a start.
Surgery was an option to repair the fracture, which would have sidelined him from four to six weeks, but Favre decided to gut out the rest of the season with the injury. Incredibly, Favre threw for a career high completion percentage (64.5%) while leading the NFL in touchdown passes with 32, all despite playing over half of his games with a broken thumb, including the greatest game of his career, which also happened to be his most difficult.
On December 22, 2003, the Green Bay Packers played the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football. However, the previous day, Favre’s father, Irv, suffered a heart attack while driving on the same road that Brett’s car accident occurred 13 years previously. He was 58. Brett contemplated missing the game to mourn his father, but ultimately decided to play.
“There is no doubt that he would want me to play,” Favre said.
His father instilled much of the toughness Favre had shown throughout his career. “If you get hurt, you crawl off the field,” Irv would tell Brett. “When you can’t crawl off the field, I’ll come get you.”
Favre posted a quarterback rating of 154.9, a franchise record, while also throwing for 399 yards and four touchdowns. “Regardless of what I do from here on out, that will always be my best game,” Favre said.
Die-hard packer fan Andy Schroeder agrees. “His whole career was full of hardships to overcome and that was just his vintage game,” Schroeder explains.
Throughout his career, Brett Favre has suffered numerous other injuries ranging from tendonitis and hip-pointers to concussions and pinched nerves in his arm. All in all, Favre has only had to leave six games in his career due to injury. The most unbelievable perhaps, is that the toughest player in the NFL originally failed his physical following his trade from Atlanta.
During that physical it was discovered that Favre suffered from the hip disorder vascular necrosis, which is a lack of blood supply in the hip pocket and could eventually require replacement surgery. It was the same disorder that forced Bo Jackson to retire just four seasons after starting his playing career.
Doctors suggest that Favre would only be able to play for several seasons before he would start to have problems with his hip and recommended that he fail his physical, however, despite the doctors’ advice, general manager Ron Wolf decided to take a gamble on Favre and overruled the doctors.
“They said I wouldn't play three or four years,” Favre said of the doctors’ prognosis. “Obviously they were wrong and Ron was willing to take that risk.”
Toughness. If asked to describe Brett Favre in three or less words, it would only take one. That’s saying a lot for someone that was once told by a doctor that he would only play three seasons.
“There’s probably some licks I shouldn’t have gotten up from, but maybe some of it is being so stupid and not knowing any different,” Favre said. “That’s what my dad told me. I’ll stick with it.”
Injuries
Car Accident – July 14, 1990
Separated Shoulder – Nov. 15, 1992
Hip Pointer – Oct. 20, 1994*
Sprained Ankle – Nov. 5, 1995*
Seizure – Off-season, 1996**
Sprained Thumb – Preseason, 1999
Tendonitis – Preseason, 2000
Mid-foot Sprain – Nov. 12, 2000*
Sprained Knee – Oct. 20, 2002*
Broken Thumb – Oct. 19, 2003
Concussion – Oct. 3, 2004*
Pinched Nerve in Arm – Nov. 19, 2006*
Left game due to injury*
Result of his addiction to painkillers**
