CHICAGO - Quarterback Brett Favre may or may not have played his last NFL game on Sunday night, but he told a national television audience that he expects to make a decision on his future "probably in the next couple weeks."
Speaking with NBC reporter Andrea Kremer on the field immediately after the Packers' 26-7 victory over the Chicago Bears, Favre got a bit choked up when asked whether or not it was his last game.
"It's tough, it's tough," an emotional Favre said.
"I love to play the game, I love these guys, I love to compete, and it just shows."
Favre declined to say anything more specific about his future, and several minutes later in front of a group of reporters outside the Packers' locker room he declined to discuss the issue of retirement at all.
He did say he plans to have ankle surgery in Green Bay on Monday, an arthroscopic procedure to clean out some calcium build-ups that has been performed before. Then presumably he'll head back to Mississippi, and sometime soon he'll discuss the future with his family.
Favre was taken out of the game with 1 minute, 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter and replaced by third-string quarterback Ingle Martin. As he walked over to the sideline, Favre received high-fives from several teammates, and receiver Donald Driver picked him and began to carry him, much like Favre has done after a couple of their touchdown passes this season. Favre also had some pictures taken on the sidelines with teammates, which he said they wanted to do.
If it was Favre's last game, he finishes his career with an NFL record 5,021 pass completions. His 8,223 attempts, 57,500 yards and 414 touchdowns all rank second to Dan Marino's marks of 8,358, 61,361 and 420, respectively.
Favre and the Packers certainly ended the season on a good note. He completed 21 of 42 passes for 285 yards and a touchdown as he improved his career record at Soldier Field to 12-2. He also helped Green Bay win its fourth straight game to finish 8-8, barely missing an NFC Wild Card berth.
"This is a young football team, and if you take me out of the mix it's really young," Favre said during his formal post-game news conference. "I tell you I've had a blast this year, I really have. I would love to be in the playoffs. We gave ourselves a chance, and we had a lot of ups and downs, but I had a blast with these guys."
His teammates shared that sentiment, and they'd all like to see him come back for another year, if that's what he wants to do.
"I thought the last two years he was going to retire," offensive tackle Mark Tauscher said. "So I'm going to say he's going to retire again and hope I'm wrong for the third year in a row."
