The Sixth Annual Brett Favre Celebrity Softball Game provided the Packers with a fun respite from the tedium of drills and technique work of the organized team activities as the Packers' offense defeated the Packers' defense 22-5.
"It's a nice break," WR Robert Ferguson said. "It's nice to get acclimated with the new guys."
A Favre softball game-record 8,505 fans, many of whom arrived hours before the game and tailgated in the parking lot, attended the event. Proceeds of the ticket sales went toward the Brett Favre Fourward Foundation.
The foundation provides aid to disadvantaged children residing in Wisconsin and Mississippi. Brett's wife, Deanna, estimated the contribution to be from $100,000 to $150,000.
"We expect it, though, from Green Bay," she said, describing the support for the cause. "It's incredible."
Deanna joined Brett on the winning offensive squad while their oldest daughter, Brittany, played for the defense during Sunday's game at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis.
The Packers' offense exploded with an eight-run third inning to break the game open. QB Aaron Rodgers and WR Donald Driver hit back-to-back home runs while FB Vonta Leach and RB Ahman Green also homered off LS Rob Davis in the inning.
Green's production was no surprise as he played center field and pitched through high school. A lead-off hitter on occasion because of his speed, he usually played clean up.
"I was a pretty good baseball player," he said. "My dad and my son, my uncles, and my brothers would say I'm a better baseball player than football player."
The offense's firepower continued in the sixth inning. Egged on by WR Antonio Chatman, Ferguson did a "Babe Ruth," pointing to the outfield before jacking a home run. Rodgers followed suit, calling his own shot then riding piggy back on Chatman, the instigator, from third to home plate.
For the defense, LB Nick Barnett shined, displaying the skills he honed during high school when he played on the varsity team as a freshman and sophomore.
"I just know how to hit," he joked.
Swinging for the fences, he did just that - twice.
"I was trying to hit that thing out of the park," he said. "I wasn't trying to get no base hit."
Facing such a large deficit, Barnett shifted from power hitter to practical joker. In the fifth inning, he launched a water balloon at Brett Favre's back from close range. Shortly thereafter, he smeared QB J.T. O'Sullivan with silly string.
"That's my role now - having fun," he said as his team faced an 18-run deficit late in the game. "I'm going to make everyone mad at me."
The frivolity continued between innings, including a competition involving who could open a frozen t-shirt the fastest. WR Terrence Murphy bested Rodgers in that contest. Between the second and third innings, DL Cullen Jenkins and DL Kenny Peterson both spun themselves around a softball bat repeatedly before racing to first base. Jenkins won as a dizzy Peterson fell in the infield while running at a 45-degree angle.
"Man, I just couldn't stand up," Peterson said, shaking his head.
After another fun game for fans and players alike, the Favres want to continue the tradition for years to come, making the game a family legacy.
"Hopefully one day my daughters will take it over," Deanna said.
