Brett Favre - The Person
Researched & Written by Tim Evans
BrettFavre.com

On October 10, 1969, a legend was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. Brett Lorenzo Favre grew up in Hancock County in the small town of Kiln. No paved roads – no stop lights. The man who’s famous for getting down and dirty on Sunday afternoons on the football field started his quest for greatness as a little boy walking to school through the dirt roads of “The Kill”. They call it the bayou life in Mississippi.

Favre is arguably the toughest quarterback to ever play the game. How is he able to take hit after hit and never miss a game? Well, the tough man in him comes from his father, Irvin Favre. Brett’s father taught his boys mental and physical toughness. It’s easy to see that the philosophy that Brett grew up with has stuck with him throughout his career with 157 consecutive career starts.

Brett in Little League Uniform

His durability started at a young age. He was hit in the head with a baseball bat when he was four years old.

“Leon Farmer was in the on-deck circle – nailed me,” Brett says. “l had a big egg on my head. If I cried, it was because I figured that’s what I was supposed to do. I used to cry when I’d get a whuppin’. It didn’t hurt, but I didn’t want to get another one. I would cry to fool people.”

“He didn’t even cry,” Irvin Favre, Brett’s dad says. “The doctor said it hurt the woman who took him to the hospital more than it hurt Brett.”

As a student, Brett took care of what needed to be done in the classroom, so when the afternoon bell rang, he could take care of what needed to be done on the field. Hancock North Central High was where this kid with all-natural instinct and character fostered his ability to play the game at an age where development is crucial. He earned five letters in baseball and led the team in batting all five seasons. He also received three letters in football. Brett was surrounded by the game night and day, because his father, Irvin, was his coach. Maybe his “ironman” mentality developed while playing both ways, including special teams. Brett played quarterback, strong safety, and also punted and place kicked.

Brett Favre leads Southern Mississippi September 19, 1987

The Favre’s talked football day and night. Brett studied the game with his father and helped him develop his ability throughout his high school career, but Irvin stuck to his offensive game plan even though he saw potential in his son. Their offense focused around a ground attack and Brett’s air attack was basically non-existent. Irvin Favre had to get recruiters to Brett’s games to critique his son’s ability in hopes of receiving a scholarship.

There was only one offer on the table – Southern Mississippi. Brett was recruited as a defensive back but always had the desire to lead the team at quarterback. The Golden Eagle staff saw the potential and he began summer camp as the 7^th string quarterback. After proving himself and becoming the backup quarterback, Favre’s fate began to change. He entered the second half of the Golden Eagles' game against Tulane and led Southern Miss to a 31-24 comeback victory. He completed 6 of 10 passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Needless to say, Southern Mississippi found their quarterback for the next few years, just 3 games into his freshman campaign (1987-1990).

July 14, 1990 was a very scary day for Brett and his family. Brett was driving down a back road in Mississippi and was blinded by the sun. The car he was driving was left wrapped around a tree and completely totaled after Brett lost control of the wheel. His older brother Scott was following him and used a set of golf clubs to break the glass and help his brother. On August 7, 1990, Brett had surgery and had 30 inches of his small intestine removed. He also lost 40lbs because he couldn’t eat a normal diet during this trying time. You’re probably thinking, “Oh, no! Brett’s senior season is history!” Not so fast, skeptics. On September 8^th, one month after having surgery, Brett pulled off one of the greatest victories in Southern Mississippi history. The Golden Eagles beat Alabama 27-24 on a comeback win from the comeback kid! "You can call it a miracle or a legend or whatever you want to," Crimson Tide coach Gene Stallings says afterward. "I just know that on that day, Brett Favre was larger than life."

In Brett’s final game as a Golden Eagle, Southern Miss lost a tough battle to N.C. State, 31-27, in the All-American Bowl, but Favre was in the zone in his final college game. He threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns. He finished his Southern Miss career as the school leader in passing yards (8,193), pass attempts (1,234), completions (656), passing percentage (53.0) and touchdowns (55). In April of 1997, Brett was inducted into the Southern Miss Sports Hall of Fame.

You know the lyrics to the song “I get knocked down, but I get up again – you’re never gonna keep me down!”? Brett might not either, but he sure lives by those words.

Brett Favre’s down home style is a reflection to his actions both on and off the field. Off the field, Brett gives back to the people who helped him get to where he is today.

• Among the groups Brett supports in Mississippi are Special Olympics, Make-A-Wish, Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer (a support group for families with cancer), MHG Development Foundation (which promotes community wellness through Memorial Hospital), Hope Haven (a home for battered women and children) and Gaits to Success (therapeutic horsemanship for the mentally disabled).

• In Wisconsin, Brett has given to the Rawhide Boys Ranch, Make-A-Wish, Special Olympics, CASA of Brown County (which supports abused and neglected children), Cerebral Palsy of Wisconsin, the UW-Whitewater athletic program for athletes in wheelchairs, Starbright (a program available at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin through which sick kids are able to use a private, broadband computer network that creates an online community of hospitalized children across the country and enables them to connect with one another), and the Young Artists Workshop, a summer arts enrichment program at St. Norbert College (De Pere, WI) for youth with disabilities.

• He held the second annual ‘Brett Favre Celebrity Softball Game’ this past June at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, WI. The event viewed by nearly 6,000 fans generated roughly $90,000 for his foundation – all of which stayed in Wisconsin; in two years the event now has raised $200,000.

• Brett has also raised $668,350 for the Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay over the past six seasons by donating $150 for each touchdown pass and rushing TD he has, a monetary total augmented by matching corporate contributions; he generated $105,000 in 2000 after raising $61,500, $93,200, $112,800, $164,600, and $131,250 in the 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 seasons, respectively.

• He also ran a similar program, benefiting a scholarship fund at Southern Miss, during the 1997 and 1998 seasons which raised roughly $250,000

• Brett has hosted an annual fundraising dinner benefiting the Brett Favre Forward Foundation in September the past two years, with last year's event featuring Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr raising $70,000; in two years the event has raised more than $100,000.

• Brett received the 'Community Service Award' from the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce in August of 1997 in recognition of his work with the area Boys & Girls Club, in addition to Special Olympics and Cystic Fibrosis.

• He was named as one of 100 "Good Guys" in sports by The Sporting News in July of 2000 in recognition of his civic responsibility and character.

• Brett had his fourth grade teacher, Billy Ray Dedeaux of Hancock North Central Elementary School in his native Kiln, Miss., named as the NFL's 'Teacher of the Month' for September, 1994.

• Brett and his family, in 1999 published Favre Family Cookbook: Three Generations of Cajun and Creole Cooking from the Gulf Coast, combining the best of Mississippi-style seafood with the award-winning recipes of the Brett Favre Steakhouse, recipes from the entire family along with family anecdotes and photos.

• He has been one of the country's most marketable athletes since leading Green Bay to a Super Bowl victory in January of 1997.

• Brett had over 2 million of his candy bars, the 'Brett Favre MVP Bar,' sold through fund-raising groups in its first year (1997-98), the most ever sold by the Morley Candy Company.

• Brett and his family (wife Deanna and 2 daughters, Brittney and Breleigh) split residence between Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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