Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Favre gives Rome a history lesson
Editor’s note: This story was published June 18, 1995.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre minded his table manners last week when he was interviewed by ESPN2’s Jim Rome.
Favre chatted with Rome on “Talk2” on Wednesday in Los Angeles. The fifth-year quarterback didn’t turn over the interview table and pounce on Rome, as Jim Everett did when Rome referred to him as “Chris Evert” on April 6, 1994.
Favre, dressed in a golf shirt, shorts and sandals, gave an engaging, low-key and wide-ranging interview.
When asked what it was like to live in Green Bay, where everybody knows what he’s doing away from the field, Favre recounted an incident two years ago.
“The local paper had said that Brett Favre was out every night, including the night before the game,” Favre said. “My older brother looks similar to me and he was in town for three weeks. One day, I got home and coach (Mike) Holmgren called me and said, ‘Look, buddy, are you going out every night? Are you going out before the games?’ ‘No coach, it’s not me.’ Come to find out it was my older brother out at the bars enjoying himself.”
Favre said he accepted such scrutiny, including going out to dinner and getting swamped for autograph requests.
“Yeah, it gets old. It does,” Favre said. “But that’s part of it. What are you going to do? If you don’t want to go out to a restaurant and sign autographs, then you just eat in. Sometimes we’ll go out. You just deal with it. I enjoy the people. Because when they stop asking for my autograph, that’s when Brett Favre is done. So I’ll just enjoy it and kind of ride the wave.”
Favre, acting as his own historian, offered his theory about why his first and second seasons with the Packers were so different.
“Defensive coordinators (in my first year) said, ‘This guy is 22 years old. We’ll let him make mistakes on his own. We don’t have to pressure him. We don’t have to take chances, because he is going to do it (make mistakes) on his own.’ Well, things worked out for us.
“The second year, I think, defensive coordinators said, ‘Let’s go after him. We have found out what he can do now, so let’s switch up some defenses. Let’s blitz him some more.’ And it worked. I was not ready for it.
“I try to tell people: ‘My first year, I threw 13 interceptions and we didn’t get to the playoffs. My second year, I threw 24 interceptions and we went to the playoffs. Now, you pick your poison. Which one do you want?’ All of a sudden, they say, ‘You’re right.’”
Favre said sometimes fans have a hard time reading the scoreboard.
“I may throw four picks and we win the game, but they are all mad at me,” Favre said. “I just laugh. I laugh at it. Because this year I had 33 touchdowns and 14 or 15 interceptions (14). We went no further than we did the year before when I threw 24.”
The going rate
Broncos quarterback John Elway was set to be paid $50,000 to sign autographs and have his picture taken for two hours Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Sports Expo in Denver. The organizers were charging $225 for fans to pose with Elway for a picture. His signature on a flat surface, such as a photo, cost $59; his autograph on a football cost $79; and his signature on a jersey or helmet went for $99.
“A lot of people don’t comprehend these autograph deals,” said Terry Embke of the organizing group, Joy Enterprises. “If Elway came in here and signed two hours for free, this city couldn’t contain how many people would be standing in line.
“And he’d be criticized for not staying long enough.”