Afterward, Doug Pederson found himself alone in the back of the cramped visitors’ locker room, trying to find the right words. It had been Pederson, the Packers’ backup quarterback and Brett Favre’s closest friend on the team, who had delivered the devastating news the day before, and now Pederson was searching again. “You just can’t put into words what just happened,” Pederson said with his eyes moist. “The game he had, it shows the kind of person he is. It’s just amazing.”
Playing brilliantly a little more than 24 hours after learning that his father, Irvin, had died of a massive heart attack near the family’s home in Kiln, Mississippi, Favre threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns to lead a 41–7 rout of the Oakland Raiders at Network Associates Coliseum on December 22, 2003. But as unforgettable as Favre’s performance was that night, it was the way his teammates rallied around their heartbroken leader that was truly remarkable. Favre did not speak to reporters after the game, but with his wife, Deanna, by his side, he did talk to ABC’s Monday Night Football crew. “I knew my dad would want me to play,” Favre said. “I love him so much and I love this game. It’s meant a great deal to me, to my dad, and to my family. I didn’t expect this type of performance, but I know he was watching tonight.”
After the Packers found their way into the NFC playoffs just days later—with help from the Arizona Cardinals’ last-second victory against the Minnesota Vikings on the last day of the regular season—Favre hinted that divine intervention might be at work. “I’m so proud of the team and what we’ve been able to overcome. As difficult as it is, it’s very uplifting to be a part of this team and have the things happen to us that have happened to us in the last two weeks,” Favre said. “I’m proud of the fact that I was able to do that and still help this team, but I’m going to miss him. There’s no doubt about it.”
If Irvin Favre was indeed watching that night in Oakland, he saw his son deliver a breathtaking, astonishing performance. He also saw his son inspire an entire team to heights it hadn’t seen all year. “This was the most emotional football game I’ve ever played in,” said Packers center Mike Flanagan, whose own father died when Flanagan was just 20 years old. “It was a family matter.”
Favre’s incredible performance also kept the Packers in the thick of the NFC playoff picture with one game left in the season. Had they lost, the Packers would have been eliminated from postseason contention. Instead, they went into the final weekend tied with the Vikings at 9–6 and then clinched a playoff berth when they beat the Denver Broncos, and the Vikings lost on a last-second Josh McCown-to-Nate Poole touchdown pass. “Certainly, we needed the win to stay in the playoff hunt, but we also needed to win for Brett Favre,” Packers coach Mike Sherman said. “And I thought his teammates responded very well to what he needed.”
Favre’s first-half numbers—15-of-18, 311 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions—were perfect at least based on the NFL’s passer rating system that has a maximum possible rating of 158.3. And he did it with style and emotion. On the Packers’ first possession, there was his 46-yard strike to Robert Ferguson on third and 11 followed by a perfectly placed 22-yard rainbow to tight end Wesley Walls for the game’s first touchdown. Favre leaped into the arms of Flanagan and then into Walls’ arms for a long embrace. “I really don’t know what we even said,” Walls said. “He’s just got so much heart.”
The Packers’ next possession was more of the same. Halfback Tony Fisher gained 32 yards on a nifty screen pass on a third and 12, setting up Favre to roll right on a play-action pass and hit an open Javon Walker for a 23-yard score and a 14–0 lead. Favre’s first errant pass after nine straight completions came on the Packers’ next possession, and Green Bay had to settle for a 31-yard Ryan Longwell field goal. But on the next series, Favre threw a perfect ball to Ferguson, who made a fantastic catch for a 27-yard gain on the right sideline. On the next play, Favre absorbed a hit from linebacker Napoleon Harris but still connected with Walker, who leaped high in between Phillip Buchanon and Anthony Dorsett to pull down a 43-yard touchdown.
Brett Favre leans on his wife, Deanna, following his 399-yard, four-touchdown performance on Monday Night Football the day after his father died.
Favre then set up his fourth touchdown pass—a six-yard throw to tight end David Martin 54 seconds before halftime—with another deep ball to Walker, who again made a great catch in double coverage for a 46-yard gain. “It was a great day for the organization. It was a great win,” said Walker, who finished the night with four receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns. “But it also put a lot of things into perspective about the way Brett is.”
But Favre, who finished the night three yards shy of a career high in yards and with a career best single-game passer rating of 154.9, got plenty of help from his inspired teammates, too. On offense halfback Ahman Green ran for 127 on 24 carries while Walker, Ferguson (three catches for 85 yards), and Donald Driver (three catches for 78 yards) all had acrobatic catches and attacked the ball with passion. On defense Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila had three sacks, while backup cornerback Michael Hawthorne, starting in place of an injured Mike McKenzie, had two interceptions. And the special teams chipped in with Najeh Davenport’s 60-yard return of the opening kickoff of the second half.
But the night belonged to Favre, who was replaced by Pederson with 3:58 left in the clock, leaving the field to a standing ovation from the Black Hole fans and adding yet another chapter to his legend. “To tell him his dad passed away, I’ll never forget that day. You just don’t want to do that, and my heart just ached for him,” said Pederson, who got a call on his cell phone from Deanna, who couldn’t bring herself to tell her husband the news.
After getting the news from Pederson on the golf course, where he was playing a round Sunday afternoon with Pederson, Ryan Longwell, and punter Josh Bidwell, Favre briefly considered not playing in the game and flying home to Mississippi to be with his family. But by the time the foursome returned to the team hotel in nearby Berkeley, California, Favre had already made up his mind. Then he told his teammates of Irv’s death and his intentions in an emotional team meeting Sunday night. “Everybody felt his pain,” said wide receivers coach Ray Sherman, whose father passed away in 2001 and whose son, Ray II, had died earlier in 2003. “It was very emotional for him. He wanted to let the guys know that he’s going to be there for them. He’s got their backs. He said he loves the game, he loved his dad. I got to tip my hat off to him for wanting to play. He’s a strong man, very strong.”
Added defensive tackle Grady Jackson: “If anybody had a question about how much Brett cares about this team and loves this team, now they know.”
The Packers left the decision of whether to play completely up to Favre and were prepared for Pederson to start with Craig Nall backing him up. But Favre, who no longer had a roommate on the road after center Frank Winters was released at the end of training camp, told the team he would play at that team meeting around 9:00 pm. And the outpouring of support immediately followed. “It didn’t surprise me at all,” veteran right guard Marco Rivera said.
“It makes you realize that you can’t let a day go by that you don’t talk to your family. No matter how old you are, you make sure you tell your mom and dad you love them,” Ray Sherman said. “You have to make sure you do that.”
After the team meeting broke, a number of Packers players pulled out their cell phones and did just that, calling their own parents just to tell them they loved them. “My father is still alive, and I called him and just told him to stop smoking and take care of himself,” defensive end Chukie Nwokorie said. “I don’t know what’s going on in Brett’s head, but he’s a stronger person than me. That I do know because I don’t think I’d be able to play.”