Love Favre for his touchdowns, hate him for his interceptions, but he made the game fun

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Everyone figured it had to come to an end someday.

Yet Sunday after Sunday, season after season, they woke up and Brett Favre was still quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. During a 16-year period he wove himself into the fabric of this state like no other athlete, and for the 5,866 days since his arrival Feb. 10, 1992, there was rarely any doubt where he would be on opening day.

Children grew into adults, adults watched they hair turn gray, yet Brett Favre remained the quarterback.

Until now. . . .

The day when the streak ended. And just like that, Favre's time expired.

The Packers announced Tuesday that the most popular player to wear a Packers uniform and one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time was retiring after 17 seasons in the National Football League.

The announcement came 44 days after Favre's interception in overtime led to the winning points in the Packers' gut-wrenching, 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game. In the time that followed, Packers coach Mike McCarthy reached out to Favre once a week or so to help him talk out his concerns about the future and see which way he was leaning.

It was a similar process to last off-season, but McCarthy knew something was different when Thursday night of last week Favre used the word retirement for the first time. McCarthy still thought the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer was going to come back, but while attending his daughter's high school basketball team banquet in Austin, Texas, his cell phone rang.

Favre was on the other line and his news wasn't good.

"I had to remove myself from where I was standing because I was taken aback," McCarthy said.

This time around, Favre wasn't coming back.

After taking time to relax at his home in Hattiesburg, Miss., he decided he did not have the will to go on. In a voicemail message sent to ESPN's Chris Mortensen to clarify his reasons for retiring, Favre said he didn't have the energy to put in the work necessary to play another season.

"I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife (Deanna), I'm just tired mentally," Favre said. "I'm just tired."

The message to Mortensen were the only words spoken on the record by Favre on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Favre addressed the media, explaining his reasons for retiring during a mid-day news conference.