Brett Favre and Wife Deanna Tynes Favre Life-Long, Love Story

They met long before Brett was a great quarterback. Brett Favre and Deanna Tynes Favre, his life long soul mate, have been friends since an early age.

Brett Lorenzo Favre was born in Gulfport Mississippi on October 10, 1969. Both of his parents were high school teachers. His mother taught special education and his dad was a coach. The family moved to Kiln, Mississippi after Brett was born and that is where they raised their little boy with older brother Scott and two younger siblings, Jeff and Brandi.

Deanna Tynes, born on December 28, 1968, was the daughter of a single mother, Ann who remarried. Kerry Tynes, Deanna's stepfather, adopted Deanna once he married her mother. Deanna was raised with 2 siblings, a sister, Christie, and a brother, Casey.

Deanna and Brett went to school together from an early age. On Greta Van Sustern, Brett recalls, "I tell people all the time-we actually knew each other back in kindergarten. And we used to play football together. She was a tomboy." He teased saying "She is marginal at catching a football" but admitted she was a great softball and basketball player. Brett also played baseball back then and while he and Deanna started their relationship in elementary school, they didn't officially start dating until 1983 when they were both in high school.

Deanna was a year older than Brett so she was a sophomore and he was a freshman when they became an official couple. Deanna recalls a memory of Brett in his early years in an interview when she was asked what she loves about him she replied, "I got to watch him in high school in different situations, and his mother was a special education teacher, and I saw him with those kids, and he is very compassionate and incredible with those kids. They were like his best friends. There was one in particular too that was the bat-boy for a team." His name was Ronnie and "for Ronnie to travel, someone had to be his roommate." She said "Brett always volunteered to be his roommate" and she loved him because "he has always been compassionate."

Deanna graduated High School in 1986 and attended the Community College in Poplarville with a basketball scholarship for one year until Brett was selected to attend Southern Mississippi. At the age of 20, Deanna became pregnant with their first baby. Brittany Nicole was born on February 6, 1989. Though they did not marry, Deanna and Brett raised their daughter together the best they could. Once Brett graduated from Southern Mississippi in 1991 he was selected by the Atlanta Falcons to play in the NFL, he seemed to focus more on his career than his relationship and like any couple, they had their ups and downs. With Deanna's strong-will, she put herself through college while working various jobs. She graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in December 1994 with a degree in exercise science, juggling jobs, school, and parenting while Brett focused on his career in the NFL.

It wasn't until 1995, when Brett was playing for the Green Bay Packers that Deanna joined him in Green Bay with their 7 year-old, daughter. This was a very difficult time for them because Favre was struggling with an addiction to painkillers in the 1995 NFL season. He had several injuries and was using the painkiller Vicodin to self-medicate so he could play through the pain. He was getting them anywhere he could, borrowing them from others, asking around to get more when he would run out. Deanna told Ken Fuson of Esquire that she "found a bunch of little packs" in the closet "kind of rolled up" and then about a "week later, they'd be gone." She thought, "Jeez, that's a lot of pain pills." But when she asked Brett about it "he got real defensive." Deanna said the drug really changed his personality, making him anxious, angry, and unable to sleep. She admitted to throwing out the drugs when she found them but said he would always get more. She even threatened to leave him. "Every-body thinks Brett's so tough," she said, "but they haven't met me yet."

"In February of 1996, Favre suffered a seizure, brought on by the drugs. His seven-year-old daughter Brittany, seeing this, asked, "Is my daddy going to die?" Three months later Favre broke down and admitted he had a problem. His words were heartfelt. ""I'm 26 years old, I just threw 38 touchdown passes in one year, and I'm the NFL MVP," he said. "People look at me and say, 'I'd love to be that guy.' But if they knew what it took to be that guy, they wouldn't love to be him, I can guarantee you that. I'm entering a treatment center tomorrow. Would they love that?"

Brett stayed at the inpatient rehabilitation clinic for 45 days. He proposed to Deanna while he was in recovery and she said yes. On July 14, 16 days after he left the rehab clinic, he married Tynes in Green Bay. Brett said in an interview, "When we got married we had already been through everything, seen everything, and it just finalized things. But she was there. I tell people she was there way before my first touchdown pass. And that has never - she is proud of me - but that has never been what it was about. And you realize in tough times, which we both had our share of, who is on your side. And she has always been there."

This wouldn't be the end of hard times for the couple either. They would have more adversity to come in the years to follow. On July 13, 1999, the couple had their second daughter, Breleigh. It was that year that Deanna also realized Brett had substituted alcohol for his past Vicodin addictions. After Brett's younger brother's wedding, they had a fight and Brett went out for two nights, not returning to their home until Monday. "Deanna had packed his bags and had them sitting in the courtyard." She told him "I'm done." Deanna had to call Brett's agent, and tell him to come pick up Brett or she was going to call 911. After this incident, Brett entered rehab for a second time and supposedly quit drinking all together. He has been sober ever since.

Before their daughter could reach the age of 5, Brett would lose his own father.

Just before Christmas 2003, at the young age of 58, Brett's dad, Irv Favre ran his pickup truck off the road and died in a car accident caused by medical problems. His funeral, just one day before Christmas, was a very sad occasion for the entire family.

Less than one year later, on October 6, 2004, Deanna's 24-year-old brother, Casey Tynes, was killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident on their Mississippi property. Just 8 days later, Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35.

In late August 2005, Brett and Deanna's home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. No family members were injured but the couple housed 50 family members in their home during the disaster.

Today, Deanna describes her relationship with Favre as stronger than ever. "All the stuff we've been through over the years has molded us into two different people. It's awesome to think where we started and where we are now," she said. "Our relationship has gotten to a much stronger point, a deeper love; we have so much respect and love for each other." They credit their catholic faith as the foundation for the longevity of their relationship. "Brett is a completely different person and I can see the power of prayer in just that. It's changed our lives, our family."

During the football season, Deanna and Breleigh Ann Favre live in Minnesota with Brett. Elder daughter Brittany has a permanent home in Mississippi where she attends the College of Charleston. During the off-season the family lives together in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

http://www.officialbrettfavre.com/bio/

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http://sports.jrank.org/pages/1436/Favre-Brett--My-Daddy-Going-Die.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298115,00.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/features/favre/flashbacks/bitter_pill/