Growing Up Watching Brett Favre

Growing up in a family of "die-hard" Packer fans, Sundays were spent either in front of the TV or at Lambeau field. Somehow my dad always managed to score amazing tickets for all five of us kids. We'd pile into the van and be on our way dressed from head to toe in Packer gear waving green and gold paraphernalia out the window (even in sub degree weather).

One of my favorite parts was getting to the game early to see the warm ups. When I was little enough, I would always try to get an autograph of some kind. It never mattered who signed it as long as it was a Packer. Just as I was starting to take interest in the opposite sex, a cute quarterback took over. I had pictures of Brett in my locker at school and posters on my walls at home. Being a girl, most people figured I just thought he was cute and didn't understand that he could play. Oh, but I knew he could play. He was pure entertainment (sometimes that wasn't necessarily good).

My first game I saw him play was against the hated Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome. He was in his second year of being quarterback and I was eight years old. I made a big sign all glittery saying "Go Brett!" and wore a Packer sweatshirt with the Tasmanian Devil on it (Favre jerseys weren't quite popular yet). I remember my dad talking about how he was going to be the next great thing ... way better than Don Majkowski. I'm not sure who won that game as my mind was probably focused on other things but I remember after that game always getting excited when Brett was on the news or on ESPN. Still to this day, whenever I'm in a different room and hear his name on TV, I have to come and see whats going on.

My most memorable game of seeing Brett play in person was at Lambeau when I was right around 12 or 13. The game was on Christmas Eve and my parents had surprised us with tickets. The game against the Steelers and it was for the division title. I remember it being so noisy and all of a sudden dead quiet after Favre got nailed by a group of Steelers defensive players. They showed him coughing blood and there was fear he was out for the remainder of the game. But as we now know, "tough as nails" Brett came right back on the field and threw a short pass to Mark Chmura. The crowd went crazy and there were chants of "Chewy" and "Brett". It was a great ride home.

The last game I saw brought my Brett watching full circle. I saw his final game played at the Metrodome on Sept 30. It sounds sappy but I got a little teary eyed when he threw his record breaking touchdown pass to Jennings. Needless to say, it made it all that much sweeter when they won 23-16.

Outside watching him play, I met him once. He was signing autographs at our local Scheel's where my mom was a manager at the time. Knowing how big of a fan I was, I got to meet him before all the crowds took him over. He didn't have the graying beard at that time and no one knew what a legend he was going to become. He signed a few items for me (that now are carefully displayed in my parent's Packer bar) and answered my questions politely. He was quiet and almost shy, a quality that many now take to be arrogance.

I guess looking back I am fortunate for all the times I got to see him play in person and for the great memories that were created in doing so. I'll most likely be a Packer fan forever and see many more quarterbacks come and go but I doubt any of them will have the spark that Brett did. The way that he was so fun to watch and how fast he could shoot that ball out of his cannon. I will proudly keep that Favre jersey hanging on the wall knowing that I grew up watching a great.