By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. As Brett Favre sought to identify the greatest challenge he has ever faced, he could not help but reflect on all of the obstacles he has overcome in building a storied, 18-year NFL career.
Was his greatest test the summer of 1990, when he was involved in a horrific car crash and willed his way back into the Southern Mississippi lineup one month after having 30 inches of his intestines removed?
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Was it 1992, when he needed to prove that he was worth the first-round draft choice the Green Bay Packers used to obtain him from the Atlanta Falcons and responded by becoming the youngest quarterback to play in the Pro Bowl at 23?
Was it the end of the 1996 season, when he responded to the enormity of the Super Bowl by firing a 54-yard touchdown pass to Andre Rison on a first-throw audible and went on to lead Green Bay to a rousing 35-21 win vs. the New England Patriots?
No, Favre decided, it was none of those. He settled instead on the here and now. He focused on the expectation that, at 39, he can help the New York Jets to soar in what might be an all-or-nothing, one-year stop before he retires once and for all.
"I think it is probably the toughest challenge up to this point," he says.
Heck, he'd barely left Green Bay, had yet to throw his first pass in a different shade of green, when he was presented the keys to New York at City Hall. That's pressure.
But it is typical of laid-back Favre that he hasn't blinked.
Of greater significance, the Jets showed grit they lacked in past years when they ventured to New England and emerged with a 34-31 overtime decision Nov. 13 and followed it up by handing the Tennessee Titans their first loss Sunday.
Favre is not at all content at having helped to transform a 4-12 team into 8-3 AFC East leaders and a Super Bowl contender. "Believe me," he says, "we can get a lot better."
As carefree as the league's only three-time MVP acts, as quick as he is to smile and joke with teammates, the competitive fires that caused him to unretire burn brightly. For many reasons, Favre is exactly what the Jets needed as he commands an offense that averages 29.4 points, second in the league.
"He's got a great way about him at the games, that poise, that confidence, all those things," says Jets coach Eric Mangini. "But during the course of the week, he's also got a very good personality in the sense that he can be focused, get his work done, but keep the group light, keep practice fun, keep the guys excited about each day. He's got that passion for football, that love of the game, that is very contagious."
Favre possesses what few quarterbacks have ever had supreme confidence developed by succeeding for almost two decades.
And that quality helped make the difference in New England.
"Same old Jets!" Patriots fans chanted gleefully after their team forced overtime two weeks ago after trailing 24-6. "Same old Jets!"
But New York won the coin toss to begin overtime and Favre, sensing doubt on the sideline and in the huddle, took over. "The first thing he said," says running back Leon Washington, "is he assured us that we were going to go down there and put points on the board."
And so they did. A precise drive of 64 yards in 14 plays led to a nerveless 34-yard field goal by Jay Feely that rocked the AFC East, if not the NFL. "We know what we're going to get from Brett. He's going to go out and leave it all on the field," says receiver Jerricho Cotchery. "He's going to have fun, and we have to feed off of him."
Despite the ongoing process to learn a new offense, despite the struggle to keep his body together amid whispers that he has a sore arm, Favre continues to prove he can still compete at a high level, completing a league-best 70.6% of his passes for 2,461 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, also an NFL high.
Favre acknowledges that age, when combined with years of pounding, will undoubtedly cause his performance to eventually fall off. "I don't know when that point will be," he says, adding that he will not contemplate whether he will play next year until he has devoted all of his effort to this season.
New York, with an eye toward selling suites, personal seat licenses and corporate sponsorships as it prepares to enter a new stadium, had taken dramatic steps to improve the club even before Favre suddenly became available. The Jets devoted $140 million to player acquisitions before Favre came aboard in August.
That investment, on both sides of the ball, is being rewarded.
It helps, too, that Favre has a much bigger arm than Chad Pennington, his predecessor. "When you have a quarterback who can throw the ball downfield, they have to respect that," says AFC rushing leader Thomas Jones. "You don't have to worry about nine guys in the box."
Same old Jets? Don't think so.
KEYS TO JETS' CONTINUED SUCCESS
Good gambles by Favre: Quarterback Brett Favre is the career leader in touchdown passes (462), but there is a significant "but" with him. He's also thrown more interceptions (301) than anyone else in NFL history. While he's renowned as a gambler, there are some balls during the course of his career that should have never left his hand. Even a few ill-advised throws could dash this team's hopes at some critical juncture.
Run, Thomas, run: Top tailback Thomas Jones leads the AFC and ranks fourth overall with 950 rushing yards this season. Now in his second season in New York, the Jets have never lost in the nine games in which he scored a touchdown either rushing or receiving. That's hardly a coincidence.
Special special teams: Special-teams coach Mike Westhoff is as good as they come. The Jets have returned an NFL-high 11 kickoffs for touchdowns since 2002. This oft-overlooked aspect of the game can be a real difference-maker. Even when special teams don't produce points, field position is huge. To that end, return-man extraordinaire Leon Washington is fifth in the league in kickoff returns (28.8-yard average) and sixth in punt returns (12.1).
Keep stuffing the run: New York is not always viewed as one of the top teams at stopping the run, but it is; the 78 rushing yards the Jets allow a game rank third in the NFL. Of greater significance, they are perfect through seven games in which they held the opposition to fewer than 100 yards on the ground.
Withstand adversity: Past editions of the Jets didn't always react well when adversity struck, leading fans to complain they were the "same old Jets." There has been a different feeling around this team since laid-back Favre arrived. It will be interesting to see if those good vibrations continue in the big games ahead.