GREEN BAY — Brett Favre doesn't have a son — although he does have a grandson, Parker Brett. Based on the former Green Bay Packers quarterback's comments to NBC's Today show Friday, the little guy probably won't be playing the game his grandfather became a legend playing.
Favre, who has two daughters, Brittany and Breleigh, said in an interview that will air Monday on Today that if he had a son, he would be "real leery" of letting him play football.
"In some respects, I'm almost glad I don't have a son because of the pressures he would face," Favre said. "Also, the physical toll that it could possibly take on him, not to mention if he never made it, he's going to be a failure in everyone's eyes. But more the physical toll that it could take (would concern me)."
Favre, 44, started in an NFL-record 297 consecutive regular=season games for the Packers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings before retiring following the 2010 season. He said in a radio interview last month that he was starting to experience some memory loss and reiterated his concerns about that Friday. He told a story of his wife, Deanna, mentioning Breleigh playing soccer and him not remembering any of it.
"I think to me the wakeup call was Deanna and I were talking recently, and she was talking about Breleigh, our youngest, playing soccer," he said. "I've pretty much made every game that she's ever played (in) basketball, volleyball. She played softball one year; she played basketball a couple years. As I find out, she played soccer. I don't remember her playing soccer. She played right over here, and that was probably where my first inclination that something ain't right."
Favre was also asked about bullying in the NFL in the wake of the Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito saga with the Miami Dolphins. Favre said his initial reaction was that he couldn't believe Martin was bullied.
"My initial reaction was, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" Favre said. "Pro football — bullying? It's the toughest sport, most violent, not to mention you're men, some older than others. So it's not like a little 12-year-old on the playground."
Jason Wilde  wrote: