GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- Packers players' lounge, 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Brett Favre fetching a Gatorade from the cooler. "Fifteen questions," I say.
"Fifteen minutes."
"Fine," he says. "I can hit some golf balls while we talk."
And so we head over to the Don Hutson Center across the street from the stadium. Favre drops 70 balls on the AstroTurf, pulls out his 60-degree lob wedge and doesn't wait for the first question. "Love this," he said. "I'm so into golf. Not being able to play this time of year drives me crazy. So I come in here and hit balls."
1. Why golf?
[ul]Favre: "Because no one's conquered it, ever. The same club you hit perfect one day you'll shank 'em with the next. Every club's a challenge. Every shot's a challenge. That's why Tiger Woods is so great. He hits so many different shots so masterfully. He's like Deion Sanders and Randy Moss -- he's ahead of his time, and everyone's gonna have to work to catch up."[/ul]
2. What's your best day in golf?
[ul]Favre: "Last Easter weekend in Biloxi, Miss. Shot a 66. Broadwater Golf Course, playing with a bunch of guys. Now, I'm not that good. I'm the type of guy who can shoot a 71 one day, an 80 the next. But that day was perfect."[/ul]
3. You play a lot, right?
[ul]Favre: "I joined Oneida [Country Club] last year and was there so much I got to be like Norm from Cheers. You know, he walks in the place and everybody says, 'Norm!' That's how much I'm at Oneida. And I'll put on the Golf Channel at 2 o'clock in the morning and maybe pick up a tip on how to hit a wedge."[/ul]
4. And now you're into hunting?
[ul]Favre: "I love hunting. Tell you a story. Before the Monday night game against the Vikings a few weeks ago, we practiced Sunday morning. Beautiful day. About 60, sunny. Everybody in town must have had the same thought I did -- maybe this is the last good golf day of the year -- and so Oneida was jammed. It played so slow I only made nine holes. Wasn't much fun, going so slow. We had to be at the hotel for meetings at 7 o'clock, so I decided to hunt for a couple of hours. I've got a tree stand about 45 minutes from here. I got in it about 3:45. I had a bow with me. Within 10 minutes, a beautiful eight-point buck came right underneath me. I hit it right in the back. It ran off, and I waited a minute, then I found it, laying up against a tree. I dragged it out of the woods and put it in the truck. Blood all over the back of the truck. And I got to the hotel right on time. I'm a mess. People wonder what's happened to me. I'm like: 'It's been a great day. Touchdown passes at practice this morning, golf in the afternoon, and an eight-point buck a couple hours ago. How was your day?'"[/ul]
5. Have golf and hunting taken the place of your old vices?
[ul]Favre: "Even if I wanted to party -- and I don't -- when would I squeeze it in?"[/ul]
6. Who should be president?
[ul]Favre: "That's one question I ain't got a clue about. Democrat, Republican, who gives a crap? We should all be thankful to live in America."[/ul]
7. What's your favorite TV show?
[ul]Favre: "I don't remember the last time I watched prime-time TV. I watch The Learning Channel, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I watch National Geographic on CNBC. I like Boyd Matson. Now, you asked me about the damn presidential crap in Florida, that's been preempting my National Geographic show. That pisses me off. The other day, I saw a real good show called The Kingdom of the Snake. [My wife] Deanna said, 'I'm not watching a show on snakes.' I said, 'Well, I'll go in the other room, then.'"[/ul]
8. Why are you such a good player when it's cold? (The Packers, with Favre quarterbacking, ran their record to 26-0 Sunday when it's 34 or colder.)
[ul]Favre: "Hey, I get cold, too. I freeze my rear end off. But I always think, 'If it's going to be cold, the receivers' hands are gonna be cold. Maybe I'll take a little something off the ball, make it a little more catchable.' I concentrate more. I'm more into it mentally. But I think it's also because I don't let it bug me. The other night, we've got two or three inches of snow on the driveway. I go out to shovel in shorts and clogs. I'm out there for two hours. I guess I could pay somebody to do that, couldn't I? Deanna at one point calls out to me, 'You probably ought to put some pants on.' Probably. I'm too lazy. Anyway, if you're gonna get adjusted to this weather, you've got to brave it."[/ul]
9. What's your best prank of the year?
[ul]Favre: "Had to be when I pulled down [special-teams coach] Frank Novak's pants after practice one day. Classic. Every day somebody breaks us down after practice, you know, finishes off practice by saying something. So this day I say, 'Frank, break us down!' And he loves that. He gets so fired up. So we're getting ready to say, 'One-two-three, TEAM!' and I pull Frank's pants down, right to his ankles. He's butt naked. He's just shocked. Everybody's whacking him on the rear end, and he's staring at me. Can't believe it."[/ul]
10. Last movie you saw?
[ul]Favre: Men of Honor. Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding Jr. Great movie. They both deserve a damn Oscar."[/ul]
11. How's it having a baby daughter, Breleigh?
[ul]Favre: "She's 17 months now. She's the greatest. Walked at 11 months. Talking now. And anything with Packers stuff on it, that's Da-Da. She saw Vonnie Holliday on TV and says: 'Da-Da.' We drove by Lambeau Field the other day and she saw the stadium and said, 'Da-Da.'"[/ul]
12. What's on the CD player in your car?
[ul]Favre: "Tim McGraw. 'Everything I Want,' I think. We're friends. We've got a lot in common. Both from down south, both have to pinch our damn selves to believe how lucky we are."[/ul]
13. Why is there green writing on your underwear?
[ul]Favre: "Damn Hasselbeck and Wuerffel. [Matt, the backup quarterback, and Danny, No. 3.] I come in one day and they've autographed my underwear. One cheek's got 'With love, Matt Hasselbeck.' The other's got, 'All the best, Danny Wuerffel.' Still I wear 'em all the time. One of my best pair. One of my only pair. Bottom line is, the more money I get, the worse I dress. Money's not too big a thing with me. I don't even have an ATM card."[/ul]
14. Greatest pass of your life?
[ul]Favre: "Has to be the [1993] playoff game at Detroit, rolling left and throwing that bomb to Sterling Sharpe [with 55 seconds remaining in what became a 28-24 win]. He lined up on the wrong side, you know. After the game, Mike [Holmgren] said, 'I don't know how you found him. I'm just glad you did.'"[/ul]
15. You want to finish your career here?
[ul]Favre: "Definitely. If in two years, say, they want to trade me, I'd probably walk away. Retire." [/ul]