GREEN BAY, Wis. — There will be no third trip to the Super Bowl for Brett Favre. No dream meeting between the two best and two most popular quarterbacks in the NFL, the glitzy Tom Brady and the rugged Favre.
Not this year.
Instead, Favre’s dream season ended in the most painful and unbelievable way. It ended in overtime Sunday night, with every person in Green Bay standing and screaming. It ended with New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes’ 47-yard field goal into the swirling wind to give the Giants a 23-20 win.
It ended because Favre threw his worst pass at the very worst time, and was intercepted by Corey Webster at the Packers’ 34 to set up the winning field goal.
When Tynes hit the field goal four plays later, it was so quiet at Lambeau, you could have heard a cheesehead drop.
“I just didn’t think it would come down to that,” Favre said. “The situation presented itself. I didn’t rise to the occasion like I have in the past. I expect more from myself.”
Favre finished the game with 236 yards, two touchdown passes and two interceptions. He completed 19 of 35 passes.
And that was it for one of the best storylines of this NFL season, the story of how a 38-year-old NFL quarterback meshed with a young team and turned what was projected to be an 8-8 team to one that went 13-3 and was favored to beat the Giants on Sunday and go to the Super Bowl. Favre was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year this season.
At times in his postgame news conference, Favre almost seemed in shock that his crazy wonderful ride had suddenly lurched to a halt.
“I had so many people that were close to me — people on this team and my wife — who kept saying all year you just have to believe it’s going to fall into place,” Favre said. “It sure seemed that way. And even in this game when it was going back and forth, you just had a feeling it was going to fall in place again. But it just didn’t do that.”
With the season over, it’s time to start the next favorite off-season game in Green Bay — conjecturing on whether Favre will be back for yet another season.
Sunday night, he gave no definitive answers.
“The decision is still there, and there’s still several ways to look at it,” Favre said. I’m not going to rush into any quick decisions.”
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