HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Magnolia trees
swayed and palm fronds rustled in a cool wind along the stately
iron gateway to Brett Favre's massive farm, set in rolling
pine-covered hills just west of this southern Mississippi town.
There were no makeshift signs
honoring his Hall of Fame quality career, no groups of curious
onlookers or lines of cars parked on the edge of the rural,
four-lane highway that runs past his driveway.
It was quiet, and locals showed
little interest in disturbing one of the NFL's greatest
quarterbacks Tuesday, the day he announced his retirement. They
knew that's the way the longtime Green Bay Packer would want it.
"In Green Bay, there are days
up there when he can't pump gas" without drawing a crowd,
said Paul Calhoun, Favre's friend and a veterinarian who cares for
the quarterback's dogs. "Here, it's not like that. He can go
anywhere and do anything he wants to here.
"I wish him the best and he'll
be fine."
For his part, Favre spent Tuesday,
a historic one for the NFL, trying to go about his business as
normally as possible. A woman who works on the 460-acre property
— with a calligraphy "F'' molded into the black iron front
gate — said the quarterback had accompanied his youngest
daughter, Breleigh, on a field trip to Jackson, the state capital.
Closer to town, residents said they
were saddened by the thought of no longer spending Sunday's
watching the freewheeling quarterback whose backyard,
win-at-all-costs style they'd grown to love since he played his
college ball here at Southern Mississippi.
"I think it's a sad day for
Hattiesburg," said Louis Swarts, owner of Big Buck Sports,
where Favre and his brother-in-law sometimes buy hunting gear.
On a desk in Swarts' office,
balancing on a stack of papers, was a Southern Miss Golden Eagles
football marked by Favre's unmistakable signature and the No. 4.
"Where I sit from, I hated to
see him retire, but knowing his other interests and what he feels
for his family — he enjoys staying out on his farm, they've got
deer out at their place, he loves being on his tractor — no one
should second-guess what he's done," Swarts said. "The
longevity of his career and the level at which he has played, he's
just a winner."
Favre, who grew up in the small
town of Kiln not far from Mississippi's Gulf Coast, played for
Southern Miss from 1987 to 1990. He surprisingly rose to starter
during his freshman year after leading Southern Miss to a victory
over Tulane during the second half of the third game of the
season. After that, he went 27-16 as a starter and finished his
career with 7,695 yards passing and 52 touchdowns.
Fans here loved him in part because
he won, but also because he often did so with an ad-lib style that
was exciting to watch.
"You never knew what to
expect," Swarts said. "He was always doing something
that was different."
Southern Miss retired Favre's No. 4
in 1993, making him just one of two Golden Eagles with that honor.
Favre played in the NFL for 17
seasons, so long that people like Jordan Toups, a senior at nearby
Oak Grove High School, only knew Favre as a Packer, but looked up
to him just the same.
"At first I was in disbelief,
because for the past couple of years he was saying he was going to
retire, but he didn't," said Toups, who was a year behind
Favre's oldest daughter, Brittany, at Oak Grove. "When I
found out it was actually true I was kind of disappointed. I mean,
I've looked up to the guy. He's a legend. He's one of the best
quarterbacks to ever play the game."
Toups was working at Bop's Frozen
Custard, where employees sometimes look out the drive-through
window to see Favre or his wife looking back at them.
"It's kind of crazy to know
that one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game lives
right down the road from you," Toups said. "I think he
still has some gas in the tank, but I guess it's like they all
say: go out on top."
