Steve Tasker was ejected from his retirement game and Brett Favre nearly joined him with an early exit himself.
Favre was slow getting up after getting plastered on his first pass attempt Saturday, but he bounced back to throw two touchdown passes as the Green Bay Packers beat the Buffalo Bills 31-21 at Green Bay.
Favre put a scare into the Packers and their fans as he lay writhing on the Lambeau Field grass after a hard hit by defensive end Phil Hansen.
“I was on the sideline screaming at him to get up,” Packers defensive end Reggie White said. “It was scary to see him lying down out there.”
Favre was frightened for a moment too.
“It just kind of knocked the wind out of me, bruised my sternum or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “It scared me more than anything. I couldn’t breathe there for a few minutes.”
Neither could coach Mike Holmgren.
“I was hoping he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him,” Holmgren said. “Fortunately, that’s all it was.”
The Packers’ primary mission Saturday was to keep Favre & Co. healthy.
The only goal they failed to accomplish was getting Dorsey Levens the club single-season rushing record.
Buffalo finished the season 6-10 and Tasker said goodbye a little early.
Tasker decided not to catch a punt deep in his own territory less than 2 minutes into the game. As he got out of the way, the ball bounced inside the 5-yard line and grazed the back of the Bills’ Raymond Jackson and caromed into the hands of Tyrone Davis for a Green Bay touchdown.
Referee Mike Carey immediately signaled the score, and the usually easygoing Tasker protested. He was ejected for accidentally bumping back judge Tom Sifferman.
“It’s not really the way I wanted my career to end, obviously,” Tasker said. “But it was my fault and it is a rule. Even though I had no intention of pushing an official, it is a rule.”
Rams 30, Panthers 18: Jerald Moore rushed for 112 yards and Tony Banks threw for 163 yards and a touchdown at Carolina as St. Louis won three of its last four games after starting the season 2-10 under new coach Dick Vermeil. With their strong finish, the Rams (5-11) pushed the Bears into a better draft position.
