A day after his father died while driving on a Mississippi road after an apparent heart attack or stroke, Brett Favre turned in one of the best passing performances of his career against the Raiders in Oakland.
Favre passed for four touchdowns and 399 yards–a career-best 311 in the first half–and Green Bay rolled 41-7.
Although no one who knew Favre or his father doubted that he would play, no one could anticipate the emotional toll.
Favre responded in dramatic fashion. He completed 15-of-18 passes and had a perfect passer efficiency rating of 158.3 as Green Bay took a 31-7 lead.
Favre had the second-best opening quarter of his 12-year career, behind last year’s performance against the Bears in Champaign. He completed his first nine passes for 183 yards before throwing an incompletion as the Packers took a 17-7 lead.
In an emotional team meeting Sunday, Favre, 34, told his teammates that he had too much invested in this season to sit out a game with playoff implications. It was his 188th consecutive regular-season start, an NFL record for a QB.
The Packers are chasing Minnesota in the NFC North. The Packers, Vikings and Seahawks are vying for two NFC playoff spots. The Packers could neither clinch a playoff spot nor be eliminated Monday. They finish their season Sunday against Denver at Lambeau Field and will make the playoffs with a victory.
Sherman said he was concerned about Favre’s state of mind. “He seems like he’s handling things as he has in the past,” Sherman told ESPN. “He’s very focused on this football game.”
Only 58 when he died, Irvin Favre was his son’s high school football coach and remained close to him and other Packers throughout Favre’s career in Green Bay. The elder Favre attended games regularly.
Irvin’s Favre’s funeral is Wednesday in Pass Christian, Miss.
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Edited by the Sports staff of RedEye.
