Favre figures he'll likely need ankle surgery after season
Dec. 6, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Brett Favre's aching left ankle probably needs arthroscopic surgery to clean out bone spurs, and he's listening to Hall of Fame quarterbacks Troy Aikman and John Elway for tips on dealing with the losing.
So ratchet up the speculation whether he returns to Green Bay next season.
"My left ankle probably needs it," he said Wednesday. "I have to kind of convince myself to do it. It's one of those, I'll say, 'I'll do it' and when the time comes, 'uh, I can wait.' But we'll see."
The 37-year-old Favre said he had similar surgery on the same ankle in 1996 to remove large bone chips and a spur. He's been on the injury report several times this season with injuries to his ankles, groin and right elbow. The injury to a nerve in his elbow forced him to miss the second half of a 35-0 loss to the Patriots on Nov. 19.
Favre, a three-time MVP with a record for quarterbacks of 253 consecutive starts, said pain in the ankle comes and goes.
"Some days it feels better than others," he said. "Today's not one of those days where it feels good."
Favre needs 10 more touchdown passes to beat Dan Marino's mark of 420, and Favre said team physician Dr. Patrick McKenzie told him it would be a simple operation.
"I'm sure it would feel much better," Favre said.
With wins so few and far between -- Green Bay is 4-8 and has lost three in a row -- Favre said he's found solace talking to quarterbacks that he'll likely join in the Hall of Fame one day.
"There's a lot of guys that, I don't want to say (I) have sought advice from, but just listened to and talked to, guys like Aikman and Steve Young, even Marino and Elway to a certain degree that, if you play long enough, there'll be this rise and fall, or maybe a fall initially and then you go up the ladder, and then all of a sudden you go down again," Favre said. "And with those guys, that has happened."
But Favre admits he never envisioned it would happen to him in Green Bay, where he had a string of 13 consecutive .500 seasons or better end last season. The Packers are 1-5 at home this year and have lost 12 of the last 15 at Lambeau Field.
"I've learned to appreciate winning and not take it for granted," he said. "I had heard about previous years here in Green Bay, but we went 9-7 (my first year) and it came down to the last game whether or not we were in the playoffs, which that last game against Minnesota was like a playoff game. And from that point on it was always playoffs or in the hunt for it. Now, it's, 'Hey, can we win a game?'"
Still, Favre says he's the "ultimate optimist" even though he's won just eight of his last 29 games.
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He might have to retire after the season...thoughts?
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