Yes, we all know that Brett Favre has so much trouble making up his mind when it comes to retirement that the past few years of his career should've been sponsored by the Waffle House. So anything he says on that subject should be taken with plenty of caution.
Still, the iconic quarterback sounded like a man who could be 60 minutes away from retirement as the Jets prepare to host Miami on the final day of the regular season.
"You grow to appreciate of the game itself and how quickly it goes by, because it does," Favre said Wednesday. "No different than you think back to high school, grade school. I always use that as an example. 'Man, can I ever get out of here. Move out of this town, go to college, get away from my parents.' You get away and you go, 'This wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was.'
"Well, here it is 18 years later," he added. "It's been a great career. This year was a gamble, I guess you could say a risk, whatever you want to call it. I can honestly say I'm thankful I was given the opportunity here. It's been a lot of fun. It's been good and bad at times as far as our season has gone, but I'm glad I came. I made the right decision. Hopefully we win this football game and see what happens."
Even if the Jets (9-6) beat the Dolphins (10-5) on Sunday, they would need a loss by either New England or Baltimore to reach the playoffs.
The Jets' 1-3 slump since their win over previously unbeaten Tennessee on Nov. 23 has coincided with Favre's struggles. He has only one touchdown pass and six interceptions over the last three games, leading to speculation that his 39-year-old right arm is tired or, worse yet, injured.
When asked if he was fatigued, he said with a smile, "I wouldn't disagree."
And when asked specifically if he had had an MRI this season, Favre said no, but also said cryptically, "I think the pending physical that every player goes through after the last game will shed some light on some things, but we'll see. ... I mean, just knowing my body, there may be something."
Favre also admitted to what might be his biggest problem in the twilight of his incredible career.
"There's some throws I personally think I can make," he said, "but at times I haven't."
Exactly. There have been numerous instances over the past month in which Favre has tried to thread the needle into a tight space, or tried to throw a deep ball, and the pass hasn't made it to the receiver. Simply out, he has lost some velocity off his fastball.
And while he again gave no concrete answers about potentially retiring, he did indicate that he doesn't want the same kind of "unretirement" soap opera he went through during the spring and summer.
"I don't want to go through what happened (earlier this) year," he said, "for me and for everyone else."
And it's fair to wonder if he wants to go through the rigors of another NFL season.
SERIES HISTORY: 86th regular-season meeting. Jets lead series, 46-38-1. This rivalry has become quite lopsided, as the Jets have won five straight and eight of the last nine meetings. Interestingly, of those eight victories for the Jets, the first six were engineered by current Miami QB Chad Pennington. The two most recent victories came with Kellen Clemens and current Jets QB Brett Favre under center. Favre's first start as a Jet was a 20-14 win over Miami on opening day, in which he threw for two TDs with no interceptions. This will mark the first time in team history the Jets have opened and closed the regular season with the same opponent.
