Favre to play for Vikings tonight against Chiefs but may not make it through season
Brett Favre begins his stint with the Minnesota Vikings tonight against the Kansas City Chiefs in a preaseason game at the Metrodome. But can he last a whole season without significant injuries?
Brett Favre’s Viking Comeback Might End in Injury, Madden Says
By Erik Matuszewski and Matt Miller, Bloomber.com Sports
Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Brett Favre’s iron man streak might be ended by injury in his first season with the Minnesota Vikings, said Hall of Fame coach and ex-broadcaster John Madden.
Favre has started 269 consecutive regular-season games dating back to 1992, a record for National Football League quarterbacks and the second-most of any player in history.
In luring Favre out of retirement for a second time, the Vikings earlier this week added a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player who holds a slew of league records, including career passing yards and touchdowns. He also has a surgically-repaired shoulder with a partially torn rotator cuff and turns 40 years old less than one month into the season.
“It’s not necessarily how is he today, how is he next week, how is he a month from now,” Madden, 73, said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s how is he going to be when he gets into playoff time? I don’t know that he can hold up.”
The 39-year-old Favre played through a torn biceps muscle late last season in New York, where the Jets lost four of their final five games to miss the playoffs. Favre threw two touchdown passes and eight interceptions during that stretch after leading the Jets to an 8-3 start.
Favre had surgery after the season in hopes of returning to the NFL with the Vikings and then said before the start of training camp that he didn’t feel he was at the level he needed to be physically and would remain retired.
After Minnesota’s first preseason game, he reconsidered when contacted by coach Brad Childress and decided to return for a 19th NFL season and possibly a 20th in 2010.
Favre comes to a Vikings team that made the playoffs with a 10-6 record last season while featuring the NFL’s top-gaining running back in Adrian Peterson and a defensive unit that allowed the fewest rushing yards.
“The Vikings aren’t bringing Favre in here to win six, seven, eight games,” Madden said via teleconference from California. “They are bringing in Brett Favre in here to win a championship.”
Favre said at his introductory news conference that, while there are no guarantees, his arm feels strong enough to make the throws he’ll need to. Madden, who retired from broadcasting after last season’s Super Bowl, said he’s less concerned about Favre’s level of play than he is how long it will last.
“It’s about getting through the season,” said Madden, whose career winning percentage is the best of any coach in NFL history. “It’s how he is come December and January.”
Tags: sports, football, minnesota
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