Longwell lists his favorite Favre moment

Ryan Longwell, one of Brett Favre’s closest friends in football, remembers fondly one of the first Favre quips he heard in his rookie year. It is Favre’s quick wit that has endeared him to teammates for two decades.

It would seem we may well have seen the last of Brett Favre on the football field. Still unable to pass the mandatory baseline tests to return to practice following a concussion sustained against the Bears, it is looking remote that Favre will be able to start the last game of the season, which, if you believe Favre’s adamant proclamations, would be the last game of his career.

It would be a bittersweet way for his 20-year career to come to a close, but the professional eulogies have already begun. He is being bid farewell by teammates and the media that have covered his football exploits over the last two decades. Kicker Ryan Longwell shared his favorite moment with Favre, which gave an insight into the kind of person Favre has been during his Hall of Fame career.

Longwell, who has been one of Favre’s closest friends since their days in Green Bay, said his favorite Favre moment wasn’t a huge game in the face of adversity or a key late-game drive. Instead, it was a non-football moment that gave him an insight into the player who would become one of his closest friends.

“My rookie year, I was in the locker room and Brett walks in,” Longwell said. “Ron Wolf, our G.M., was in there. I was a new guy and didn’t know a lot of the guys. I kind of stayed out of the way. Ron Wolf came in and said, ‘What do we need to get back to the Super Bowl?’ We just had won it the year before. Without missing a beat, this Hall of Famer Brett Favre – MVP of the league a couple of years previously – says, ‘You know what we really need? A water softener in the shower.’ That early in my career told me everything I need to know about Brett.”

While Favre’s NFL legacy is going to be stamped by his iron man streak, his gunslinger mentality and more wins that any other quarterback to ever play the game, his legacy with those he played with and against will be marked by the type of person he was – quick with the wit and an engaging personality – not necessarily the type of player he has been for 20 years. That is merely a bonus.

FRIDAY NOTES

Six Vikings players didn’t practice Thursday. Four of them – Favre, Sidney Rice, Madieu Williams and Erin Henderson – were sidelined with concussions. Two others were also sidelined – Asher Allen with an abdominal strain and Naufahu Tahi with an ankle injury.

On the positive side, Adrian Peterson practiced fully Thursday and is expected to be a go for Sunday.

For the second straight day, Lions star receiver Calvin Johnson sat out practice Thursday. He is expected to be listed as questionable for Sunday’s game when the final injury report comes out Friday afternoon, but, even if he plays, he is expected to be limited in some fashion.

The Lions have sold out the game with the Vikings, their seventh sellout of the season – the most single-season sellouts since 2006.

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Tim Yotter is the publisher of Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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