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Favre retires again, insists won't return

BRETT Favre retired again on Wednesday and insisted he won't look back. Well, at least for now.

"I have no reason to wonder why you would be so skeptical," Favre said with a slight chuckle after announcing he was leaving the National Football League after 18 record-setting seasons.

Favre, who retired last March only to return a few months later, kept this goodbye simple ?? no tearful farewell or jam-packed news conference. He spoke to the New York Jets, telling owner Woody Johnson, general manager Mike Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan that he was calling it a career.

"I have family and friends who are like, 'All right, Brett. Is this the real deal'?" Favre said during a conference call. "To me, it is. It is. Believe me. It's been a wonderful career, I couldn't ask for anything more. It was worth a shot for me to go to New York. I wish I could've played better down the stretch. I didn't.

"It's time to leave."

The Jets placed Favre on the reserve-retired list, meaning the quarterback's retirement paperwork had been filed with the NFL - something he didn't do last winter with the Green Bay Packers.

Make the playoffs

His decision came six weeks after his only season with the Jets ended in disappointment as New York went 1-4 at the end and failed to make the playoffs.

A major reason for the collapse was Favre, who threw nine interceptions in those five games. He said he played with a torn biceps tendon in his right shoulder that got worse later in the season and needed a cortisone injection.

Favre insisted that even if his shoulder felt better next season, he's still done with playing.

"It's nothing I would second-guess, no," he said.

If this is indeed it for Favre, he leaves the game with a slew of records, including career touchdown passes (464), completions (5,720), yards passing (65,127), regular-season victories (169) and interceptions (310).

"With Brett, there was always the possibility that he wouldn't play the second year," Johnson said. "We were hoping to get one good year out of Brett Favre. We picked him based on, in our opinion, his giving us the best chance to win last season. We were disappointed not to have made the Super Bowl, but we did some very good things with Brett."

Favre had two years left on his contract and was due US$13 million for next season.




 

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