Brett Favre entered the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame on Saturday and had his No. 4 retired by the team he led for the bulk of his 20-year NFL career.
The record-setting quarterback will be honored again later this year when his name and jersey will be unveiled on the Lambeau Field facade during halftime of the Packers' Thanksgiving night game against rival Chicago on Nov. 26.
During a banquet in the Lambeau Field Atrium on Saturday, Favre became the 154th person inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame. He is the sixth player to have his number retired by the team.
Favre, 45, spoke to a crowd of 67,000 fans inside Lambeau who turned out to watch the Hall of Fame ceremony on the stadium's video boards.
"All I can say is wow," Favre said, looking at the crowd. "This is absolutely amazing."
It was the first time the Packers retired a number since they honored Reggie White posthumously in 2005.
Favre's 16-year tenure with the Packers ended in acrimony, of course, when he retired in 2008, then attempted a comeback only to be told that Aaron Rodgers was the starting quarterback.
But the relationship has apparently thawed, and Favre, who played three more seasons with the Jets and Vikings before retiring for good in 2010, said he thinks the Packers Hall of Fame rivals the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which he will likely enter next year.
Favre led the Packers to their first Super Bowl title in 29 years at the end of the 1996 season. He holds NFL records for passing yards, completions and attempts and famously started 297 consecutive games between 1992 and 2010, also an all-time record.
