Brett favre

BRETT FAVRE

There was little question Brett Favre would be successful on and off the football field. The competitive nature that helped him become a multiple letter-winner in baseball and football at Hancock North Central High School in Kiln, MS was merely the starting point for the athlete who would become the first player to ever win three consecutive Most Valuable Player awards from the National Football League.

In between the high school heroics and being drafted by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 1991, Brett led Southern Mississippi University to 29 victories and a pair of post-season bowl triumphs. His accomplishments have led to the retirement of his jersey number in both high school (10) and college (4) and his induction into Southern Mississippi’s Hall of Fame in 1997.

The confidence and competitiveness he takes onto the playing field has also led him to the NASCAR arena. He has become an equity owner with NASCAR Winston Cup superstar Dale Jarrett in Jarrett’s NASCAR Busch Series team and the new Jarrett-Favre Motorsports effort will carry Rayovac sponsorship in l999.

“When I first met Dale, I immediately knew that I had met someone who is just as competitive as I am,” Favre recalled. “Beneath that quiet surface is someone who wants to win as much as I do, and we immediately hit it off. I suppose that I show my emotions perhaps a little more than he does, but I also know that he has been known to toss a helmet or two in the past.

“This opportunity to be part of the new team is one that I really relish because I know that we are going to make every effort for our team to be highly competitive on the race track. Dale’s team has been that way in the past, and I know it will continue to be. I am really looking forward to going to some races, meeting the fans and doing everything that I can to help the sport of NASCAR racing continue to grow.

“Dale and I really have a lot in common. He was a quarterback in high school and could have gone to college to play at that level, but chose to go racing, instead. The road hasn’t been easy for him, and he had to pay his dues, just like any other athlete on his way to the top level of competition. His determination and competitiveness are obviously two of the things I enjoy most about him – but it also doesn’t hurt that he loves to play golf as much as I do.

“I know we’re going to have fun with this race team, and I also know that we are going to be highly competitive. I can’t imagine that we wouldn’t.”

According to Favre, one of the most exciting parts of his new and developing relationship with Jarrett and NASCAR racing is the association with the Rayovac Corporation.

“Rayovac is one of the most famous brand names in America, and I am really excited about our new relationship,” Favre said. “Rayovac is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and it is really special for me to be part of their short and long term goals. It seemed so fitting that a Wisconsin-based company should be part of this new association with a different sport than I have been involved with throughout my career. The Rayovac people are very good folks, and they are as determined to be competitive in their field as we are in ours.

“I think it’s going to be a very good relationship and both Dale and I are dedicated to helping them achieve their sales goals by helping them in this NASCAR team sponsorship.”

Favre’s emergence as one of the preeminent quarterbacks in the National Football League did not come with the team that drafted him from college. At the conclusion of the 1991 season, he was part of a trade between the Falcons and the Green Bay Packers. Taking the reins of the Packers when Don Majkowski was injured in the first quarter of the third game of the l992 season, Favre turned in a season performance that earned him the starting slot and a Pro Bowl berth. By 1995, he had become such a prolific leader he was named the NFL’s MVP, and he added MVP honors in l996 and l997.

Embraced by the exceedingly loyal Packer fans, Favre found a new home – both on and off the field. Lambeau Field became the site of some of his most outstanding performances, and Brett’s competitive juices led to a surge of Packer fortunes that helped reestablish the team as one of the most feared in the NFL.

While the Packers have returned to the forefront, the 29-year-old Favre shares his off-field time with those who need help. He started the Brett Favre Fourward Foundation, with three youth-oriented charities in Green Bay and Mississippi as the foundation’s beneficiaries. The Special Olympics, Cystic Fibrosis and the Boys and Girls Club all benefit from his work, and he raised more than $250,000 for the foundation in the off-season. He also works with the Salvation Army in Green Bay and Gulfport MS to donate food baskets to needy families.

With the Packer success came off-field demands on his time that Favre quickly learned to master, and fit into a schedule that also includes time for a pair of personal passions. A long-time hunting and fishing enthusiast, Brett has also become an avid golfer, and is as competitive on the fairways and greens as he is on the gridiron. He is determined to lower his golf handicap to single digits. The three NFL MVP trophies on his mantle are symbols of the competitiveness he has helped re-instill in the Packers, but to Favre, every putt he faces carries equal importance.