[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 3 (Friday, January 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E24-E25]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RESOLUTION COMMENDING GREEN BAY PACKERS AND QUARTERBACK BRETT FAVRE FOR 
                           THEIR WINNING WAYS

                                 ______


                             HON. TOBY ROTH

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 5, 1996

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I introduce a 
resolution congratulating the Green Bay Packers football team and its 
remarkable quarterback, Brett Favre, for their outstanding performances 
this year.
  The Packers, the only League team owned by a municipality, the City 
of Green Bay, WI, has won its first National Football Conference 
Central Division title in 23 years.
  The team has battled its way into the divisional playoffs, and now 
face the Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49-ers.
  The Packers' quarterback, Brett Favre, has just been recognized as 
the most valuable player in the entire National Football League [NFL].
  Indeed, Mr. Chairman, Brett Favre received 78 percent of the votes 
cast in bestowing this honor, a margin of enviable magnitude.
  My resolution commends the Packers as a team, its coaches, its 
athletes, its staff, and its loyal fans for the season's hard-fought 
victories.
  It commends Brett Favre for his incredible individual 
accomplishments.

[[Page E25]]

  These include a Conference record 38 touchdown passes during the 
regular season.
  Brett Favre threw three more touchdown passes in Sunday's 37-20 
first-round playoff victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
  He has started in 61 consecutive football games, the longest streak 
among active NFL quarterbacks.
  Finally, the resolution recognizes the team's commitment to achieving 
and demonstrating athletic excellence in the best traditions of the 
State of Wisconsin and of the Nation.
  I urge the House to join me in giving special recognition to this 
exceptionally talented team and its admirable quarterback. They have 
proven themselves leaders and top performers in every capacity through 
one of the most competitive professional football seasons in history.
  I ask that the article about the team and Mr. Favre and his award 
that appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette on January 2, 1996, be 
printed in the Record.

                  Favre on Honor: It's Salute to Team

                            (By Chris Havel)

       Brett Favre bounded into his Ashwaubenon home dying to 
     share the news.
       The Green Bay Packers' quarterback had just learned he was 
     voted the National Football League's Most Valuable Player for 
     the 1995 season.
       ``He was just like a kid winning his first trophy ever,'' 
     said Deanna Tynes, Favre's longtime girlfriend. ``He said, 
     `Do you know how big this is?' I said, `yes, I do.' He said, 
     `No, you don't. You can't, because I don't know.' ''
       Winning the MVP award is one thing. Comprehending it is 
     another.
       That was on Saturday.
       The Associated Press, which conducted the balloting in 
     which Favre earned 69 of 88 votes from a national media 
     panel, told him during an advance interview two days before 
     the award was released.
       On Monday, Favre seemed just as excited as if he'd heard it 
     the first time.
       ``This is great,'' he said.
       The 26-year-old admitted his NFC record 38 touchdown passes 
     and NFL-leading 4,413 yards passing obviously played a bit 
     role in his winning the award. But no greater a role than the 
     Packers' 11-5 record and Central Division title.
       ``The numbers are hard to ignore, but if we had gone 2-14 
     everyone would have said, `So what?' '' he said. ``I can't 
     say enough about what this award means for me and my team. 
     You can't win something like this unless you win and be 
     successful. That's a salute to all my teammates.''
       The award was especially impressive in that it came in the 
     same season San Francisco's Jerry Rice and Dallas' Emmitt 
     Smith set NFL records for receiving yards (1,848) and 
     touchdowns (25), respectively.
       This is heady stuff.
       The people closest to Favre know it. They also know it 
     won't go to his head.
       ``The only way he has changed is that he has grown up a 
     lot,'' said Tynes, who laughs at the notion that Favre is a 
     ``big ego'' guy. ``He's still a kid at heart. He'll always be 
     that way. More than anything, he loves to play football and 
     he loves to win. That's just the way he is.''


                             maturity cited

       Bryant Medders who played with Favre at Southern 
     Mississippi and is a close friend, said Favre's maturity--
     both physically and mentally--is striking.
       ``He never knew where the weight room was at Southern 
     Miss,'' Medders said. ``Now on Tuesdays (the Packers' day 
     off) he goes in and rides the bike and does the treadmill. I 
     thought, `That doesn't sound like Brett,' But it is now.''
       Steve Mariucci, the Packers' quarterbacks coach, also has 
     seen the changes.
       ``Brett's image used to be the. . . . Well, you know. Now 
     his image and persona is that he's an intelligent 
     quarterback. Heads-up. Gutsy. He's playing the position very 
     well and very smart,'' said Mariucci. ``He's playing a little 
     bit beyond the scheme of our system at times with his 
     improvising and making good things happen. He's keeping the 
     negatives to a minimum.''
       Clearly, Favre is a serious NFL quarterback. Yet he remains 
     his fun-loving self.
       Medders got a dose of it a few years back when he came to 
     Green Bay for the Packers' December game against the Rams. 
     Favre told Medders to be sure to bundle up because of the 
     sub-zero temperatures.
       ``So we step out of the apartment on our way to the game 
     and what does he do? He comes up behind me and stuffs two 
     handfuls of snow right down the back of my shirt,'' said 
     Medders, laughing. ``That started my day out right.''
       ``He's the biggest prankster there is,'' said Clark 
     Henegan, a college buddy of Favre's who moved to Green Bay 
     and is his personal assistant. ``If you're not careful, he'll 
     pull your pants down on the tee box. Trust me.''
       Favre actually pulled just such a prank on Mariucci at 
     practice.
       ``The worst part was they had it on film,'' said Mariucci. 
     ``That's just how he is. He's the funniest human being I have 
     ever been around. To be witty, you have to be intelligent, 
     and he's very witty. Not that I ever want him to do that 
     again.''
       The fact that Favre would even consider such a practical 
     joke on his position coach is testament to the closeness they 
     share.


                            `mutual respect'

       We have a great mutual respect and when I say `we' I mean 
     all the quarterbacks,'' said Mariucci. ``It's a constant 
     Barnum & Bailey, but when it's time to go, we go. We get 
     after it and there's no fooling around.''
       Medders thinks Favre is just beginning to blossom.
       ``Now that he has received some respect from peers and 
     around the nation, it'll actually make him more confident,'' 
     said Medders, who lives in Birmingham, Ala. ``I think it will 
     make him better. It'll bring him out more.''
       Favre's rock-solid performance in the Packers' 37-20 
     victory over Atlanta in Sunday's NFC wild-card game makes a 
     convincing argument. Knowing he has been selected as the 
     NFL's MVP didn't affect his approach or his performance.
       He completed 24 of 35 passes for 199 yards and three 
     touchdowns.
       ``There was no pressure on me,'' Favre said. ``I didn't 
     feel like I had to do anything spectacular and I didn't. I 
     don't have to put up big numbers for us to win. Edgar Bennett 
     had 108 yards. We won. That's what we would like to do.''
       On some teams, the presence of an MVP quarterback might 
     breed jealousy.
       In Green Bay, Favre believes it'll breed confidence going 
     into Saturday's NFC Divisional Playoff against defending 
     Super Bowl champion San Francisco.
       ``Our players can say, `Hey, if a Packer can win this 
     award, then we're getting a little notoriety and people are 
     starting to recognize us,'' he said.
       ``We're 11-5. We won our division. We're pretty good. I 
     hope every player feels like we can go out to San Francisco 
     and win.''

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