Brett Favre

A novelty T-shirt gaining popularity among Green Bay Packers fans features a drawing of Brett Favre's face within an outline of Wisconsin and a tongue-in-cheek message: "We'll never forget you Brent." Now, Minnesota can forget Favre too. The Vikings' quest -- a pursuit of the three-time NFL most valuable player -- ground to a surprising halt Tuesday when Favre informed Coach Brad Childress that he won't be coming out of retirement to play for Minnesota.

The Indianapolis Colts have called a news conference for 9 a.m. PT Wednesday to announce the release of quarterback Peyton Manning, the centerpiece of their organization for 14 seasons and in many ways the face of the NFL. Both Colts owner Jim Irsay and Manning will participate. It's a sad end to an era for many people, among them John Madden, who told The Times he cannot envision Manning in another uniform. "Some guys deserve a happy ending, and he does," Madden said by phone.

Hours after throwing three touchdown passes last month to lead the Minnesota Vikings over his old Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre sent a one-word text message to Steve Mariucci, among his favorite onetime assistant coaches: "Flatliners." Instantly, Mariucci picked up on the inside joke. That was a code word the two shared back when Favre was in his early years with the Packers, and Mariucci was an up-and-coming assistant coach. It was a reference to the 1990 movie "Flatliners," and a reminder to the quarterback to maintain an even keel through the craziest times.

I'll never forget the sight of Brett Favre stumbling down a Superdome hallway, welts on his neck, fog in his eyes, his career essentially ended after a blatant mugging by the New Orleans Saints. "I wonder if I can hold up, especially after a day like today," he said after his Minnesota Vikings were beaten in the NFC championship game two years ago. At the time, we thought we were watching tough football. Turns out, we were witnessing sanctioned evil. I'll never forget the sight, eight days earlier, of Kurt Warner lying flat on his back, motionless and mumbling into space, his career basically cooked after absorbing a furious sucker punch from the Saints' Bobby McCray.

Brett Favre's left ankle is still hurting from a hit he absorbed in the NFC championship game three months ago, and the injury weighs into the quarterback's pending decision on whether he will return to the Minnesota Vikings next season. In a statement issued Friday on his website, Favre said his ankle will require surgery if he decides to come back for a 20th season, although he added that the injury "is not debilitating" and he has been through worse over the course of his career.

The end of the year doesn't mean the end of the line for Brett Favre. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback says anybody who expects him to take another tailspin -- as he did late last season with the New York Jets -- is sorely mistaken. "I don't think I'm falling apart in December like most people seem to think," said Favre, whose team needs to win at Carolina tonight to clinch the NFC North title. "I don't feel much different than most guys in that locker room at this stage of the season.

Over the course of his illustrious career, Brett Favre has defeated 31 of 32 NFL teams. The only team he hasn't beaten? The Green Bay Packers, of course. Monday, he'll get his first chance, as Minnesota plays host to Favre's former team in a much-anticipated matchup. Favre, who has more interceptions than any quarterback in league history, has been picked off just once this season. He had several dangerous throws last Sunday, however, before tossing the winning touchdown pass against San Francisco with two seconds to play.

Brett Favre returned to practice for the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, one day after sitting out to rest his sore right elbow. Favre has been bothered by tendinitis in his throwing elbow and said earlier this week that he would consider sitting out a game or two to rest it if the condition worsens. Favre has started an NFL-record 289 consecutive regular-season games. Center John Sullivan also returned to practice after missing Wednesday with a calf injury. Sullivan did not play against the Jets on Monday night.

Brett Favre's latest problem is his elbow. With the NFL investigating whether he sent lewd photos of himself to a Jets game hostess while he played for New York in 2008, Favre said Wednesday that his cherished, league-record streak of 289 consecutive starts could be in danger if the pain in his right elbow gets any worse. The 41-year-old quarterback did not practice with Minnesota on Wednesday, preferring to rest the tendinitis that flared up noticeably Monday night in the Vikings' 29-20 loss to the Jets.

The 40-year-old quarterback who has created so much "Favre magic" is headed for a career hat trick. Brett Favre appears to be coming back for a third time since announcing his NFL retirement in 2008. Favre flew to Minnesota on Tuesday aboard a private jet, along with three Vikings teammates dispatched to Hattiesburg, Miss., to plead for his return. A year ago, it was Vikings Coach Brad Childress who chauffeured the quarterback back to team headquarters. This time it was Minnesota kicker Ryan Longwell, Favre's close friend since their days together with Green Bay. Three helicopters from local television stations hovered over Longwell's black BMW SUV on the drive to the facility.

Whoa, Pack, whoa! The team from the NFL's smallest market came up huge Sunday, as the Green Bay Packers clinched their fourth Super Bowl victory with a wire-to-wire 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. Powered by the spectacular play of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who rocketed passes into mailbox-sized openings, the Packers became just the second sixth-seeded team to win it all, joining the 2005 Steelers. Rodgers, once doubted by many as a suitable replacement for legendary Brett Favre, now has as many rings as that future Hall of Famer.

Brett Favre was fined $50,000 by the NFL for a "failure to cooperate" with its investigation into inappropriate messages and lewd photos he allegedly sent to former New York Jets employee Jenn Sterger , a decision her lawyer called extremely disappointing. The league said Wednesday that Commissioner Roger Goodell "could not conclude" that Favre violated the league's personal conduct policy based on the evidence available to him. "The forensic analysis could not establish that Favre sent the objectionable photographs to Sterger," the statement said.

Remember when the NFL was a simpler place, when the big worry was the rest-or-rust debate ? whether the best teams should play hard through the end of the season or save their starters for the playoffs? That was so 2009. Now, no one has the luxury to coast. The Indianapolis Colts certainly don't. Less than a year after flirting with a perfect season, they have lost four of five games and are in serious peril of not reaching the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

The NFL's household names can't quite take it to the house. The big-money players are putting up bargain-basement numbers. The VIPs are standing on the wrong side of the velvet ropes. All over the league, some of its highest-profile players are having disappointing seasons ? Brett Favre, Randy Moss, Donovan McNabb, Carson Palmer and Brandon Marshall among them. The news of the day Monday was partly a byproduct of that. Minnesota fired Coach Brad Childress and replaced him with defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, promoted to interim coach.

The War of 1812 lasted about 2Ã?Â?Ã?Â? years. The NFL's version -- pitting 18 ( Peyton Manning) and 12 ( Tom Brady) -- has gone on nearly four times longer. When New England plays host to Indianapolis on Sunday, it will be the eighth consecutive season the teams have squared off. That's the longest streak among non-division opponents since realignment in 2002. And that's not counting the three postseason rematches over that span. "There have been some great games between the Colts and the Patriots during this past decade, and Tom and I have been the quarterbacks.

Brett Favre expects to start for the Minnesota Vikings against the New England Patriots on Sunday despite two fractures in his left ankle, according to a report by ESPN. The network reported Saturday that Favre said his injuries have healed significantly and that he plans to start, which would extend his record streak of consecutive regular-season starts to 292 games. Favre wore a walking boot the first three days of the week and did not practice until Friday, when he only participated on a limited basis.

Breaking down the Dallas-Minnesota matchup in the NFC divisional playoffs: Who's seeded higher? Brett Favre participated in a conference call with Dallas reporters Wednesday, and his theme was clear: The Cowboys are the most dangerous team in the NFL this postseason. Although it's not uncommon for someone to butter up his opponent, reporters who took part in the call say Favre was very convincing. And he should be; the Cowboys have been scorching. "For the outside looking in, if you had to look at both teams, us and the Cowboys, you'd go, OK, aside from the fact the Cowboys are playing at the Vikings, who is the hottest team right now?

Brett Favre missed his second straight day of practice for the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, but he walked around the team's facility without the oversized boot that had been protecting an injury that is putting his league-record streak of 291 consecutive starts streak in jeopardy. The 41-year-old quarterback limped through the locker room with a heavy wrap on his ankle, which was injured in a loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. Asked if he thought he could play against New England, Favre said, "I wouldn't put anything past me, to be honest with you. " Favre has a stress fracture in the ankle as well as an avulsion fracture in the heel bone, where a fragment has been torn away by a tendon or ligament.

Minnesota's Brett Favre and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers have quite the ground games this season. That is to say, they've found themselves on the ground a lot. Favre has been sacked 13 times, and Rodgers has been sacked nine in the last two games. Whichever quarterback gets better protection could walk away the winner Sunday night when the Packers play host to the Vikings in the latest chapter of a bitter NFC North rivalry. A matchup to watch is Packers Pro Bowl left tackle Chad Clifton against Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, who was so dominant against Green Bay last season that Minnesota Coach Brad Childress called it a "feeding frenzy.