By PFW staff
March 4, 2008

Packers GM Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy held a press conference Tuesday afternoon and looked back at Brett Favre’s career and what drove him to his decision to retire.

McCarthy said Favre called him at 7 p.m. CT Monday to inform him that he would not be back next season.

“(Favre) informed me it was time for him to hang up the cleats, as he referred to it,” McCarthy said. “It was very similar to conversations we’ve had for the last four weeks. He’s mentally tired”

McCarthy said he talked to Favre again at 9:30 p.m. CT and at that point called Thompson to deliver the news.

“I was surprised last night when he told me,” said McCarthy, who has a unique relationship with Favre, having served as his position and head coach. “I was walking into my daughter’s basketball banquet and I had to remove myself from where I was standing because I was taken aback.

“It’s just a combination of the little things day in and day out that kind of wears on him.”

Reports surfaced Tuesday that Favre’s decision was influenced by Green Bay’s decision not to pursue WR Randy Moss, who was a free agent until Monday night, when the Patriots re-signed him to a three-year deal, but McCarthy and Thompson said they had no discussions with Favre this offseason about any personnel.

“It was never brought up in any of my conversations with Brett and I don’t think with Mike either this year,” Thompson said. “He likes this team, he respects this team, he was a very good teammate to some people that were half his age or close to it, and that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Both McCarthy and Thompson seemed stunned by Favre’s decision, but said they did not try to influence it or pressure the sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer to make the call.

“We talked about every possible angle,” McCarthy said. “We talked about the things he had no control over and what we came down to is we need to focus on what he really could control. That was having his heart 100 percent into it. It was mostly positive. We have the relationship where we can openly disagree on things, but it was a very positive conversation, which frankly, I probably misunderstood and thought he was going to come back.”

Although the two men stayed serious for most of the exchange with reporters, one question about whether Favre would become a TV analyst brought a smile to McCarthy’s face.

“I’d be shocked (if he did),” he said. “I’ll just warn you all, if you try to climb the fence he’s going to shoot you. I’m just passing that on to you. I’d be shocked. He’d be great at it, but I don’t think he’s coming out from behind the fence very often.”