[CBFF] Bears react to Favre's retirement :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bears - Sent Using Google Toolbar

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Bears react to Favre's retirement :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bears

Bears react to Favre's retirement



March 4, 2008
BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs at suntimes.com

Nathan Vasher will always have Brett Favre to thank for him being a
little lighter in the wallet.

 The Interceptor, as coach Lovie Smith called him, was making sure he
lived up to his name at the end of a Pro Bowl season in 1995 when the
Green Bay Packers came to Soldier Field on Christmas. The upstart
Bears needed a victory to clinch the NFC North and snap their rivals'
three-year run atop the division. Vasher put the finishing touches on
a 19-7 victory, returning a pass intended for Donald Driver 45 yards
for a touchdown and then heaving the ball into the seats in the North
end zone.

 ``I got fined two grand right there,'' Vasher said Tuesday morning.
``Green Bay had been beating us so soundly for the past couple years
and we finally started to turn the tide. That was a big game for us
right there. I was just excited.''

 The reaction to the news of Favre's retirement Tuesday was more
sadness than anything from the Bears. While he dominated the rivalry
with a 20-4 record before Smith arrived in 2004, the players loved
preparing to face him and the club turned the corner with the coach's
arrival, posting a 6-2 record vs. Green Bay in the last four years.
Favre retires with a 22-10 record against the Bears. In those 32
games, he completed 664-of-1,076 passes for 7,660 yards and 53
touchdowns.

 ``I was pretty shocked,'' defensive end Alex Brown said. ``I thought
he would come back for at least one more year. He knows his situation
and he's earned the right to walk away whenever he wants. The game of
football will miss him because he is an icon. He's one of the best
ever if not the best ever.

 ``I mean, I'm happy from the standpoint that he's gone and we won't
have to deal with him every year. But he's meant so much to this game.
It's sad to see him leave.''

 A Bears spokesman said he did not know if Smith would make an
announcement today.

 The Bears swept the division champion Packers this past season, and
handed Favre the only shutout of his career to open the 2006 season at
Lambeau Field. But before Smith arrived, Favre owned the series and
many times the contests were not close.

 ``They were all frustrating,'' said former Bears defensive
coordinator Greg Blache, who was an assistant in Green Bay when Favre
began his career. ``As big as the rivalry was, you always wanted to be
able to beat the Packers. There were never any easy ones. He had such
a great passion for the game and he was such a competitor. He overcame
a lot of things in the course of a ballgame to be successful. I think
he's a rare talent, but more importantly his competitive spirit took
him above the rest.''

 Vasher said as a rookie in '04 it didn't take long to learn the
legend about Favre's arm strength and cunning ways.

 ``He would put balls in places where they were just out of reach,''
Vasher said. ``He believed in his arm and he made me better as a
player, just the opportunities to play against him over the years. You
knew what kind of competitor you were going against.

 ``I'm just flabbergasted though. I really did think he was coming
back for one more.''