GREEN BAY, WIS. — This has to be it for Brett Favre.

He has most of his health. He has his wife and two daughters at home. The Green Bay Packers quarterback has given so much thought to retirement the past two years, the game Monday night at Invesco Field at Mile High almost certainly will be his final appearance in Denver.

He arrives at a time when the accumulation of 17 seasons and 243 consecutive starts has bumped into, or surpassed, nearly every passing record previously set by the NFL's all-time greats. In his past nine games, dating to last season, Favre has broken Dan Marino's career marks for attempts, completions and touchdown passes, John Elway's record for wins, and, yes, George Blanda's dubious hold on interceptions.

Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers
Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers (Getty | Matthew Stockman)

All that's left is total passing yards, and maybe that's what brings Favre back for one more year, so he can strip Marino of that one, too.

Either way, the Packers aren't on the Broncos' schedule through 2009, so unless Favre keeps "milking it," as he put it, into his 40s, this will be his last stop in Denver.

With all those records, it's fair to contemplate: Are Broncos fans about to get a final glimpse of the greatest quarterback who ever lived?

"He's got three MVPs, went to a couple Super Bowls, won a Super Bowl. Now he's setting all kinds of records, so I don't know what more a guy can do to be considered," said Elway, the only Broncos Hall of Famer. "But is he the best of all time? I don't think so."

Hmm. The Duke remains refreshingly candid after all these years. And it has been awhile since Favre's legacy has been discussed in immortal terms. Contemporaries find it hard to argue for a guy as the all-time best when he's not the best of today, not with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady around.

Who, then, is the greatest-ever quarterback?

"There isn't one," Elway said. "It's all what people want from their quarterback. We're all different. Everybody has different opinions and it will always be that way. Brett's a great player. But we're apples and oranges."

Favre picks Montana

Just outside the Packers' locker room, Favre was leaning against a wall, not far from where many of his career highlights are framed and hung. He was wearing sneakers and white socks, shorts and a short-sleeve gray T-shirt over a long-sleeve, white undershirt, a two-day stubble and closely cropped gray hair. The attire is among the beauties of his occupation.

Favre doesn't drink anymore, hasn't for years, he said. But say he's sitting with the buddies around a table at a sports bar when the manly man's favorite conversation topic is posed: The best quarterback of all time. Discuss.

"From my era, what I watched or played against, it would be Joe Montana," Favre said.

A choice worth pondering. From the elite circle of quarterbacks who qualify for the discussion - a group usually limited to Johnny Unitas, Montana, Elway and Favre, and maybe Bart Starr, Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, Steve Young with Manning and Brady peeking in - Favre picked the quarterback least like him.

Montana represented precise execution, accuracy, timing, cool. All wrapped by a perfect understanding of limitations. Favre has always played as if he knew the world was minutes away from spinning off its axis. His arm fired footballs like toy rocket launchers hurl towels.

Quarterback Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers frustrates the Denver Broncos in a 55-10 Super Bowl rout in 1990.
Quarterback Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers frustrates the Denver Broncos in a 55-10 Super Bowl rout in 1990. (Getty | George Rose)
If there was a crack opening between two defenders, 25 yards down the field, he believed he could split them.

Often, he'd split his receiver's shoulder pads at the strings. And then Favre would run and jump and wave and hug and smile from goalpost to goalpost.

"I think if you polled everyone in the league, and players aren't usually fans, but he'd be one of their favorite players," said Broncos safety John Lynch, who during his years with Tampa Bay would play twice a season against Favre's Packers. "He does show joy and a toughness that people just admire."

Sometimes, though, Favre miscalculates and the crease closes. It should be noted he's thrown more touchdown passes (423) than interceptions (279). But, in twisted symbolism, Favre's interception record is perfect in its imperfection.

The beauty of Favre, and the occasional curse, is he never played as if he were afraid to fail.

People can argue till the kegs are drained about the NFL's best quarterback. But can't it be universally agreed that among the elite, Favre was unique?

"I wouldn't argue with that," he said. "That's not tooting my own horn; that's not knocking myself. I've taken more chances. And that's worked for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. That's why it goes back to knowing your ability, knowing your limitations, and maybe thinking a little outside that. There were times maybe I was thinking a little too far outside the box. But I've mostly got away with it."

Bigger than the franchise

There is tradition and there is Packers lore. No organization covets its past more than the Packers, particularly when it comes to the Lombardi era. Impossible as it may be for any one player to become bigger than the Packers, Favre comes close.

Three years ago, the Packers' higher-ups must have got the impression Favre was near the end because they used their first-round draft pick to select quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A year later, the Packers basically had to pass on the bulk of their offseason rebuilding plan because Favre vacillated on retirement until late April.

It can be dangerous when one player becomes this important to a franchise. A coach can be left with the awkward predicament of leading a team through one set of rules for one player, and another set of rules for everybody else.

And while there are instances when Favre is on his own program by necessity - the public demands on him exceed those of everybody else put together - he makes sure the other Packers consider him foremost a teammate.

"There's no issue that way," said Packers kicker Mason Crosby. "This is his team. It's been his team for a long time. He's been around so long that sometimes he does his own thing, but he leads in a way that everybody wants to play well for him."

Even Rodgers, who has yet to start an NFL game, counts Favre as his ally, never mind the early reports the two were foes.

"In that first year, Craig (Noll) was his guy and I was kind of a third wheel," Rodgers said. "After that, our relationship has grown more from teammates to friends. We talk about my situation all the time. He says, 'I know you want to play.' And I say, 'I know you can still play."'

Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, a defensive end in his eighth season with the Packers, was there for what may be Favre's signature moment. On Dec. 21, 2003, Favre's dad Irvin died of a massive heart attack while driving his car. The next day, a "Monday Night Football" audience watched Favre throw for 399 yards and four first-half touchdowns in a lopsided victory against the Raiders.

It was one of the most emotion-tugging feats in sports.

"When he talked to the team about it before the game, he was crying," Gbaja-Biamila said. "Then when I talked to him about it in the back room he was laughing. I knew what he was going through because exactly a year earlier my mom passed away."

The old dog keeps learning

Two years ago, after a disastrous 4-12 season, the Packers brought back Mike McCarthy, a former assistant, to replace Mike Sherman as head coach. From afar, McCarthy seemed a curious choice. He was 42 and his baby face made him look 32.

How was Favre going to buy into him?

But not only did Favre prove coachable, the old dog was willing to relearn the old trick of taking better care of the ball - his six interceptions through six games this season is his best rate in five years.

"I never think I'm so big I can't learn," Favre said. "Mike and I, we do have something going. He may be the first to admit we have a long ways to go. But I know he feels comfortable with my understanding of where we are as a team and what I'm able to do versus what I shouldn't do."

Said McCarthy, with a smile: "We go at it. But we do have a very good coach-quarterback relationship. That's one thing about the Packers: All their great players are great guys. Those great players from the Lombardi years, Bart Starr and those guys, they're all humble, genuinely good guys. Brett's the same way. I think the Packers do a good job of finding top players who also have great character."

It has all worked out. Favre remains. Rodgers is the backup. Favre is setting records and the Packers are 5-1, even though they have a terrible running game.

Which brings up another point in the case for Favre as an all-time great: Has anybody done more with less? Besides, maybe, Elway in the 1980s.

Top quarterbacks

NFL reporter Mike Klis offers analysis on his top 10 quarterbacks of all time:

1. Joe Montana (1979-1994)

In his four Super Bowl triumphs, Montana outplayed Kenny Anderson, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason and John Elway. The knock was while Montana was perfect for the West Coast system of timed routes and shorter passes, he did not have the arm strength to go downfield and therefore needed a talented receiver like Jerry Rice. Maybe, but his pinpoint passing under pressure was unparalleled.

2. John Elway (1983-98)

The "SportsCenter" highlight was made for Elway. Before his helicopter run in Super Bowl XXXII, Elway's signature play was scrambling away from pressure to his left, then gunning the ball 60 yards to the right and into the arms of an open receiver. Mike Shanahan refined his talent and helped him win Super Bowls in his final two seasons.

3. Brett Favre (1991-present)

His arm strength brought him within an mph or two of Elway's fastball. One of the first quarterbacks who wasn't afraid to play with emotion. His enormous skills were tamed early by the West Coast offense designed by coach Mike Holmgren. Favre hasn't reached the NFC championship since Holmgren left, but he's gone on to reach nearly every significant passing record and he's the winningest QB in NFL history.

4. Peyton Manning (1998-present)

No QB in history controls the game at the line of scrimmage like Manning, which is why he's ranked this high even though he's not halfway through his 10th season. He already has 13 more TD passes than Montana and with health he'll break all of Favre's records. Winning the Super Bowl last season stamped his legacy. One more world title and records in TD passes and yards will lift him to distinction of all-time best.

5. Johnny Unitas (1956-73)

Comparing modern-era quarterbacks to those prior to the West Coast craze is like comparing prime rib with twice-baked potatoes - both are good, but in different ways. Unitas was a vertical thrower, the best pure passer the game had seen until the AFL opened up the game for the likes of Joe Namath. In the 1958 NFL championship game, considered by many the greatest game ever played, Unitas had long drives to tie in regulation and win in overtime.

6. Bart Starr (1956-71)

What's bothersome about NFL historians is they tend to discount anything prior to the Super Bowl era. Starr was the quarterback of the greatest dynasty ever in the 1960s Packers, who won five world championships in seven years from 1961-67, including Super Bowls I and II. His career completion percentage of .574 made him the Montana of his era.

7. Otto Graham (1946-55)

If winning is everything, Graham would start this list and no one would be second. He played 10 years and reached his era's equivalent to the Super Bowl all 10 years, winning it all seven times. He was 4-0 in the All-American Football Conference from 1946-49 and 3-3 in NFL championship games from 1950-55. His refigured 86.6 passer rating was unheard of efficiency for his era.

8. Terry Bradshaw (1970-83)

For years, I made the claim Warren Moon threw the best "ball" in football history. Sean Salisbury agreed with me. Then another ESPN analyst, John Clayton, said it wasn't even close: No one threw a better ball than Bradshaw. Upon reconsideration, Clayton is right. Bradshaw is rarely considered among the top five or six QBs because he played on a team stacked with eight other Hall of Famers, including his center, running back and both receivers. The best player on that great Steelers dynasty of the 1970s, though, was the superb passing Bradshaw.

9. Dan Marino (1983-99)

Perhaps no quarterback ever matched Marino's combination of arm strength and accuracy. He completed the 20-yard slant the way most QBs threw 10-yard hooks. So why is Marino not ranked higher? No world titles and just one Super Bowl appearance. Elway had no better supporting cast and he got the Broncos to the Super Bowl three times before Shanahan, Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe came along.

10. Joe Namath (1965-76)

OK, style points weighed heavily here. But you had to be there in the 1960s to appreciate Broadway Joe. No NFL/AFL player ever had greater star power - not Manning, not Brady, not Jim Brown, not Walter Payton. His four-year stretch from 1966-69 was an exhilarating passing exhibition not previously seen in professional football.

Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or

This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally it stated an incorrect year for the ending of Joe Montana's career, which ended 1994.