Profile: Brett Favre

Brett Lorenzo Favre is well regarded as a legend in the football world, with an outstanding legacy of accomplishments and accolades. He is currently a Minnesota Vikings quarterback. Favre has also played for the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons. In recent months, he has made headlines for all the wrong reasons, due to a text messaging scandal involving a colleague.

Favre was born on October 10, 1969 in Gulfport, Mississippi. He grew up in Kiln (pronounced "Kill"), Mississippi.

In July 1996, Favre married his girlfriend of 12 years, Deanna Tynes. The couple has two daughters: Brittany and Breleigh.

Sports were always a part of Favre’s life – and he excelled at them. When he was in high school, he earned five letters in baseball (leading the team in batting all five seasons) and three in football. His late father, Irvin, was his coach. He also played quarterback and strong safety, and served as punter and placekicker. Favre played in Mississippi’s high school all-star game following his senior season.

In April 1993, a few years after he graduated, his Hancock North Central High School jersey (#10) was retired. In May 2004, Favre’s school took the honours one step further – renaming its field "Brett Favre Field." School officials even unveiled a life-sized statue of Favre at the entrance to the stadium.

In September 1993, another one of his jerseys was retired – the #4 jersey that he had worn at Southern Mississippi. Later, in April 1997, Favre was inducted into the Southern Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was named to the Southern Mississippi Football Team of the Century.

Favre is a former golfer. He carried a handicap in the "one to two" range – down from the 15 he carried in 1998. In 2005, he slashed his hours on the course to spend more time with his family. Despite this, he participated in the pro-am at the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral as part of a promotion with Phil Mickelson and Toby Keith.

Growing up, Favre’s brothers also had the athletic bug. His older brother, Scott, played quarterback for Mississippi State. Favre’s younger brother, Jeff, was a free safety on Southern Mississippi football team.

Favre’s sister, Brandi, also made a name for herself, winning the title of "Miss Teen Mississippi."

In 1996, Favre gave back to his community, launching "The Brett Favre Fourward Foundation." Its goal was to help disadvantaged or disabled children in Mississippi and Wisconsin. Through his annual golf tournament, celebrity softball game and fundraising dinners, he was able to raise more than $3 million.

In 2005, the charity also helped victims of Hurricane Katrina, raising about $1 million.

That same year, his wife created "The Deanna Favre Hope Foundation" for uninsured and underinsured breast cancer patients. Deanna herself is a survivor of breast cancer, undergoing successful treatment in 2004. Over the years, both Favre and his wife have helped out many causes, holding numerous fundraisers to great success.

Favre’s charitable work did not go unrecognized. In July 2000, he was named as one of 100 "Good Guys" in sports by The Sporting News.

In 1997, the football star published his authorized autobiography, "Favre For The Record," selling over 100,000 copies. An updated version of the book, which included a chapter on the 1997 season and Super Bowl XXXII, came out in paperback in September 1998.

The publishing didn’t end there. In 1999, he and his family unveiled the Favre Family Cookbook: Three Generations of Cajun and Creole Cooking from the Gulf Coast. The recipes were "the best of Mississippi-style seafood" with award-winning recipes from the Brett Favre Steakhouse, recipes from the entire family. It also included family anecdotes and photos.

In 2004, Favre and his mother, Bonita, published "FAVRE," an updated biography co-published by the National Football League and Rugged Land. The book has sold nearly 270,000 copies and spent three months on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best-Seller List, peaking at #5.

Companies have found Favre to possess huge marketing appeal. The athlete has appeared in ads for numerous companies, including DirecTV, Edge Shave Gel, Ford, Hershey’s, Kohl’s, Koss, MasterCard (with his wife Deanna), Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nike Golf, Pepsi, Rayovac, Right Guard, Sensodyne Toothpaste, Sprint, Visa, and Yahama. And together with Hallmark, he helped market the Brett Favre Christmas tree ornament in 1999.

There was even a candy bar, the "Brett Favre MVP Bar." More than two million were sold through fundraising in its first year (1997-98), the most ever sold by the Morley Candy Company.

Favre has even made cameos in television shows and movies. One notable appearance was near the end of "There’s Something About Mary," as the boyfriend of Mary (Cameron Diaz’s character) in 1998.

The football star is indeed a busy man. He also enjoys hunting, TV nature programs, crossword puzzles, fishing and working on the house and the 460 acres of lands he owns in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

In March 2008, Favre announced his retirement from the NFL. Just a few months later, he revealed to Fox’s Greta Van Susteren that he was "guilty of retiring early," that he was "never fully committed" to retirement, and felt pressured by the Green Bay Packers. He came out of retirement and started playing for the New York Jets in August 2008.

An MRI performed in late December 2008 revealed Favre had a torn biceps tendon in his right shoulder. On February 11, 2009, Favre once again entered retirement.

In May 2009, arthroscopic surgery completed a tear in Favre’s proximal biceps tendon, fueling speculation Favre would, again, return to the NFL. And he did just that. The football star signed with the Minnesota Vikings in August 2009.

Favre was named to his 11th Pro Bowl on December 29, 2009.

Exactly one year later, on December 29, 2010, the NFL hit the quarterback with a $50,000 fine for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into allegations he sent sexually-charged text messages, voicemails, and photos of his genitals to Jenn Sterger. She was a New York Jets game-day hostess when he played with the club in 2008.

"On the basis of the evidence currently available to him, Commissioner (Roger) Goodell could not conclude that Favre violated league policies relating to workplace conduct," the NFL said in a statement. "However, Commissioner Goodell also determined that Favre was not candid in several respects during the investigation, resulting in a longer review and additional negative public attention."

The NFL said forensic analysis could not establish Favre sent the inappropriate pictures.

The league also reviewed reports he pursued two massage therapists who worked at the Jets’ facility in 2008, but said that claim could not be substantiated because people with "potentially relevant information" declined to be interviewed or cooperate with investigators.

On January 2, 2011, Favre reiterated his intentions to retire. He insisted that his third round of retirement will be permanent. Favre ended the 2010-11 season with a concussion.

The next day, two massage therapists slapped the veteran quarterback, the New York Jets and a Jets massage co-ordinator with a lawsuit. Christina Scavo and Shannon O’Toole claimed they lost their jobs with the team after they complained about sexually suggestive text messages that Favre allegedly sent.

While the women don’t say they received any messages directly from Favre, they accuse him of referring to Scavo in a message proposing a meeting with her and a third, unidentified massage therapist. "Kinda lonely tonight," he allegedly added in a subsequent message to the third massage therapist. "I guess I have bad intentions."

With files from Reuters and the Canadian Press