Favre praises Green Bay, quickly steps offstage

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Brett Favre stuck to the script, declining to address his public rift with the Green Bay Packers in an appearance at Lambeau Field on Saturday.

In town to present former teammate Frank Winters for induction into the Packers' Hall of Fame at a banquet Saturday night, Favre briefly spoke with reporters about his former center's career before abruptly stepping off the stage and ducking out a side door.

But Favre did pause to praise the place where he used to play - and now is trying to play his way out of.

"That's the thing about Green Bay," said Favre, who spoke for about three minutes. "It's a special place. There's a lot of tradition. You think of the Packers, you think of all these great names, and to be a part of that - and I know Frank feels honored - is a special thing. I'm thankful that he asked me to be here."

With that, Favre introduced Winters and walked off the stage.

Winters said he was glad Favre kept his commitment to present him to the Packers' Hall of Fame despite the fact that it might be an awkward situation, given the very public nature of Favre's rift with the team in recent weeks.

"There's a lot of people probably, around the NFL and the United States probably thinking Brett wouldn't show up today," said Winters, who had asked Favre to present him several months ago. "But I knew deep down inside he would, and he told me he would be here, and it's a great honor."

Favre retired in early March, but recently has been having second thoughts about playing in 2008. But the latest, and most intense, episode in several off-seasons' worth of Favre's flip-flopping on his future in football was met with lukewarm enthusiasm by the Packers, who spent the off-season planning to move forward with Aaron Rodgers as their starter.

Despite the public acrimony, Winters said Saturday night's dinner - where Favre was to present Winters and receive a team MVP award from the Hall of Fame for his performance last season - wouldn't be a problem.

"I don't think it's awkward," Winters said. "I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that would like to ask him a lot of questions. But this is a special night for a couple of guys, and we're just going to keep it to that."

Saturday night's inductees included Winters, former defensive tackle Gilbert Brown and former video director Al Treml.

Despite putting himself in a potentially awkward situation, Favre still managed to laugh about the good times he had while playing with Winters - including the first time they met in 1992, when Favre's conditioning was less than ideal.

"I said, 'What do you play?' He said, 'I play center,' " said Favre, who weighed 252 pounds at the time. "He says to me, 'What do you play, linebacker?' And from that point on, we were inseparable."