The Iron Man of Canton, a Coach’s Son, Southern Miss Legend
As a student at Southern Miss, I was blessed to watch a star in the making who would become the Iron Man of Canton, a Hall of Famer at slinging the pigskin. He was the loving son of a football coach who doled out tough love, a kid from small-town U.S.A. whose right arm was touched by the football Gods and transformed into a flamethrower.
The son of a football coach
A “jack of all trades” on the gridiron for his father Irvin, the head football coach at Hancock North Central High School in Kiln, Mississippi, he was the team’s quarterback. In addition, he played strong safety on defense, kicked field goals and punted on special teams.
That “jack of all trades” was Brett Favre.
Coach Favre ran the Wishbone offense, which is not the best system for developing a young quarterback’s passing skills. Brett made the best of it and played hard for his father and teammates.
As a high school senior, Favre showed off his arm strength and velocity to a recruiter. As a result, he earned the last scholarship from Southern Miss. It was his only scholarship offer, but he made the most of it.
Where the magic of Favre happened
In the second half of the Tulane game in Week 3 of his freshman season, Favre channeled his inner Moses parted the Green Wave with 2 touchdown passes and led the Golden Eagles to a come-from-behind win over Tulane.
Favre displayed gritty toughness and the will to win time and time again. He led Southern Miss to a victory on the road over powerhouse Florida State. Favre made the Golden Eagles must-watch football.
An example of his incredible toughness came in the summer of his senior year in 1990. After a car accident required him to have surgery, Favre hoped he could play his senior season.
Eight weeks later, Favre and the Golden Eagles rolled the Crimson Tide of Alabama for a 27-24 road victory and his legendary status at Southern Miss was cemented.
The Iron man of Canton
Favre was a second-round selection by the Atlanta Falcons in 1991. However, before the 1992 season, Ron Wolf, then the GM of the Green Bay Packers, traded a first-round pick to Atlanta in exchange for Favre.
Favre earned the starting quarterback job in Green Bay and was their undisputed leader for 16 seasons. He led Green Bay to two Super Bowl appearances and won it all in Super Bowl XXXI. Favre passed for 246 yards in that victory and accounted for three touchdowns.
Favre’s NFL career spanned 20 seasons and a league record 297 consecutive starts, Canton’s Iron Man.
As a result, Favre was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, part of the Class of 2016. During his induction speech, Favre acknowledged and thanked many people who helped him during his football career, from high school to Southern Miss to Green Bay and put him on the path to a gold jacket and immortality in Canton.
On Ron Wolf, the GM of the Green Bay Packers, Favre said, “As I like to say, Ron Wolf made it cool to come to Green Bay. So I thank you, Ron, for believing in me, seeing something in me that others didn’t see, probably including myself, and sticking your neck out there for one of the riskiest and craziest trades in NFL history when you decided to trade a first-round pick for me with Atlanta. So I say thank you, Ron. I love you.”
Talking about the impact his father had on his life, Favre said “So a new goal had entered into my mind then and there, and I said to myself: I will make it to the Hall of Fame; that I would make it to the Hall of Fame so I could acknowledge the fact of how important he was.
This is tougher than any 3rd and 15, I can assure you. So I could acknowledge the importance of him and my career and my life, which he was a tremendous part of my life. He taught me toughness. Boy, did he teach me toughness. Trust me, there was no room for crybabies in our house.
He taught me teamwork, and by all means no player was ever more important than the team. I would not be here before you today without my father. There is no doubt whatsoever.”
Favre laid it all on the field for gridiron glory, a football life fulfilled with no regrets.
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