“I think each year it’s lessened a little bit,” Murphy said as the bus prepared to pull out of the Lambeau Field parking lot Tuesday morning. “My first year was 2008, so we actually thought we might see Brett along the tour.”
Murphy has repeatedly said that reconnecting the estranged Favre with the organization he’d come to embody during his 16-year run as the team’s starting quarterback is a priority to the franchise. Murphy reiterated that position at the NFL Meetings in Arizona in March, saying of a Favre jersey retirement ceremony, “I don’t know the timing of it. Certainly I don’t want to put a deadline on it, but it’s going to happen.”
On last year’s Tailgate Tour, Murphy said during a stop that the team hoped to retire Favre’s jersey in the next year or two, adding that the team wants to do it “when it’s meaningful to Brett.”
If and when that happens, Murphy is hoping Favre will eventually board the Tailgate Tour bus with him.
“I envision someday he’ll be on this with us,” Murphy said Tuesday morning.
Favre, of course, announced his retirement in March 2008, informed the Packers of his decision to unretire in July 2008 and, after one of the ugliest splits between a franchise and a star player in league history, was traded by general manager Ted Thompson to the New York Jets in August 2008. Favre then retired from the Jets following the 2008 season, only to unretired again and go on to play two seasons with the rival Minnesota Vikings in 2009 and 2010. He shared the stage with his successor, Aaron Rodgers, at the NFL Honors event in February before Super Bowl XLVII.
Asked if Favre’s close friend and center Frank Winters, who is on the Tailgate Tour with Murphy, might be an ally who could help him convince Favre, Murphy chuckled and replied, “That’s part of it.”
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