Brett Favre

If the Green Bay Packers were a technology stock, they'd be taking off the way so many companies have after going public.When the Packers signed wide receiver Antonio Freeman to a seven-year $42 million deal, they put the last piece of the puzzle together for what should be as good a run as a team can have in the free-agency era.Of their 10 best players, only one of them, linebacker Brian Williams, is signed for fewer than four years. He's signed for the next three. Of their 80-man roster, only 10 players will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the year.

1. Stop Terrell Davis. Even more than quarterback JohnElway, the Pro Bowl back is the Denver offense's biggest threat as a runner and a receiver.2. Pound Denver's defensive line. The Broncos are light up front, and the running game should open up play-action passes for Brett Favre.3. Don't get overconfident. Green Bay is heavily favored and should beat Denver, but the Broncos are better than the usual annual AFC patsy.Pub Date: 1/25/98

When Brett Favre was about 8 years old, he and his brother started feeding cookies to three alligators living in a river that surrounded his home on three sides in Kiln, Miss.The alligators liked the cookies so much that they'd climb out of the river and go to Favre's house to get the cookies when Favre came home from school.This went on for several weeks until his father, a high school football coach, came home one day to find his sons trying to turn the alligators into pets. His father stopped that by shooting the alligators.

SAN DIEGO -- No practical joke is too low, no goal too high for the Big Cheese of the Green Bay Packers. With Brett Favre, every day is the Mardi Gras, even when he's not in New Orleans."

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Antonio Freeman was drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers in 1995, the Baltimore native wasn't exactly thinking about making back-to-back trips to the Super Bowl."

Auto racingHall of Fame: Voted in driver Rick Mears, four-time winner of Indianapolis 500; driver Jack Brabham, three-time Formula One champion; and mechanic Takeo "Chickie" Hirashima.BaseballBraves: Agreed to one-year contracts with P Kerry Ligtenberg, P Micah Bowie and IF Wes Helms.Giants: Signed P John Johnstone and P Troy Brohawn (Cambridge/South Dorchester). Traded IF-OF David McCarty to Mariners for OF Jalal Leach and OF Scott Smith.Indians: Designated P Maximo DeLaRosa for assignment.

For the first time in goodness knows how long, Super Bowl viewers got a game worth watching from start to finish. But in its final NFL telecast for the foreseeable future, NBC didn't give them a telecast to remember.The Peacock network turned in a serviceable effort that would have been fine for Week 2 or 3 of the season. Alas, this was not only the end of the season, but also the end of the road for NBC, which lost the rights to the AFC two weeks ago for the next five or eight years.It demanded a broadcast to be savored.

Packers' Sprint PassThe formation: Split backfield, pro left, because tight end Mark Chmura (89) is lined up on the left side.The action: On the snap of the ball, the offensive linemen and Chmura lock into their pass-protection sets. Wide receiver Robert Brooks (87), split wide right, runs a 10-yard comeback rout while Antonio Freeman (86), who is slot right, runs a short out pattern to the spot where Brooks has vacated, and halfback Dorsey Levens (25) runs a trailer route off Freeman. Quarterback Brett Favre (4)

The formation: Split, pro set.The action: At the snap, the linemen lock into their pass-protection sets. Wide receiver Antonio Freeman (86), split wide left, runs a hitch-and-go route. Wide receiver Robert Brooks (87), split right, runs a 12-yard-and-in route, and tight end Mark Chmura (89) runs a straight fly. Fullback William Henderson (33) appears to run a flare and then angles across the middle, while running back Travis Jervey (32) pass blocks on the left side. Quarterback Brett Favre (4)

Figuring out Brett Favre is no easy task. Even for him."I don't think anybody knows anything about me, including myself," the Green Bay Packers' three-time MVP quarterback said. "There's no telling what I'll do."On the subject of what insight San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci might have into the Favre phenomenon for today's NFC championship game, the quarterback was understandably coy last week.Mariucci and Favre were the best of friends when they worked together from 1992 to 1995 in Green Bay. Mariucci was the quarterback coach under Mike Holmgren, Favre the rough-edged prodigy.

Since Buddy Green became Navy's defensive coordinator in 2002, the Midshipmen have faced six quarterbacks who went on to become first-round NFL draft picks, including current NFL starters Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco. But when Green is asked about Notre Dame junior Jimmy Clausen, the veteran coach thinks back to 1990, and a quarterback from Southern Mississippi. He sees Brett Favre. Clausen "reminds me of the way Favre was playing when he was a senior," said Green, who was an assistant at North Carolina State when the Wolfpack beat Favre's Golden Eagles in the All-American Bowl.

MINNEAPOLIS - - The chemistry between Brett Favre and Sidney Rice appears to be coming along quite nicely, considering that it produced two of the biggest plays in Sunday's 33-31 victory over the Ravens at the Metrodome. The 63-yard reception that set up Ryan Longwell's third-quarter field goal came on a play that Favre changed from run to pass. And the 58-yarder that led to Longwell's game-winner late in the fourth quarter came on a play in which Rice changed his route while trusting that Favre would understand why, which, of course, he did. On the 58-yarder, Rice was supposed to run a 12- to 15-yard comeback route.

Kevin Cowherd Vikings 30,: Ravens 17 : The Vikings' D and Brett Favre's latest comeback mojo are too much for the Ravens. Jamison Hensley Ravens 27,: Vikings 24 : After losing two straight and knowing their bye is next week, the Ravens will be the team playing with a stronger sense of urgency. Edward Lee Vikings 20,: Ravens 14 : If Cedric Benson can rush for 120 yards, imagine what Adrian Peterson can do. Ken Murray Ravens 20,: Vikings 19 : The Ravens will step up big-time this week, or face the prospect of a long, disappointing season.

Brett Favre is no stranger to the Ravens, even if he has faced them just three times in an illustrious 19-year NFL career. He has been sensational: On Oct. 14, 2001, playing out of the spread offense, Favre throttled the NFL's No. 1 pass defense for 337 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-23 win for the Green Bay Packers. He has been awful: On Dec. 19, 2005, playing against a Ravens defense that didn't have Ray Lewis, he completed 14 of 29 passes, threw two interceptions and lost to a team quarterbacked by Kyle Boller, 48-3.

Cowboys@Vikings 8 p.m. [NFL Network] Neither Tony Romo nor Brett Favre (left, with cup) is expected to play on the final night of NFL preseason games. Maybe we'll see Roger Staubach and Fran Tarkenton instead.

Brett Favre's last-second comebacks used to be the stuff of legend. Now, they're punch lines. The 39-year-old quarterback returned to the NFL yet again Tuesday, signing a one-year deal with Minnesota that in the minds of many instantly elevates the Vikings to Super Bowl contenders. His decision came three weeks after he ended talk of a comeback with Minnesota on the eve of training camp, saying he would stay retired. This is Favre's second unretirement in 17 months, the first coming in a failed experiment with the New York Jets last season.

Matt Kenseth, the first NASCAR Sprint Cup driver in 11 years to win the opening two races of the season, was in Towson yesterday for a sponsor appearance at DeWalt Industrial Tool Co. Instead of writing a mundane article about the Daytona 500 winner from Wisconsin, we posed him a series of questions he might never have been asked before --- and likely won't again. Who is bigger in Wisconsin, you or Brett Favre? I'd have to say Brett Favre - although since he left and went to the [New York]

This is a no-brainer. It also will sound like blasphemy. Given the choice of facing Chad Pennington, Matt Cassel or Brett Favre, I'll take the NFL's all-time leading touchdown passer - and the New York Jets - for so many reasons. First of all, the Ravens' defense would feast on Favre. He's a long-ball passer in a short-ball pass offense. The Jets really haven't figured out how to best use their aging icon. And Favre has given them few clues. In the past four games - three of them losses, by the way - Favre has thrown six interceptions and one touchdown pass.

Monday Night Football 8:30 p.m. [ESPN, Ch. 20] The game should be fine - Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins - but it's the halftime spectacle to look forward to. On the eve of the election, presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama (right) will appear in taped interviews with Chris Berman. What kind of wacky nicknames will he give them? Will he ask them where they stand on the Brett Favre/Green Bay Packers split? Just think of all those undecideds who could tip one way or the other based on how the candidates react to Berman's grilling.

Cowboys@Packers 8:15 p.m. [chs. 11, 4] If Aaron Rodgers (right) can lead Green Bay over Dallas, Packers fans might be ready to believe team management knew what it was doing when it let that other quarterback leave. The question is: Will NBC's John Madden be able to handle a Packers game without Brett Favre?