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Favre on the flight out of New Orleans, state of the ankle

There is an interesting interview out in (tomorrow's?) USA Today where Favre gives a more detailed account of what happened as the team flew out of New Orleans,. and an update on where his heart & ankle are at.  Excerpts fter the jump

"I can remember walking off that podium with (wife) Deanna and my family thinking, 'I'm done,' " the Minnesota quarterback tells USA TODAY. "I mean, my heart … it was broken. People can talk about the ankle and my thigh and all that stuff, but those will mend. I just said, 'I can't take this. It's just too hard to digest.' "

Favre changed his mind and decided not to retire immediately on the Vikings' charter flight home after the loss. One after another, Viking players, coaches and personnel walked to Favre's seat and thanked him for his valiant effort.

"I mean, there were tears flyin'," Favre says. "By the time we landed, I am like, 'I don't think I can let these guys down.' I know football is a business, but more than anything I felt like there was unfinished business. All of a sudden, 'Oh, man, as much as I don't want to go through that again, I almost feel as if I owe these guys something. And that is something, I admit, I have not felt in a long time. It has made it so hard to make a rational decision."

Most folks believe Favre merely is trying to avoid training camp; he says that isn't so."That's the strange thing," he says of the yearly Favre watch. "Even I don't know. Every year, I think the decision either will be made for me, making it easier, or I will know. I'm just trying to do that right thing. If it were about money, I would have said 'Yes,' the next day," to his $13 million deal for 2010.

With a high threshold for pain, and a tolerance for his critics, Favre continues to work out in his native Mississippi, testing his ravaged body.  He says the thigh feels "great." The left ankle may be a different story.

"I wake up in the morning, your feet hurt and the rest of you feels like (expletive deleted), you know?" Favre says. "The ankle still feels like it did before surgery. As the day goes by, it loosens up a bit. But I keep telling myself, 'Hey, you're 40. You have had three (ankle) surgeries, so you ought to pretty thankful it's not worse than it is.' "

Favre has started 285 consecutive regular-season games — 309 counting the playoffs. He believes, in some ways, that he is a victim of his success. "Everyone expects me to play (a whole season)," he says. "If you look at other guys (who played the position), it is a bit harder than it seems. Then, to play at that high of a level, well, that's hard to do at 25. Thinking about the upcoming season, that enters my mind. It's like, 'Hey, even you can't live up to those expectations.' "

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