CANTON, Ohio -- Brett Favre summed up his journey to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in one part of his 36-plus minute induction speech:
"Who would have ever thought that a young man from Kiln, Mississippi, whose father ran the wishbone [offense] would hold every passing record in NFL history at one time?" Favre said. "Pretty doggone amazing if you ask me."
Most of those passing records will eventually fall, if they haven't already. Peyton Manning broke Favre's touchdown and passing yardage marks, and Favre surely hopes someone breaks his interception record.
But among those who played with Favre, there's one record that stands out -- and might never be eclipsed.
"Look at the record he set: 200-plus [consecutive] games [started]," former Green Bay Packers guard Marco Rivera said at Favre's induction.
Actually, it's closer to 300, Marco; 297 to be exact.
Counting playoffs, it's 321.
"Never took a game off," Rivera marveled. "At the quarterback position. We're talking about a time when quarterbacks were drilled into the ground, when quarterbacks were not protected like they are today. He was there. He wanted to be there for his teammates and that set the standard."
Favre broke former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jim Marshall's record of 270.
Peyton Manning's streak of 208 straight regular-season starts ended in 2011, following his neck injury. Eli Manning is the active leader in consecutive starts at 183. Now 35, he would need to play until he's 43 without missing a start to reach Favre's record. Philip Rivers and D'Brickashaw Ferguson are next at 160 straight starts, but Ferguson's streak will end officially in Week 1 because retired during the offseason.
"The rules won't dictate it; that's what makes that consecutive games streak so impressive," former Packers tight end Mark Chmura said. "This wasn't an O-lineman or a tight end or defensive back. This was a quarterback, and the most dangerous guy on the field is the guy that has the ball, and he had the ball 90 percent of the time. And that record will never be broken."
Favre's first NFL coach, Jerry Glanville in Atlanta, noticed Favre's toughness right away. Glanville, in a story about what it was like to coach Favre, said the quarterback had "a physical toughness that you cannot teach" and noted that when he talked about Favre with Jimmy Johnson, the former Cowboys coach said, "You just described an offensive guard, not a quarterback."
"I remember back at St. Norbert College [where the Packers hold training camp], [former center] Frank [Winters] asked him what position he played, and he said quarterback and we started laughing," Chmura said. "We thought he played linebacker because he was about 245 pounds. But he played quarterback like a linebacker and that's why not only his teammates, but people around the league respected him so much."
