Report: Brett Favre Used Green Bay Packers' Phone to Call Minnesota Vikings' Coaches

Last week the Packers charged the Vikings with tampering, alleging that the Vikings violated league rules by talking to Brett Favre about a potential comeback in Minnesota.

That raised an obvious question: How would the Packers know that Favre and the Vikings had talked?

The answer appears to be that Favre called the Vikings' coaches on a Packer-issued cell phone that he continued to use even after he retired.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote last week that a team-issued cell phone provided the Packers' evidence of Favre's calls, and today Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune passes along a report that first appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

when the team checked the phone records it found "repeated calls to coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell."
The possibility of Favre having used a phone issued by the Packers had been speculated on last week after the Associated Press reported that Green Bay informed the NFL it felt "an investigation of the phone records would show more than 'normal contact' between the Vikings and Favre, even before he formally asked for his release to play for another team."

I've always thought of Favre as one of the NFL's more intelligent players. If he really used a Packers phone to inquire about playing for the Vikings, I may need to reconsider that assessment.

Legends in Strange Uniforms

For Packers fans, the thought of Brett Favre in another uniform must be excruciating. For the rest of us, it's just plain odd. But he wouldn't be the first icon to don a strange-looking uniform late in his career.

Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images

Joe Namath and the glitz of Hollywood! It seemed like a perfect match. Unfortunately for the Rams, Joe's knees were shot when he moved to La-La Land in 1977. Namath only played in four games before calling it a career.

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Being a part-owner of the Wizards wasn't enough for Michael Jordan. When his competitive juices would not stop flowing, he suited up with Washington and played two good, but far from great, seasons.

Jesse D. Garrabrant, NBAE / Getty Images

After a long stint with the Giants in San Francisco, Willie Mays came back to New York in 1972. But this wasn't what any fan wanted. He produced little for the Mets and left many thinking he had stayed around too long.

After retiring from the Red Wings, Gordie Howe returned to the ice for seven more seasons, the last three with the Hartford Whalers. He was 52 when he finally hung up his skates.

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Babe Ruth is synonymous with the Yankees. Even their stadium is called "The House That Ruth Built." So it still comes as a shock to see the Bambino donning a Boston Braves uni in 1935 as his career ended with a whimper.

Not every team switch by an icon has a sad ending. Joe Montana enjoyed two productive seasons with the Chiefs after leaving the 49ers and almost took K.C. to the Super Bowl in 1993.

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