Favre's exit: Why pack it in now?

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2008 | by Larry Weisman

Gone. Just like that.

None of the past equivocation, the lingering questions, the suspense.

Gone.

With his all-but-certain Hall of Fame career on a late upswing and the Green Bay Packers resurgent, 38-year-old Brett Favre chose this moment to announce a retirement hinted at repeatedly over past years and seemingly more likely then than now.

The only explanation the record-setting quarterback offered Tuesday came in a voice mail message to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, essentially saying he was mentally "tired" of the grind after 17 pro seasons. Attempts by USA TODAY to reach Favre and his wife, Deanna, were not successful.

Maybe there's more to it than a battered body and the fatigue of so many seasons. But just as Favre and the...