Brett Favre on Big Ten deciding to play: 'Football needed to be back' as a welcome 'distraction'
Packers legend looking forward to fall sports.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre praised the Big Ten conference for deciding to go forward with their 2020 season, despite concerns across the sports world about the coronavirus pandemic.
Favre told "The Story" on Thursday that football is a welcome respite from the negative events going on around the country.
"Football needed to be back," the longtime former Green Bay Packer said. "It’s exciting -- and I’m excited to see other conferences playing as well... We need something to take our minds off of everything else that is happened in the last six months."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Just weeks after announcing the postponement of all fall semester sports, the Big Ten Conference and its Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously Tuesday to resume the football season beginning on Oct. 23.
President Trump also said Thursday he was “proud” the Big Ten voted to start its season.
With the exception of his year with the New York Jets, Favre played for teams based in the Midwest, which is also home to the Big Ten.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said that in that region especially, fall football means so much in the way of tradition and community camaraderie.
"It means a great deal. I had the honor of playing for the Packers for 16 years and played for the [Minnesota] Vikings for two," he said. "Green Bay and Wisconsin, in general, is blue-collar and hardworking, just good people who love their football -- whether it’s the Packers or the Badgers, and it was a wonderful place to play football and live."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Favre remarked that, growing up in the hot and humid climate of Kiln, Miss., it was especially enjoyable to play in the crisp fall weather of the Great Lakes region.
He added that, as an athlete who once suffered from painkiller addiction, he is also excited for the advent of CBD-based medications that are not addictive, for athletes dealing with injuries or chronic pain.
Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.