NFL

Favre reveals he had hip condition

By wire services
Published August 17, 2005

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Standing next to the man who put his career on the line by bringing him to the Packers, quarterback Brett Favre did not look like someone who needed a hip replacement.

Fourteen years in the league have taken a toll on the three-time MVP, but through it all, Favre's hip has held up pretty well.

Recalling a conversation with former Packers general manager Ron Wolf at practice Tuesday, Favre told reporters that he originally had failed his physical with the Packers after Wolf traded a first-round draft choice to Atlanta for him. According to Favre, Wolf went down and told the medical staff to pass Favre and the rest is history.

"In the East-West Shrine game I hurt my hip, which basically (meant) I had avascular necrosis, the same thing Bo Jackson has," Favre said. "It's a lack of blood supply to a socket. To this day it bothers me from time to time, but before the draft I did MRIs for Atlanta, I did MRIs for Seattle, went through all kind of evaluations at the combine. A lot of teams were apprehensive because of that."

Favre said that when he got to Green Bay following the trade on Feb. 10, 1992, the Packers examined him and predicted that he would suffer from avascular necrosis and would feel the effects of it fairly soon. He said he understood the recommendation from the team doctor was to fail him on the physical.

"The prognosis on avascular necrosis is at some point you're going to have to have a replacement or it's going to have to be treated," Favre said. "I don't have as much flexibility in that socket, but you're kind of rolling the dice. They said I wouldn't play three or four years. Obviously they were wrong and Ron was willing to take that risk."

After practice, Wolf confirmed that the team doctor at the time, Clarence Novotny, recommended failing Favre on his physical based on his exam. But Novotny was not an orthopedist, so Wolf had surgeon Patrick McKenzie, who was one of the team's orthopedic surgeons then and is now the team doctor, examine him.

McKenzie told Wolf that in four or five years Favre could have some problems with his hip, but that there was no immediate danger of it deteriorating. Wolf didn't think twice about passing Favre on the physical and consummating the deal with the Falcons.

"There wasn't any way," Wolf said, of flunking Favre. "I was giving up a first-round draft pick for him. This is the guy I wanted. They said four or five years, I didn't care. It turned out there wasn't anything wrong with him."

McKenzie told Wolf what the risks were.

Wolf said he wasn't about to turn his back on a quarterback he had been following almost two years and had planned to draft in 1991 when he was working with the New York Jets. But Atlanta swung a deal with Arizona and moved in front of the Jets in the second round and took Favre.

The following year, Wolf became the general manager of the Packers and his first order of business was to obtain Favre. The two are forever linked in NFL history.

"Ron's not the most talkative person," Favre said. "You always wonder what he's thinking. But he always had a way of letting me know, telling me things he probably wouldn't tell other people. I've always felt indebted to him for obvious reasons and I saw something in myself that it didn't always seem like other people did. For someone to believe in me and give me a chance, he took a big gamble."

BILLS: Running back Willis McGahee missed his second straight practice with a sore right leg.

COLTS: Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney, who led the NFL with 16 sacks last season, is hoping to be cleared to practice after Saturday's preseason game against Chicago. He had offseason shoulder surgery.

DOLPHINS: Although both Gus Frerotte and A.J. Feeley are still listed together as first teamers on the latest depth chart, coach Nick Saban said that Frerotte was a "little bit ahead" of Feeley and would start Saturday night's preseason game at Pittsburgh.

[Last modified August 17, 2005, 01:10:12]