Favre says he 'owed it to team' to come back

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The lure of playing in another Super Bowl brought Brett Favre back to the NFL - again.

Favre joined his Vikings teammates at practice yesterday. The three-time MVP wore a helmet, shoulder pads and red quarterback jersey as he worked out with Minnesota for the first time since getting battered by New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game in January.

"As we were driving on that last drive it seemed like it was destiny - for us," Favre said. "I was so close, so close to getting these guys to the Super Bowl." Instead, Favre threw an interception in the final minute of regulation. The Vikings never got the ball back in overtime.

"I owe it to this organization to give it one more try," the quarterback said.

But it wasn't like coming back for a 20th season was a simple decision. "I could make a case for both playing, not playing," Favre said. "This is a very good football team. The chances [of going to the Super Bowl] here are much greater than other places. From that standpoint, it was always going to be easier [to return].

"Part of me said it was such a great year, it would be easy to say, 'Hey, can't play any better, why even try?' Then the other part is, 'Guys are playing on a high level. Why don't I go back out?' The expectations are high here, as they should be."

The expectations always are high for Favre, even at 40. He's the NFL's leader in nearly every significant passing category and the winningest regular-season quarterback ever.

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After staying away from training camp, as he's done for much of the past two summers, Favre was practicing less than 24 hours after the team sent Steve Hutchinson, Jared Allen and Ryan Longwell to Mississippi to bring him back.

Favre had left ankle surgery on May 21 and just a few weeks ago texted several teammates and team officials that he would not return because the recovery was slower than he expected.

He's back now. "There is nothing on me that's 100 percent. There wasn't anything that was 100 percent last year or the year before," Favre said. "The surgery made me a little better.

"I have played 309 straight games, I can't complain."

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Coach Brad Childress is glad to have him, even with the aches and pains. "Obviously, Brett was a huge part of what we were able to accomplish last year. That goes without saying. We wanted him back," Childress said. "It wasn't me wanting him back, it was we wanting him back."

Favre's return came on the anniversary of the day he signed a two-year, $25-million contract with the Vikings.

This time around, virtually everyone expected the quarterback who flirts with quitting every summer to return.