Brett Favre Beer Will Be A Thing

Brett Favre beer?

It’s really kind of a no-brainer, isn’t it? When one thinks of Wisconsin, the first few things that will come to most people’s minds are the Green Bay Packers and, well, beer. So, putting Brett Favre, arguably one of the best players that Green and Gold have ever sent out onto the frozen tundra, together with Wisconsin’s favorite beverage seems natural.

Badger State Brewery, a brewery located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, says that they are brewing a commemorative beer that will honor Brett Favre and his place in Green Bay Packer lore just in time for the former quarterback’s return to Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving Day. The beer brewed in Favre’s honor will be called “4ward Pass,” a play on Brett’s number when he wore the Green and Gold.

However, if you want to get your hands on the Brett Favre beer, you’ll have to move fast. According to the Badger State Brewery, 4ward Pass will only be available on draught at the Badger State Brewery’s Tap Room in Green Bay starting Wednesday, November 18 at 1:00 p.m. The Brett Favre beer will also be available in six-packs at craft beer retail outlets wherever Badger State brews are sold, but again, only for the week before Thanksgiving.

If you are a fan of the NFL, you might have heard (unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade) that Brett Favre and Green Bay Packer fans had a bit of a falling out towards the end of the quarterback’s career.

The Atlanta Falcons acquired Favre in the 1991 draft. Only a year later, in 1992, the Falcons traded Brett to the Green Bay Packers for the 19th pick in the 1992 NFL draft, (a move the Falcons clearly later regretted.) Favre’s first opportunity as the Packers’ starting quarterback came in the fourth game of the 1992 season when then-current starter, Don Majkowski, went down with an injury. Brett would continue to start every game for the Green Bay Packers for the next 15 years, through 2007.

While Brett played in Green Bay he did some pretty amazing things. Favre won the AP Most Valuable Player award in three consecutive seasons (from 1995 to 1997), led the Packers to eight division championships, five NFC championship games, and two Super Bowls — one of which the Packers won. Over his career, Brett holds numerous records in the National Football League including most career passing yards, most career pass completions, most consecutive starts as a player, and most career wins as a starting quarterback.

It’s no wonder that Brett Favre was a Wisconsin favorite.

Of course, that was all before 2008.

It was on March 4th, 2008 that Brett Favre announced his retirement from the NFL. That, alone, wouldn’t have caused any ill will between Number 4 and fans of the Green and Gold. Brett had given fans a mountain of feats to be proud of during his career, and the time had come to pass the torch onto a spunky, young kid from California: Aaron Rodgers.

However, was retirement what Brett really had in mind? Apparently not.

On July 2nd, 2008, Favre reportedly sent a letter to the Packers telling them that he had rethought retirement, and wanted to come back. The Packers, who had been grooming Rodgers through the several other times that Favre had threatened retirement, balked. On July 11th, Brett sent another letter to the Packers administration asking for an “unconditional release” to play for another team in the NFL. Ted Thompson, the Packers GM, said “no.”

Brett flew to Green Bay for a meeting with Thompson and other Packer brass. At that meeting, it was decided that Brett Favre and the Green and Gold would finally part ways. On August 7th, 2008, the Packers traded Brett to the New York Jets for a 2009 draft pick.

Favre playing for the Jets was bad enough, but what he did the following year had many a Packer fan denouncing Number 4 as a “traitor.”

Brett signed with Packers’ arch rivals, the Minnesota Vikings, on August 18, 2009. Favre led the Vikings to the 2009 NFC Championship game, where they lost against to the New Orleans Saints. Favre was plagued with shoulder and concussion issues during the 2010 season with the Vikings, when he finally called it quits with the NFL on January 17, 2011.

That move to Minnesota angered fans across Wisconsin. To think that one of their own could actually make a move across the Mississippi was something that could only be worse if he had gotten in bed with the Chicago Bears.

But time heals all wounds, it seems. Favre is scheduled to finally return to Titletown U.S.A. on Thanksgiving Day, 2015, where his jersey will be officially retired, his name will be unveiled on Lambeau’s Ring of Honor, and he’ll be inducted into the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame.

Oh, and he’ll have a beer brewed in his honor, which, in Wisconsin, might be the biggest honor of all.

The brewery describes”4ward Pass” as an India Pale Ale brewed with Cajun spices.

[Photo via Badger State Brewing Facebook page]