Brett Favre’s Instagram Hacked, Says Falsely That He’s Unretiring At Age 49
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre was known, towards the end of his career, for retiring and unretiring on multiple occasions, and references to that tendency were a big part of sports discourse between 2008 and 2010.
Favre retired for good after playing the 2009 season with the Minnesota Vikings, and the joke went away over time. But it came back in a big way on Tuesday, when the quarterback’s Instagram account was hacked and claimed that Favre was announcing a football comeback.
“A true champion sticks to his or her calling. I will be coming out of retirement and making my return to play in the NFL for the 2020 season,” the bogus post stated, per SKOR North. It was accompanied by a picture of Favre from Super Bowl XXI.
The post was quickly deleted, and Favre told TMZ that his account was hacked and that his team was looking to determine who was responsible.
Favre, who hasn’t suited up for nearly a decade, will turn 50 this October.
The quarterback’s retirement saga captivated the NFL in the final years of his career. After more than a decade with the Green Bay Packers, including a couple of years musing about his career plans, Favre announced in early 2008 that he was retiring from football, and the Packers announced plans to retire Favre’s jersey and turn the quarterback position over to Aaron Rodgers.
However, later that summer, Favre began to have second thoughts, and because he was still under contract, he showed up to the Packers’ training camp. During that year’s preseason, Favre was traded to the New York Jets, and playing the 2008 season with the AFC team.
Brett Favre Announces He’s Returning To the NFL In 2020; Twitter Isn’t So Sure (IG Post-Tweets) https://t.co/m3UomvNNY4 via @ctsportsradio pic.twitter.com/fGoznsuPNR
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) June 18, 2019
Favre retired again in February of 2009, but soon after, Favre began making noises about returning to play the 2009 season with the Minnesota Vikings. After multiple stops and starts, Favre announced during the preseason that he would indeed sign with the Vikings, who he led to the NFC championship game.
The quarterback spent the ensuing offseason indecisive about retirement before announcing in August that he was retiring. He changed his mind shortly before the start of the season after three Vikings flew to his Mississippi ranch, and Favre played the 2010 season with the Vikings. Favre had a season that was injury-plagued and ineffective and played his final career game on December 20, 2010.
Ironically, a 2010 Super Bowl commercial for Hyundai, featured a 50-year-old Favre, in the year 2020, still indecisive about whether to retire from football.
