JOURNAL SPORTS
One of the most prominent quarterbacks to play in the Independence Bowl enters the game’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team roster right outside the top 10, as former Southern Mississippi quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre has been chosen as the No. 11 player in bowl history.
The 50-player roster has been selected and ranked by a local media panel as the Independence Bowl moves toward its 50th anniversary game Dec. 22.
Favre, a sophomore and second-year starter in 1988, helped lead Southern Miss to their second Independence Bowl victory – a 38-18 win over UTEP. He completed 15 of 26 passes for 157 yards, one touchdown and threw two interceptions.
After starting his freshman season as the seventh quarterback on the depth chart, he quickly moved into the starter role, earning the nod in the second half of the third game of the 1987 season. In four seasons as the Golden Eagles’ quarterback, Favre completed 52 percent of his passes for 7,695 yards, 52 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. In his time in Hattiesburg, he led Southern Miss to some of its biggest victories in program history and held many program passing records until Austin Davis broke them between 2008 and 2011. Southern Miss retired his No. 4.
The Atlanta Falcons selected Favre in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft, but he attempted only four passes in his one year with the team. He was traded to the Green Bay Packers prior to the 1992 season – the team on which he would become a legend of the game and one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
Favre did not begin the 1992 season as the Packers’ starter, but he came in to relieve the starter in both the second and third games before becoming the starter in week four. He went 8-5 as a starter that season and threw for 3,227 yards – the first of 18 straight seasons in which he eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark. He made his first of 11 Pro Bowls that season.
The Packers and Favre built on the 1992 season, as he led them to their first playoff berth since 1982 in 1993 and to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since the Vince Lombardi era after making the postseason in 1994. Those seasons would lead to the best three seasons of Favre’s career.
Favre was named NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) three years in a row from 1995 to 1997, the most consecutive times the award has been earned in NFL history. He was also named first-team All-Pro all three years. In those three seasons, the Packers made the Super Bowl twice, in 1996 and 1997. Favre led Green Bay to a Super Bowl XXXI victory over the New England Patriots, culminating the 1996-1997 season. The following season, the Packers returned to the Super Bowl but fell to John Elway and the Denver Broncos. That was Favre’s last Super Bowl appearance despite playing until 2009.
In all, Favre would play 20 years in the NFL – 16 for the Packers, one for the New York Jets and two to finish his career with the Minnesota Vikings. Over those two decades at the pinnacle of Football, in addition to the 11 Pro Bowls, three MVP awards and three first-team All-Pro nods, Favre was the NFL’s passing touchdowns leader four times, the pass yards leader twice, completion percentage leader once, a three-time second-team All-Pro honoree and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1995.
Among Favre’s many records are the most consecutive starts (297) and the most career interceptions thrown (336). He ranks fourth all-time in NFL passing yards (71,838), fifth in passing touchdowns (508) and third in passing attempts (10,169). He was named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and the 1990s All-Decade Team, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, and his No. 4 is retired by the Packers. Favre is one of just five Independence Bowl players to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The next player on the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, No. 10, will be released on Monday, October 5. Players will be unveiled individually every week, with No. 1 being announced on Monday, December 7.
The previously announced players chosen for the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (with position, school and years played in the I-Bowl):
No. 12 – Roy Williams (S, Oklahoma, 1999); No. 13 – Josh Heupel (QB, Oklahoma, 1999); No. 14 – Art Monk (WR, Syracuse, 1979); No. 15 – Von Miller (OLB, Texas A&M, 2009); No. 16 — Wesley Walls (DE/TE, Ole Miss, 1986); No. 17 – Joe Morris (RB, Syracuse, 1979); No. 18 – Ray Childress (DT, Texas A&M, 1981); No. 19 – Sidney Rice (WR, South Carolina, 2005);
No. 20 – Brad Smith (QB, Missouri, 2003 and 2005); No. 21 – Derrick Mason (WR, Michigan State, 1995); No. 22 – Garrison Hearst (RB, Georgia, 1991); No. 23 – Jacob Rodriguez (LB, Texas Tech, 2023); No. 24 – Tim Krumrie (NG, Wisconsin, 1982); No. 25 – Muhsin Muhammad (WR, Michigan State, 1995); No. 26 – Ja’Mar Toombs (RB, Texas A&M, 2000); No. 27 – Otis Wilson (LB, Louisville, 1977); No. 28 – A.J. Green (WR, Georgia, 2009); No. 29 – Rocky Calmus (LB – Oklahoma, 1999); No. 30 – Flozell Adams (OT – Michigan State, 1995);
No. 31 – Willie Blade (DT, Mississippi State, 2000); No. 32 – Scott Thomas (S, Air Force, 1983 & 1984); No. 33 – Chad Hennings (DT, Air Force, 1984); No. 34 — Dameyune Craig (QB, Auburn, 1996); No. 35 – Geno Atkins (DT, Georgia, 2009); No. 36 – Rondell Mealey (RB, LSU, 1997); No. 37 – Rolando McClain (LB, Alabama, 2007); No. 38 – Weldon Brown (CB, Louisiana Tech, 2008); No. 39 – Andre Smith (OT, Alabama, 2006 & 2007; No. 40 – Tiki Barber (RB, Virginia, 1994);
No. 41 – Puka Nacua (WR, BYU, 2021); No. 42 – Gary Kubiak (QB; Texas A&M, 1981); No. 43 — Seneca Wallace (QB, Iowa State, 2001); No. 44 – Todd McClure (C, LSU, 1995 & 1997); No. 45 – Gary Anderson (K, Syracuse, 1979); No. 46 – Booger McFarland (LB, LSU, 1995 & 1997); No. 47 – Tremaine Edmunds (LB – Virginia Tech, 2015); No. 48 – Bill Musgrave (QB – Oregon, 1989); No. 49 – Larry Anderson (DB – Louisiana Tech, 1977); No. 50 – Lorenza Baker (LB – Louisiana Tech, 1990).