Having nothing to prove, Favre plays it his way against Packers

As a Packer, Brett Favre always felt sympathy for opposing teams required to take the half-hour bus ride from Appleton to Lambeau Field.

And those players didn't have to face the gantlet Favre did on Sunday, as Packer fans lined the bus route and offered specific and sometimes vulgar signals to their former quarterback.

"It was long," Favre said Sunday night of the bus ride. "I had always thought, man, the visiting team, that's a long way to have to come. I had to drive a mile when I played here.

"It didn't seem weird until I got into around the pier, then everything was real familiar to me. ... All the Packer fans were there, and there was some purple, and I saw a mixture of everything. Cheers. A couple of fingers ... That part of it seemed a little weird. I had made that drive many times."

He produced enough drives during his first game at Lambeau as a former Packer to beat his old team, 38-26. Favre completed 17 of 28 passes for four touchdowns and 244 yards with no sacks and no interceptions.

Favre said all week and again Sunday night that, "I don't have anything to prove to anybody." Neither did he have to say much.

When the Vikings offense huddled before the game for a last-minute pep talk, Favre told his teammates, "I don't think anything more needs to be said," according to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.

"He was right," Shiancoe said. "We all knew the deal. I didn't think Brett had any out-of-body experiences today."

Favre seemed careful not to gesture toward the Packer sideline. After the game, he was asked if he could understand how Packer fans felt.

"I think deep down inside I know how they feel," he said. "Packer fans cheer for the Packers first. I know that. I hope that everyone in the stadium watching tonight said, 'You know, I sure hate that that joker's on the other side, but he does play the way he's always played, with his excitement and passion for the game.'

"As long as I play, that's not going to change. I think that's what people have always admired about me throughout my career. That's all I can do. What I've done here, as I've said, speaks for itself. What I was a part of, that's awesome, that will never change."

Was it fun, to win as a Viking in Lambeau? Moments before, Favre's eyes had looked a tad wet. Now he grinned.

"Yeah," Favre said. "It was pretty fun."

JIM SOUHAN