Full Text of HR1231 95th General Assembly
HR1231 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, On March 6, 2008, Brett Lorenzo Favre officially | 3 |
| retired from the National Football League after 16 years as a | 4 |
| Green Bay Packer; and
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| WHEREAS, Favre embodied the heart and soul of the NFL with | 6 |
| his workmen-like approach, his gun slinging mentality, his | 7 |
| childlike enthusiasm, and his love for the game; and
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| WHEREAS, Brett Favre completed his 17-year career as the | 9 |
| National Football League's all-time leader in every | 10 |
| significant career passing category, including touchdowns | 11 |
| (442), completions (5,377), attempts (8,758), yards (61,557), | 12 |
| and wins (160); and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, With 160 victories as quarterback, Brett Favre | 14 |
| ranks 1st ahead of John Elway (148) and Dan Marino (147); and
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| WHEREAS, During an NFL game on September 20, 1992, Brett | 16 |
| Favre replaced an injured Don Majkowski; when Favre entered the | 17 |
| game midway thorough the fourth quarter, Green Bay trailed | 18 |
| 20-10; the Packers won the game 24-23 with Favre directing an | 19 |
| 88-yard touchdown drive and a game-winning march capped by a | 20 |
| 35-yard touchdown to Kitrick Taylor with 13 seconds remaining; | 21 |
| Favre started the following week and every other for the next |
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| 16 years; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, Upon taking over the reins as the Green Bay | 3 |
| Packers signal caller on Sept. 20, 1992, Brett Favre has | 4 |
| started the ensuing 275 contests (with 253 regular season | 5 |
| starts), a record for NFL quarterbacks and the second-longest | 6 |
| recorded streak in the league; with 10 quarterbacks making | 7 |
| their initial NFL start in 2007, a total of 212 signal callers | 8 |
| have opened a game since Favre began his streak; and
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| WHEREAS, As the league's only three-time consecutive Most | 10 |
| Valuable Player, Brett Favre led the Packers to 11 playoff | 11 |
| appearances, including a club-record six in a row (1993 to | 12 |
| 1998), seven division crowns, four NFC Championship Games, and | 13 |
| back-to-back Super Bowls appearances, as well as a World | 14 |
| Championship with a 35-21 victory over New England in Super | 15 |
| Bowl XXXI, returning the Lombardi Trophy to Green Bay for the | 16 |
| first time in 29 years; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, The former Southern Mississippi leader's success | 18 |
| is partially attributed to a commanding knowledge of his | 19 |
| offense, his astute observation of countless defenses designed | 20 |
| to stop him, and his physical ability, especially his renowned | 21 |
| arm strength and gunslinger mentality; and
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| WHEREAS, Brett Favre's legacy transcends the passes, the |
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| touchdowns, and the statistics; the inspiring leader will go | 2 |
| down as one of the most beloved players of his generation; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, The swashbuckling Southerner embodies the heart | 4 |
| of America's favorite game; and
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| WHEREAS, Brett Favre topped the Harris Poll, in a survey of | 6 |
| American sports fans, as the nation's favorite football player | 7 |
| in 2006 and placed third among all sports figures, behind Tiger | 8 |
| Woods and Michael Jordan; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, In February 2004, Brett Favre was named as the No. | 10 |
| 1 'Toughest Athlete in Sports' by USA Today, and again in March | 11 |
| 2004; in an issue of Men's Journal, he was chosen as the No. 1 | 12 |
| 'Toughest Guy in America' on the basis of his "fearlessness, | 13 |
| perseverance, a willingness to take risk, a tolerance for pain | 14 |
| and even a dash of modesty"; and
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| WHEREAS, Brett Favre was named the Sports Illustrated | 16 |
| Sportsman of the Year in 2007; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, Brett Favre was named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade | 18 |
| Team; and
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| WHEREAS, Brett Favre received the Chris Greicius Celebrity | 20 |
| Award from the Make a Wish Foundation in 2007 for "being a true |
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| standout, even among the many generous celebrities who help | 2 |
| create magical experiences for the kids who wish to meet them"; | 3 |
| and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Brett Favre was selected to be in the 2007 Pro | 5 |
| Bowl; his ninth Pro Bowl selections ties Forrest Gregg's team | 6 |
| record and is one less than Johnny Unitas' NFL record (10); | 7 |
| additionally, he was a was a seven-time All-Pro selection; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, During the 2007 season, Joe Buck stated that Brett | 9 |
| Favre "led the league in smiles"; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, One of the defining moments of Brett Favre's | 11 |
| career and arguably his greatest game ever took place on | 12 |
| December 22, 2003, in a Monday Night Football game against the | 13 |
| Oakland Raiders; the day before, on Sunday, December 21, 2003, | 14 |
| Brett's father Irvin Favre ran into a ditch and died near Kiln, | 15 |
| Mississippi; Favre elected to play the day after his father's | 16 |
| death; he passed for four touchdowns in the first half of the | 17 |
| game with 399 total yards in a 41-7 victory over the Raiders on | 18 |
| international television; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, Brett Favre has solidified his standing among the | 20 |
| game's all-time elite by earning the NFL's 'MVP' honor a record | 21 |
| three times, capturing the Associated Press award over the | 22 |
| 1995, 1996 and 1997 seasons; he was a runner-up in 2002 as |
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| well; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, Brett Favre collaborated with former Packers wide | 3 |
| receiver Antonio Freeman for 57 touchdown passes from 1995 to | 4 |
| 2001, the sixth-best such duo in NFL history; from 1992 to | 5 |
| 2004, he won at least eight games for an NFL-record 13 | 6 |
| consecutive seasons, substantially better than the next | 7 |
| closest player, Ken Stabler, who had eight straight | 8 |
| .500-or-better seasons from 1973 to 1980; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, Brett Favre is the NFL's most accurate passer | 10 |
| among those with at least 6,000 career attempts; his 61.4% | 11 |
| career completion percentage places him ahead of No. 2 Dan | 12 |
| Marino (59.4 percent); and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, With it being impossible for someone to better it, | 14 |
| Brett Favre will be the permanent possessor of at least one | 15 |
| all-time NFL record - that for longest pass completion - as he | 16 |
| hooked up with wideout Robert Brooks for a 99-yard score in a | 17 |
| 1995 game; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, Brett Favre finished his career as the NFL's | 19 |
| leader in career interceptions, with 288; additionally, | 20 |
| football fans and Packer fans alike insist that Favre's | 21 |
| interceptions should no longer be referred to as interceptions, | 22 |
| but "gunslings" instead; and |
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| WHEREAS, During his remarkable run, 17 different | 2 |
| quarterbacks have served as Brett Favre's backup in Green Bay; | 3 |
| chronologically, they are Majkowski (1992), Ty Detmer | 4 |
| (1992-95), Mark Brunell (1993-94), T.J. Rubley (1995), Bob | 5 |
| Gagliano (1995), Doug Pederson (1995-98, 2001-04), Jim McMahon | 6 |
| (1995-96), Steve Bono (1997), Rick Mirer (1998), Matt | 7 |
| Hasselbeck (1999-2000), Aaron Brooks (1999), Danny Wuerffel | 8 |
| (2000), Henry Burris (2001), Craig Nall (2002-05), Aaron | 9 |
| Rodgers (2005-06), Ingle Martin (2006), and Todd Bouman (2006); | 10 |
| only six times over the course of his streak has a backup had | 11 |
| to complete a game due to injury; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, Brett Favre became the Packers starter in the | 13 |
| third week of the 1992 NFL season and never missed another | 14 |
| start; he played through knee, thumb, ankle and foot injuries, | 15 |
| overcame an addiction to alcohol and painkillers, soldiered on | 16 |
| through the loss of his father, his wife's bout with breast | 17 |
| cancer, and the loss of the family home in Mississippi in | 18 |
| Hurricane Katrina; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 20 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 21 |
| recognize and applaud Brett Favre's accomplishments during his | 22 |
| 17 seasons as an NFL quarterback, for his talent and grit | 23 |
| displayed on the field, and for his humility off the field; and |
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| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 3 |
| presented to Brett Favre, the Favre family, and the Green Bay | 4 |
| Packers Organization.
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