Other side of the sack: Brett Favre feels impact of being NFL’s most-hit QB

The topic is the impact of sacks, and Brett Favre laughs.

“I probably can speak on that, 400 or 500 times, maybe,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday.

“I can’t say that I’ve been excited about any of the sacks I was a part of. But I can say that I have been a part of a lot of them.”

To be precise, Favre was sacked a rib-rattling 525 times, most in NFL history.

This is life on the receiving end of the NFL’s burgeoning sack attack.

Plenty of those sacks had maximum impact, too. Favre suffered numerous nasty injuries during a pro career that spanned from 1991 to 2010.

Most remarkably, his career included a league-record 297 consecutive starts kept intact through at least 20 injuries that might have sidelined a normal mortal.

But Favre, 44, is paying for all that, too. He has experienced memory loss from however many concussions he suffered, and, no, he isn’t considering any more comebacks.

“I don’t want to get hit anymore; I realize I’ve taken enough hits,” said Favre, now retired and serving on the board of directors of Sqor, a social media network seeking to connect fans with pro athletes. “I’ve enjoyed the ride, but now I’m trying to slow down the aging process as much as possible, if that makes sense.”

Excluding “football shape,” Favre says he believes he might be in the best condition of his life now as he bikes and runs regularly.

Then again …

“I don’t know what normal feels like,” he said. “I’m not sure what to compare that to, it’s been so long … I can’t complain, but is there a concern down the road? You know, sure.

“But what I can control, I’m trying to control, and that is trying to stay in the best shape possible, stay active and not, so to speak, wait for that day to come. I’m trying to delay whatever it is that may come.”

Asked if he worries about that, he said, “Well, yes and no.”

This is somewhat chilling stuff from someone so known for his reckless bravado. But in a sense, his sentiments mirror his attitude when he played: try not to worry about what you can’t control.

“I couldn’t control whether or not I got sacked,” he said. “I mean, yeah, to a certain degree maybe, but it’s inevitable it’s going to happen. And if you’re looking over your shoulder the whole time, then your career is going to be a lot shorter.

“Not so much from the hits themselves, just the fact that you’re not paying attention to what you need to pay attention to.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2014 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Other side of the sack: Brett Favre feels impact of being NFL’s most-hit QB."