Green Bay Packers To Retire Brett Favre’s No. 4 On Thanksgiving Day

The Green Bay Packers will retire former quarterback Brett Favre’s No. 4 during a Thanksgiving Night game against the Chicago Bears, per multiple reports.

The Green Bay Packers will retire Brett Favre’s No. 4 on Thanksgiving Night. 

Three sources told The Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Ryan Wood on April 21 the Packers will unveil Favre’s jersey at the facade on Lambeau Field during a Thanksgiving Day ceremony against their NFC North rivals, the Chicago Bears. 

Packers will retire Brett Favre’s number at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving. (via @journalsentinel) pic.twitter.com/aOFEZYo7zX— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 21, 2015

Wood’s sources could not confirm the actual date as some details need to be finalized. Nonetheless, Faver’s No. 4 is well on its way to joining Don Hutson’s No. 14, Tony Canadeo’s No. 3, Bart Starr’s No. 15, Ray Nitschke’s No. 66 and Reggie White’s No. 92 as the jerseys retired by the Packers franchise. 

A press release regarding the team’s 2015 schedule on the Packers’ official website indicates the Thanksgiving Day game against the Bears will be on Nov. 26.  

Despite the release of Green Bay’s 2015 schedule, Wood says the Packers won’t make a formal announcement on Favre’s jersey retirement ceremony “until a later date.”

Brett Favre was drafted by #Falcons 24 years ago today. Now he’ll have his #Packers jersey retired on Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/xT0viLNUol— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) April 22, 2015

Another source also confirmed the Thanskgiving Day ceremony to ESPN Green Bay Packers reporter Rob Demovsky on Tuesday.   

“First I’ve heard of it,” Favre texted to Demovsky. “But it doesn’t matter anyway as long as the fans are happy with it.”

When Favre takes the field in Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day, it will mark the first time he’s visited Lambeau Field since 2010, per Wood. That was his last year in the NFL, which he spent with another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings. 

Wood says Favre was supposed to attend a Packers home game last season with Starr, but the arrangement got called off after the latter fell ill.  

The Packers and Bears will also go up against each other in their regular-season opener on Sept. 13, per Packers.com. Demovsky says this is the first time the two bitter rivals have squared off in the season opener since Bears quarterback Jay Cutler debuted for his then-new team six years ago. The Packers prevailed, 21-15.

Report: Packers will retire Brett Favre’s number on Thanksgiving night – http://t.co/zfDt2R2ei5 pic.twitter.com/hjSb7biVQO— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) April 21, 2015

Last week, Packers president Mark Murphy asked the NFL for special consideration in order to fit Favre’s jersey retirement ceremony in their 2015 regular-season schedule, per ESPN.

“We’ve had some discussions [with the league office],” Murphy told Demovsky on April 14.

During the annual scouting combine in Indianapolis in February, Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, said “the best game would be the Bears” in terms of his client’s retirement ceremony, per Demovsky.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette update says the Packers traditionally have been participating in a Thanksgiving Day game every other year since 2007. All of those games have been on the road against the Detroit Loins.

The Packers have not hosted a Thanksgiving Day game since 1923, when they beat the Hammond Pros 19-0, per Wood.

Favre will be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame on July 18, but it won’t be raised on the Lambeau Field facade, per ESPN.

Favre, who went 22-10 against the Bears in his career, will be eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year, per The Green Bay Press-Gazette.  

Favre threw for 71,838 yards, 508 touchdowns and 336 interceptions on an 86.0 passer rating in 302 career regular-season games for the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings, per ESPN stats. 

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