NEW ORLEANS — Battered and beaten, Brett Favre limped off the field for perhaps the final time.
His head down, the pained look on his face was brought on as much by a head-scratching turnover Sunday as it was by a bone-crunching hit from Bobby McCray.
With the NFC championship game tied, the Minnesota Vikings close to field-goal range and mere seconds left, Favre made the kind of mistake he had avoided all season. He committed the No. 1 no-no for an NFL quarterback when he threw the ball late and back over the middle toward Sidney Rice, and Tracy Porter stepped in front to intercept the pass.
New Orleans won the coin toss in overtime, and won the game 31-28 on Garrett Hartley’s field goal.
After the game, a glassy-eyed Favre had scratches on his nose and bruises on his forehead. He said he wasn’t quite ready to make a decision on his future just yet.
“I know people are rolling their eyes or will roll their eyes,” Favre said. “In a situation like this I really don’t want to make a decision right now based on what’s happened because I do know the year could not have gone any better aside from us not going to Miami. I really enjoyed it, to be honest.
“Just wondering if I can hold up, especially after a day like today. Physically and mentally. That was pretty draining. I am going to go home, a couple of days and just talk it over with the family.”
The interception was a crushing end to an inspiring performance by Favre, who hobbled around the field for the entire final period after a hit by McCray put him on the trainer’s table with a left ankle he thought might be broken.
The NFL’s iron man, who has started a record 309 consecutive games, never missed a play and rallied the Vikings from seven points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game.
“I thought it was a gutty, gutty performance,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “He grinded it out.”
Favre completed 28-of-46 passes for 310 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, the last of which may haunt him for a long, long time.
