Favre Decides to Call it Quits — For Real, This Time

After months of speculation, after all of the training sessions with high school kids in Mississippi, all of the heartfelt smiles and, most importantly, all of the unwavering attention, Brett Favre has made a decision about his future.

Drumroll, please …

Favre will not be playing football in the NFL in 2009. So much for that.

According to the Star Tribune, Favre reportedly told Minnesota team officials that he will stay retired, and Vikings coach Brad Childress confirmed the news. Minnesota — which begins training camp on Wednesday and is suddenly down a future Hall of Fame quarterback — will hand the reins to Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels in 2009.

Of course, because we're talking about Favre, this decision really may not mean a thing. In November, he could decide he wants to pull a Roger Clemens and emerge to try and lead some poor AFC West squad to victory. At this point, nobody would be surprised.

At this point, it might be more surprising if he just stayed home and stayed retired.