Carolina Panthers

Jared Allen recalls the time he urged Brett Favre to 'stay retired'

Published Jul. 15, 2016 12:12 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

Brett Favre is known as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever step foot on an NFL field. He's also widely remembered for being the guy who refused to retire after wavering at the thought several times. He finally did call it a career following the 2010 season, but one of his teammates tried to get him to stay retired beforehand.

While traveling down to Mississippi with fellow Vikings teammates Steve Hutchinson and Ryan Longwell, Jared Allen was supposed to be convincing Favre to return. Only, he didn't feel that was the best option.

"I was the one guy who told him, 'Stay retired,'" Allen said on A.J. Hawk's podcast.

Allen, unlike his teammates, was advocating for Favre to retire, telling him that he had nothing left to prove.

"Hutch and Longwell put the pressure on him. I was like, 'Listen, dude. It looks like you got it pretty good down here.' His place is amazing. I'm like, 'I'm going to be real honest with ya. If I'm you, I stay retired.' But I'm like, 'Don't come back thinking you gotta prove something. If you want to come back and have fun with us and try to win some football games, do it. If not, I might retire and move down here.'"

Allen's "pitch" didn't work, of course, as Favre did indeed come back for one more season in 2010. He threw 11 touchdowns and 19 interceptions in 13 games that year as the Vikings went 6-10. It wasn't exactly the best way for Favre to go out, especially following his 33-touchdown season in 2009.

Perhaps he should have listened to Allen and stayed in Mississippi.