Favre present but diverts the spotlight as focus stays on Packers hall of fame inductees

"Record-breaking performance means team, not individual performance. . . . One thing I wanted to do was thank the teammates that I played with. It was great that I was honored with this award so that it gives me a chance to thank William, Marco, Chewy, Gilbert, Santana, Frank. . . . It's all about the team. I hope I never lost sight of that, although I did the other night. Hopefully, I'm redeeming myself tonight."

Then Brown was honored and moved to tears.

"I don't know if I even deserve all of this," Brown said. Retelling his tale as a "silly fat kid" from Detroit who had NFL dreams to being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, it was abundantly clear his 10-year career meant the world to him.

Before the dinner and speeches, the Packers conducted a news conference with the presenters and inductees. Presenters did not take questions, but Winters and Brown, also a teammate of Favre's, did.

Winters said he appreciated Favre coming despite the potential awkwardness. "This is special night for a couple of guys, and we're going to keep it at that," he said.

As for the night being dominated by the presence of Favre, Brown hoped not.

"I don't know. All I know is tonight is Gilbert Brown, Frank Winters and Al Treml," Brown said. "That's all I care about, the three guys that's going in."

Asked for his take on the Favre saga of the last 18 days, Brown said:

"I haven't had time to think about it. All I've had time to think about is what I'm doing. Not anybody else, but what I'm doing. Everybody can't sit around and think about everybody else. I'm a grown man, too; he put his pads on just like me. I ain't got time to worry about him."

Favre stepped in after Dotson and Brown recalled the first time he met Winters 17 years ago. Favre was packing 252 pounds and a rough beard then, and Winters, a new free agent, asked if he was a linebacker.

"From that point on, we were inseparable, and what an unlikely friendship, from Union City, New Jersey, and Kiln, Mississippi," Favre said. "I guess the old saying, 'Opposites attract,' it's true.

"In describing Frank, when you think of great linemen, there's some great names in this organization. You think of Thurston, Ringo, Kramer and Gregg; I think you need to think of Winters as well. A great career.

"I was honored when he asked me to do this, as well as being here with Gilbert and Al. That's the thing about Green Bay, it's a special place."

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(c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.