Favre began vs. Bengals in relief

Brett Favre announced his retirement today from the NFL after 17 seasons. Green Bay Packers historians say Favre took "stranglehold" of the quarterback job in relief of injured starter Don Majkowski (ankle) on Sept. 20, 1992 in a game against the Bengals at Lambeau Field.

The Bengals, by the way, were 2-0 going into that game under then-rookie head coach Dave Shula. Cincinnati had defeated Seattle and the Los Angeles Raiders.

Favre engineered a comeback 24-23 victory against the Bengals that afternoon, throwing 35 yards to Kitrick Taylor with 13 seconds remaining. He was 22-for-39 passing that day for 289 yards and two touchdowns. He was not intercepted, though the Bengals did sack him five times.

It was the first of four games, three starts, that Favre would play against the Bengals. He had a 2-1 record as a starter. Against Cincinnati, he was 102-for-156 passing for 1,181 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Bengals sacked him 10 times. His passer rating against the Bengals was 84.4.

Favre's last appearance against the Bengals was on a warm day, Oct. 30, 2005, at Paul Brown Stadium. He was 26 of 39 for 297 yards, one touchdown but five interceptions. The Bengals won 21-14. That game will be best remembered for the fan who ran onto the field and avoided security before taking the ball from Favre's hand.

The Packers, trailing 21-14, reached the Bengals 28 with 23 seconds left. Favre took the snap but only after game officials blew their whistles. The fan, Greg Gall, then 31, of Mount Washington, took the football out of Favre's hand and ran about 50 yards before being tackled by security guards at the south end of the field and removed from the field.

The Bengals sacked Favre on the next play. On the final snap, his underhanded pass from behind the line of scrimmage was incomplete.

Neither Favre nor then-Packers coach Mike Sherman blamed the fan for the loss, but wide receiver Antonio Chatman, then with the Packers and now with the Bengals, swears he would have been open in the end zone on the play in which Gall interferred.