Sometime late next summer, Brett Favre is going to get the urge to play football.
His body will feel better, training camps will be wrapping up and the temptation to do what he has done for each of the past 20 years will kick in. He might even get a call from a quarterback-starved team.
Favre swears he will ignore it all.
"I'm done, I'm done," he said Wednesday, speaking in a raspy voice that is a product of an illness that has bothered him for the past week.
Favre, 41, has said since the day he returned to Minnesota this past August that this season would be it for him. He has reiterated that point a few times ... but it's always a bit hard to believe him.
Favre also retired after the 2007 and '08 seasons, only to return in time to keep alive an NFL record consecutive-games streak that presumably will reach 297 on Sunday when the Vikings play host to Buffalo.
Favre said he thought long and hard about returning this season after leading the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game in January. He never has admitted to any regrets despite the fact little has gone as planned for the Vikings (4-7) or Favre.