Multiple media reports say the Green Bay Packers will retire Brett Favre’s legendary No. 4 jersey on Thanksgiving when the Packers host the Chicago Bears.
It will be the first time the Packers have hosted a Thanksgiving Day game since 1923 and will be the first one ever played at Lambeau Field.
The news leaked on Tuesday ahead of the NFL’s release of the 2015 schedule.
Source said #Packers will retire Favre's number vs. Bears Thanksgiving night at Lambeau Field. Game is on NBC.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) April 21, 2015
After being drafted then traded by Atlanta, Favre played 16 seasons for the Packers from 1992-2007 before leaving Green Bay for a season with the New York Jets and two with the Vikings.
Favre is also being inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in July.
He retired following an injury-plagued 2010 season with the Vikings as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns and wins. Until 2010, Favre had never missed a game because of injury setting an NFL record with 321 consecutive games played.
Peyton Manning has since passed Favre in career touchdown passes.
Favre’s time in Green Bay didn’t end happily. The Sporting News recounts that Favre took too long contemplating whether or not he would retire following the 2007 season. After spending 2008 with the Jets, Favre signed with the Vikings – a move that left many in Green Bay bitter.
But the Packers have put all of that aside and earlier this year announced that Favre would be honored at some point in 2015.
In February, on his website, Favre wrote that it was a tremendous honor to play for the Packers.
“Now to have my name placed among others such as Starr, Hornung, Kramer, Taylor, Lambeau, Nitschke, Lombardi, Davis, White and Hutson is a special honor that I share with all of my teammates and coaches, and that would not have been possible but for the foresight of Ron Wolf, the greatest GM in the history of the NFL.”
Favre, an 11-time Pro Bowler, three-time league MVP and Super Bowl XXXI champion is eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
