QUOTE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- When he wasn't pumping and bumping fists, biting his nails, slapping his palm against the press box desktop, muttering about the officiating, chugging popcorn, chewing on ice cubes, yelling "Yeah!" after favorable penalties, "Whoo!" after fumble recoveries and, "What'd I tell you!'' after touchdown runs, New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum absolutely nailed the essence of his greybeard quarterback.
Moments earlier, with the game against the unbeaten Tennessee Titans still in question, 39-year-old Brett Favre had taken a three-step drop, looked to the left of the end zone for tight end Dustin Keller, saw he was covered, and then glanced toward the middle. That's where wide receiver Laveranues Coles was -- along with three Tennessee Titans defenders.
"When I threw it, I thought, 'This is going to be tight,'" Favre said later.
Tight? The ball nearly skimmed the outstretched hand of a Titans linebacker. Coles, who had two defensive backs on his hip and another rushing toward him, plucked the pass out of the air near the back of the end zone. The Jets suddenly had a 17-point, late-third-quarter lead against the late, great Titans.
Upstairs in the press box, Tannenbaum turned to another Jets official and said nothing. Instead, he held his thumb and forefinger thisclose apart. He knew. It was the distance between success and failure, between stepping on the Titans' neck or letting them back in the game, between the Jets retaining the lead in the AFC East or watching the New England Patriots tie them. In short, it was Favre personified.
"It's one of those, to me, what I can offer and have offered throughout my career," Favre said. "I always call it The Mike Holmgren Syndrome: 'Oh, no, no, no, no ... good!' So it was good today."....
Moments earlier, with the game against the unbeaten Tennessee Titans still in question, 39-year-old Brett Favre had taken a three-step drop, looked to the left of the end zone for tight end Dustin Keller, saw he was covered, and then glanced toward the middle. That's where wide receiver Laveranues Coles was -- along with three Tennessee Titans defenders.
"When I threw it, I thought, 'This is going to be tight,'" Favre said later.
Tight? The ball nearly skimmed the outstretched hand of a Titans linebacker. Coles, who had two defensive backs on his hip and another rushing toward him, plucked the pass out of the air near the back of the end zone. The Jets suddenly had a 17-point, late-third-quarter lead against the late, great Titans.
Upstairs in the press box, Tannenbaum turned to another Jets official and said nothing. Instead, he held his thumb and forefinger thisclose apart. He knew. It was the distance between success and failure, between stepping on the Titans' neck or letting them back in the game, between the Jets retaining the lead in the AFC East or watching the New England Patriots tie them. In short, it was Favre personified.
"It's one of those, to me, what I can offer and have offered throughout my career," Favre said. "I always call it The Mike Holmgren Syndrome: 'Oh, no, no, no, no ... good!' So it was good today."....

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