MILWAUKEE (AP)
-- Brett Favre certainly isn't the first star quarterback to have a difficult time deciding when the time is right to step aside.
Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath are considered prime examples of NFL legends who held on too long. And Favre's fellow Green Bay Packers icon, Bart Starr, includes himself on that list.
"In hindsight, I should have done it sooner," Starr said of his retirement from the Packers in 1971. "But I have no regrets."
Starr said he kept playing through chronic injuries out of loyalty to new coach Phil Bengtson, who was put in the impossible position of replacing Vince Lombardi.
The sentiment was nice, but the results weren't.
"My performance went downhill," Starr said from his office in Birmingham, Ala.
But Starr isn't drawing a comparison between the way his career ended and Favre's decision to return to the Packers next season, announced by the team Wednesday morning.
Favre is expected to participate in the Packers' first minicamp beginning May 5, general manager Ted Thompson said.
Starr doesn't think Favre, who turns 37 Oct. 10, is making a mistake.
"He's got as many good years left as he wants to," said Starr, who won five NFL championships and two Super Bowls with the Packers.
Favre threw a career-worst 29 interceptions last season, causing some to wonder if his skills were beginning to erode. But Starr said fans shouldn't read too much into the way Favre played last season as the Packers were beset by injuries and free-agent losses.
"Last year, no disrespect to anyone, he just didn't have a team around him," Starr said.
That's perhaps the most confusing part of Favre's decision to return. As he waffled on his football future this offseason, he all but demanded that general manager Ted Thompson improve the team by making a splash in free agency.
But beyond retaining their own key free agents, including running back Ahman Green and defensive end Aaron Kampman, and adding a few role players, the Packers generally had not been active in free agency.
That changed Wednesday night, when the team agreed to terms with defensive back Charles Woodson. But one free agent signing isn't going to turn around a 4-12 team.
So why did Favre come back?
"This is a decision that he and his family have to make," Starr said. "Outsiders can't understand everything that goes into it."
Favre began waffling on his future toward the end of last season, kicking off retirement speculation that is becoming a winter ritual in Wisconsin.
But the so-called "Favre Watch" grew to epic proportions in 2006 as Favre took nearly four months to make a final decision. Team officials were careful not to put public pressure on Favre, but the process wore on fans and the media.
"I've read in the media that people were frustrated with the length of time it took Brett to come to this decision," said former Packers coach Mike Sherman, now an assistant with the Houston Texans. "Last I checked, he hasn't missed any preseason practices or games yet in the 2006 season."
Sherman applauded Favre for his deliberate decision making.
"I'm sure his intent was to validate to himself that by coming back he was doing the right thing for himself, his family, the Packers and the fans," Sherman said in comments distributed by the Texans. "I'm sure he wanted to make with total certainty a commitment to the team physically, mentally, and emotionally. How can you question that process?"
Packers president and CEO Bob Harlan watched the Favre saga unfold on television with everybody else, but as the process dragged on, Harlan said he grew more confident Favre would return.
"Every time I would see him in his television interviews, it just looked to me like he had that desire to play," Harlan said.
"I think he's looking forward to it, and I think he's going to be ready."
Sherman said he spoke to Favre recently and came away convinced he still was committed to playing football.
"He put his heart and soul into this decision," Sherman said. "He wouldn't have decided to come back if he wasn't totally confident in his commitment and his future contribution to the Packers."
It is not immediately clear if Favre's commitment runs beyond this season, although he said in a newspaper interview last month he wouldn't consider playing beyond 2006.
"If I do play this year, it will be my last," Favre told the Biloxi Sun Herald. "There's no doubt about that."
Thompson said he and Favre did not discuss his plans beyond next season.
"We just got past this hurdle," Thompson said.
The message: Fans should enjoy it while they can.
Starr expects them to do just that.
"For someone who has displayed that kind of leadership, enthusiasm, guts and grit, so to speak, I would think that every single one of them is ecstatic," Starr said. "I'm sure they were high-fivin