Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, a longtime friend and teammate of Brett Favre’s, says that Favre cried as he told teammates he was sorry for the distraction caused by allegations that he sexually harassed former Jets employee Jenn Sterger.
ESPN’s Michelle Tafoya said on SportsCenter that she talked to Longwell about the meeting.
“Brett Favre actually broke down in tears and was very emotional, saying, ‘I’m sorry to have been a distraction,’” Tafoya said she was told by Longwell.
Although Tafoya said that Longwell wouldn’t give her all the details of the meeting, Longwell said that Favre appealed to his teammates to stick with him.
“I need you guys to carry me tonight,” Favre told the Vikings, as related by Longwell to Tafoya. “I’m ready to go out there and give it my best, but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Longwell, who played with Favre in Green Bay from 1997 to 2005, told Tafoya that the tearful team meeting was reminiscent of Favre addressing his Packers teammates in December of 2003 after the death of Favre’s father.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Sterger hasn’t decided whether she will cooperate with the NFL’s investigation into the matter, which Mortensen interprets as very good news for Favre.
“If she doesn’t cooperate,” Mortensen reported, “it’s very unlikely that Favre would be disciplined.”