BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Brett Favre thought Doug Pederson was joking when he asked him to speak with his Eagles team the day before Super Bowl LII.
He wasn't.
"But when I realized he was serious," Favre said, "I was honored."
NBC Sports Philadelphia's John Clark caught up with Favre after the 48-year-old Hall of Famer addressed the Eagles at their team hotel, the Radisson Blu, on Saturday morning.
Favre said he started his speech by letting the players know he wasn't going to tell them things they didn't already know. He just wanted to offer words of encouragement. He said he thought it was a good way to break the tension.
"They're a tremendous team," Favre told Clark, recalling what he told the Eagles. "Their quarterback is the greatest to ever play, Bill Belichick is the greatest coach to ever coach. You know what they're about. They're going to play the whole game. Don't ever say ... like last year, we have it won and we're going to go through the drive-thru, that's not a good idea."
Several Eagles, including Nick Foles and Lane Johnson, were excited to hear Favre speak (see story). Foles loved Favre's "gunslinger" mentality and Johnson grew up as a Packers fan.
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Favre won Super Bowl XXXI with the Packers against the Patriots in 2007 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
"I congratulated them on the year they've had; it's a wonderful year," Favre said. "And just encouraged them to enjoy the moment. You think you're always going to come back after you've gotten a chance to go but it's such an honor to play in the Super Bowl. And to just embrace that. And I told them, 'this is probably something I should have told you two weeks ago, but this is the longest two weeks of your life and it's going to be the longest 24 hours plus of your life. The game at this point can not get here quick enough. But it's going to slow down even more.'"
