Favre hints he could play past 2005

Monday, June 6, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre said Sunday that next season might not be his last, and stepped up pressure on teammate Javon Walker to end his holdout.

After being serenaded by chants of "five more years" from a record crowd of 8,500 visitors to his charity softball game Sunday, Favre told reporters he hoped the family issues that made him contemplate retirement would be resolved.

"I hope off the field, within my family, that things go smoothly and I'm able to enjoy it a little bit more and my family is able to enjoy it. If that's the case, maybe I will be back," Favre said.

Favre spoke with local reporters for the first time since he announced in early March that he would be returning for a 15th NFL season.

He spoke at the sixth annual Brett Favre Celebrity Softball Game, which was held to raise money for disadvantaged or disabled children in Wisconsin and Mississippi.

Favre's wife Deanna, who recently underwent five months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for breast cancer, said her husband could play for "a couple of more" years.

She thanked coach Mike Sherman for keeping her husband off the field for mini training camps this spring.

"Just staying away and really focusing on family and working out has really helped," she said. "He's really excited about coming back. He's more excited this year than probably the last two or three."

"Football season will be nothing now," the Baltimore Ravens' star running back said a day after he was released from a federal prison camp in Pensacola, Fla., where he was locked away for four months as part of his sentence for using a cell phone to help facilitate a would-be drug deal in July 2000.

"I thought training camp was the hardest thing. But going through this now, it will be a breeze."

Lewis, 25, won't attend the voluntary Ravens minicamp that begins today, and it is uncertain if he will be allowed to attend mandatory camp next week. His sentence includes a two-month stay at a halfway house.

Mueller replaces Rick Spielman, who left the Dolphins last week after five seasons helping oversee their personnel moves.

Mueller served as a general manager for the Saints in 2000 and 2001. The Saints captured the NFC West title and earned their first-ever playoff win in Mueller's first season with the team. He has served as an ESPN analyst for the past three seasons after being released from his Saints contract in 2002.