Brett Favre is considering coming out of retirement, according to an ESPN report.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen said yesterday that a Packers source told him the 38-year-old quarterback told coach Mike McCarthy in the past two weeks that he has the itch to play.
But Favre dismissed the ESPN report, telling his hometown newspaper Web site, SunHerald.com in Gulfport, Miss., that “it's all rumor.”
The paper reported that Favre sent a text message saying there's “no reason” for a media frenzy.
Favre's agent didn't return a message seeking comment. Packers GM Ted Thompson and McCarthy were on vacation.
“The Packers have no reaction,” team spokesman Jeff Blumb told The Associated Press.
Favre retired March 6 after a 17-year career.
Cornerback Al Harris said on ESPN's “NFL Live” that Favre made similar comments to him.
“I know he has the itch to come back and play,” Harris said. “If he will or not, I don't know.”
The Packers plan to use Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback for the upcoming season, and he's been leading the team through organized team activities and minicamp.
Rodgers has been groomed to take over for Favre since being selected in the first round in 2005 but has played sparingly.
“Aaron is our quarterback,” Harris said. “Brett's retired. But if he wanted to come back, there would be some guys who wouldn't mind it. I would welcome him back with open arms.”
According to the ESPN report, the Packers would be reluctant to open the door for Favre because “Brett retired for the right reasons, even though I know his family is tugging on him (to play).”
MORE NFL
The Chicago Bears agreed to a four-year deal with second-round draft pick Matt Forte, the former Tulane running back expected to replace Cedric Benson in the lineup.
BOXING
James “Lights Out” Toney and Hasim Rahman, who fought to a draw in Atlantic City, N.J., in March 2006, are to get together again at the Pechanga Resort and Casino on July 16, this time for the WBO/NABO heavyweight title. Between them, the fighters have made 129 appearances. Toney is 70-6, with 43 knockouts; Rahman is 45-6-2, with 36 KOs. The scheduled 12-round bout will be televised by Fox Sports Net.
NBA
Michael Beasley's first official practice with the Miami Heat ended quickly.
Beasley was struck in the chest by an inadvertent elbow during a defensive drill about 45 minutes into Miami's first summer-league workout session yesterday, and the No. 2 overall pick in last week's NBA draft was taken to a doctor for observation.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the move was strictly precautionary and should not affect Beasley's availability for Miami's five-games-in-five-days run through the Orlando summer league, which opens Monday.
The New Jersey Nets have signed their two first-round draft picks.
Team President Rod Thorn announced the signings of Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson yesterday.
The Nets selected Lopez with their top pick at No. 10. He led Stanford in scoring at 19 points per game last season.
Anderson was selected with the 21st pick, which New Jersey received as part of the trade that sent Jason Kidd to Dallas.
SPORTS AND COURTS
A former track star who had been scheduled for trial in Richmond, Va., next week on heroin-distribution charges instead has opted for a plea hearing today.
Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery's plea agreement hearing is set for 2 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, according to the court docket. Montgomery previously had pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial on the charge, which carries a minimum five-year prison term.
Details of the plea deal were not available. The federal prosecutor's office and defense attorney James O. Broccoletti did not immediately return phone messages.
Montgomery, the former 100-meter world record holder, was indicted for allegedly dealing more than 100 grams of heroin in Virginia. In May, a judge in New York sentenced Montgomery to 46 months in prison for his part in a multimillion-dollar fake-check scheme.
TRACK AND FIELD
Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius slowed on the final straight in his first able-bodied race in nearly a year, finishing fourth and well outside the Olympic qualifying time.
The South African finished with a time of 47.78 seconds in the 400 meter B race at the Milan Notturna meet in Milan, Italy. The time he needs to qualify for the Olympics is 45.55.
Pistorius' lifetime best is 46.36.
Pistorius only resumed training six weeks ago when a sports arbitration court ruled that he was eligible to run in Beijing.
The court overturned a decision by the IAAF that Pistorius' carbon-fiber prosthetic racing blades give him an unfair advantage and that he should be banned from the Olympics and any other able-bodied race.
Pistorius' next qualifying attempt will come at the Golden Gala meet in Rome next week.
OLYMPICS
The IOC said that its drug-testing program at the Beijing Olympics will be the most rigorous anti-doping effort in sports history.
The International Olympic Committee plans to conduct 4,500 tests in Beijing, up from 3,600 in Athens four years ago and 90 percent more than in Sydney in 2000.
The IOC will also ask Chinese police and security officers to act against suspected doping suppliers before and during the Aug. 8-24 Games.
GOLF
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem was the first to be tested as the Tour began drug testing at Congressional, site of this week's AT&T National. Finchem also had his executive staff go through the process. The anti-doping program features random testing for about 500 players on the Tour's three circuits and has sanctions that include a lifetime ban for the third offense.
Tiger Woods remains eligible for testing, even though he had season-ending surgery on his left knee last week. Woods said he has tested himself twice, the second time because he changed the brand of the amino acid in his nutritional program. He said both tests came back clean.
– FROM NEWS SERVICES
