MINNEAPOLIS -- Brett Favre said Thursday he still hasn't decided whether he'll play again next season -- and doesn't expect to make an announcement anytime soon.
Appearing on NBC's "The Tonight Show" on Thursday night, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback politely demurred when host Jay Leno asked for his thoughts on returning for 2010.
"Well Jay, it's only been a month, and I know now that I'm just not going to say anything anytime soon, just going to kind of sit back, relax, enjoy the offseason," Favre said in his first public comments since Minnesota's bitter overtime loss in the NFC championship at New Orleans on Jan. 24.
Favre is the NFL's career leader in nearly every major passing category and a three-time league MVP. The former Green Bay Packer had one of his best seasons ever after doing what was once unfathomable: deciding to play for his former bitter rival in Minnesota. The Vikings were rewarded with 33 touchdowns and the lowest interception rate of Favre's career.
But Minnesota's loss at New Orleans left the 40-year-old battered. He said afterward that his decision probably wouldn't take months and that his main concern was whether his body could hold up for another season.
Asked if that defeat still upsets him, Favre told Leno: "I think it will for a long time."
But he put a positive spin on his season with the Vikings.
"Obviously had we gone to the Super Bowl that would have been the icing on the cake, but it was way better than even I could have dreamed of," he said. "I've told people I really believe my biggest accomplishment this year was winning over the majority of the Vikings' fans. For so many years I was hated."
Favre changed his mind about retirement in both 2008 and 2009, joining the Vikings last August.
Last week at the NFL scouting combine, Vikings officials reiterated their willingness to wait for Favre to make up his mind even if that muddies their plans for the quarterback position.
"I'm not going to put him in any box," coach Brad Childress said last Friday. "Four weeks and change, he's still healing up from that game. He's kind of earned that latitude."