Favre: 2009 NFC Title Game Was 'Most Violent' He Experienced

Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre said this week the 2009 NFC Championship matchup against the New Orleans Saints was the "most violent" game of his 20-year NFL career. Favre also reveled he played through a concussion that game.

"A concussion doesn't necessarily have to be knocked out cold and removed from a game, although the new protocol is in place to remove you from a game even if you're not walking sideways or your arm goes stiff or whatever," Favre told KFAN's Ryan Donaldson Wednesday.

"In that game there was some head ringing, there was some fogginess. There were two times in which I was hit by Darren sharper late, he lunged at my head and both of them were pretty devastating hits, but I stayed in the game. On one they threw a flag on the other they didn’t. If head ringing or fireworks going off is a concussion, yeah I did have that."

An NFL investigation later revealed the Saints had offered a "bounty" to knock Favre out of the game. The Saints were subsequently fined, stripped of several draft picks, and head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season.

Favre retired in 2010. The Hall of Fame quarterback is now promoting a documentary on athlete health he produced titled "Shocked: A Hidden Factor in the Sports Concussion Crisis." Shocked will be released Jan. 11 on Stadium.

Minnesota Vikings Vs. New Orleans Saints: Divisional Playoff Game

Photo credit: AP Photo/Paul Battaglia, File