Brett Favre opens up about his health, Aaron Rodgers and his departure from the Packers

Later this summer, the rift between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers will officially closed when he returns to Lambeau Field for his number retirement ceremony. With that important date approaching, the future Hall of Fame quarterback has begun opening up to news outlets. In this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, Favre discusses his health, his relationship with Aaron Rodgers and his departure from Green Bay.

Favre has mixed feelings about his health these days. On the one hand, he believes he can still play football, though he was quick to note that he isn't trying to start "some he's-coming-out-of-retirement deal." On the other hand, 20 seasons of NFL service have led him to wonder about his future quality of life.

"No one's invincible," Favre said in the interview. "Things do catch up with you. There is a price to be paid. What that will be is yet to be seen. It may be from one violent hit. I don't know, but it's scary. Because you wonder, you can't help but wonder, what is that going to do to me? Or am I going to be one of the lucky ones? Whatever lucky is. I'm not knocking the NFL. I knew what I signed up for. I could have got out whenever I wanted to get out... I didn't do myself any favors, the way I played."

The quarterback's passion for football drove him back to the NFL after abruptly retiring in 2008. That decision, of course, spurred the "Summer of Favre", the ugly public divorce between the player and the Packers. Favre says he could have avoided the whole thing had he exercised more patience: "Had I [taken my time deciding], I would have come back and played... The drama would have been avoided."

But Favre knows he's done with the NFL. That point was driven home by the way the 2010 season ended — a concussion-induced exit from a game against the Chicago Bears. "I shouldn't have been playing," Favre explained. "From that point on, I never missed it... I knew it was time."

As for his relationship with his successor in Green Bay, Favre dismisses any talk that the two don't see eye-to-eye: "We get along fine, regardless of what you've heard." Favre and Rodgers last appeared at the NFL awards together to announce the 2012 Comeback Player of the Year.

Favre discusses other topics, such as former coach Mike Holmgren and what he anticipates for his Lambeau return, in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands today.