For Ryan Longwell (and Brett Favre), appreciation for Packers grew from time with Vikings

2:37 AM ET

GREEN BAY, Wis. — When Brett Favre was mulling whether to join the Minnesota Vikings during the 2009 offseason, he and kicker Ryan Longwell spoke frequently. And when Favre wondered — or worried — about how he’d be received by Green Bay Packers fans upon his return to Titletown last summer, the iconic quarterback again reached out to his longtime teammate.

After all, no one else on the planet could have understood Favre’s emotions better than Longwell, who made the same Green Bay-Twin Cities-Green Bay, full-circle journey before Favre did.

And just as Favre, who is set to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month, was overwhelmed last summer by the largely let-bygones-be-bygones welcome he received coming back to Green Bay, Longwell says he believes it took playing for a hated rival and then returning years later for both of them to fully appreciate their Packers careers.

Favre played 16 seasons in Green Bay (1992-2007), and Longwell played nine (1997-2005). Including the two seasons they were together with the Vikings, 11 of Longwell’s 15 NFL seasons were spent on the same team as Favre.

Brett Favre, left, and Ryan Longwell played together with the Packers in 1997-2005, then with the Vikings in 2009-10. AP Photo/Ric Feld

“From my perspective, and I don’t know if Brett would say this [publicly] — I know he’s shared with me — we would not be nearly as appreciative of everything that the Packers are had we not seen it from the other side,” Longwell said during an interview on “Green & Gold Today” on ESPN Milwaukee earlier this week.

“And that’s a perspective that I’m so thankful and blessed that I was able to get. Because for me, you come into the NFL and your first team is the Packers and you think it’s [the same everywhere in] the NFL. Going to Minnesota really made me appreciate everything the Packers are. Because it’s not the same way everywhere else. For sure.”

Longwell became the Packers kicker in 1997 — as an undrafted free agent initially claimed off the waiver wire for $100 as insurance behind rookie third-round pick Brett Conway — and left Green Bay following the 2005 season as the franchise’s …

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