Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre has decided to retire from the NFL after 17 seasons. “He has had one of the greatest careers in the history of the National Football League, and he is able to walk away from the game on his own terms _ not many players are able to do that,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Tuesday.

Favre’s agent Bus Cook said the 38-year-old quarterback told him of his decision Monday night.

“Nobody pushed Bret Favre out the door, but then nobody encouraged him not to go out that door, either,” Cook said by phone from his Hattiesburg, Miss., office.

FOX Sports first reported Tuesday that the three-time MVP planned to retire.

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Associated Press Writer Ron Harris in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.