Favre: For the Record

""I was a drug addict,"" admits Favre on the opening page of his autobiography, whose first two chapters are devoted to his addiction to painkillers and his rehabilitation. The son of secondary-school teachers in the town of Kiln, Miss., he grew up next to a bayou populated by alligators and snakes. After excelling in football at the University of Southern Mississippi, he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons and spent a year on the bench. Then in 1992 he was traded to Green Bay, where he made his mark as one of the best quarterbacks in history, was named the NFL's most valuable player in 1995 and 1996 and led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXXI. Green Bay Press-Gazette sports columnist Havel has helped Favre to present himself here as a fun-loving, small-town guy who tells us--in the same paragraph--that he was ""kinda old"" to believe in Santa in sixth grade, it's ""kind of funny"" he didn't want to give up that belief and it ""kind of"" spoiled Christmas for him when he did. Favre comes across as a loyal individual, but aside from the gridiron victories, readers won't find much excitement here other than the alligators and snakes next door. (Oct.)