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On a Monday night in December 2003, Brett Favre played the signature game of his illustrious career.

	AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
	Brett Favre threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns in a December 2003 game the day after his father died.

His father died of a heart attack the day before, but Favre decided to take the field in Oakland. His nationally televised performance marveled the country.

Favre on Sunday will return to Oakland for the first time since that epic night. He'll be quarterbacking the New York Jets this time.

"Maybe going out on that field at the start of the game will bring back some memories," Favre told reporters Wednesday at his weekly news conference, "but it has been a long time, a lot of games."

Favre completed 22 of 30 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 41-7 victory.

Former Raiders offensive lineman Langston Walker, now with the Buffalo Bills, told me earlier this season even the Raiders were rooting for Favre by the end of the game.

"He murdered us," Walker said. "I played guard that game, and it was just to the point where we'd want to get off the field just to watch him. He was making every throw. He was just a man possessed.

"It was a real unfortunate situation that it happened after his father died, but it just shows the type of resolve and the type of character he has. Everybody congratulated him after the game. He played his [butt] off."

The reliably malicious Raiders fanatics equally were awed.

"Oakland fans are not the politest fans in the National Football League," Favre said, "but I remember getting a standing ovation when I was introduced. When the offense was introduced that night, I didn't know what to expect. Believe me, I didn't expect them to give that type of ovation. I can't tell you how many signs were in the stadium.

"We had a police escort after the game, when Deanna and I were going back to the airport. We had chartered a plane. That was probably the best police escort I'd ever seen. These guys were on motorcycles. We never stopped, not one time.

"It just seemed like the whole experience, as bad as it was from their standpoint, couldn't have been any better. It was a great ovation. The people were very respectful. When I think back to that -- I still hear a lot about that game for obvious reasons -- but that's what I think about when I think about that game."