Brett Favre says he's staying retired

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Shelve your Wranglers and put those No. 4 Bears jersey orders on hold. Brett Favre says he's happy being retired.

"Inspite (sic) of reports about playing with various teams, I'm enjoying retirement with my family and have no plans to play football," Favre said in a statement Tuesday night.

Favre

One day after a source told ESPNChicago.com's Michael C. Wright that Favre would listen to the injury-riddled Bears if Chicago came calling, a high-ranking Bears source told ESPN's Ed Werder on Tuesday that the team has no interest in signing the 42-year-old quarterback.

The Bears lost quarterback Jay Cutler to a broken hand and Caleb Hanie has struggled to run Chicago's offense in Cutler's absence.

Favre denied there have been any talks with teams about ending retirement.

"I haven't contacted nor have been contacted by any teams and all reports are inaccurate," Favre said.

Favre completed his 20th year with the Vikings last year and had arguably his worst season as a professional, going 5-8 as a starter with 11 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions.

On Monday, Bears coach Lovie Smith dismissed the idea on Monday of adding a new quarterback.

"That's our group," Smith said of the three quarterbacks on the Bears' roster. "We're going to make improvements with our group. We're not looking on the outside. We won't have a quarterback tryout or anything like that."

The Bears remain hopeful Cutler will return before the end of the regular season after undergoing surgery on his fractured right thumb, but Cutler said Thursday that he'll be smart about his return and may miss the rest of the season.

Speculation regarding a possible quarterback search comes in the aftermath of Chicago's 10-3 loss Sunday to the Chiefs. In addition to completing less than 50 percent of his passes for a passer rating of 23.8, Hanie threw three interceptions and has thrown six picks in his last two outings, coming off the club's five-game winning streak with Cutler behind center.

Information from ESPNChicago.com's Michael C. Wright was used in this report.

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