Dan Pompei

As Brett Favre heads to Green Bay, the Vikings quarterback is looking spry, chipper and nowhere near his 40 years. He is playing wonderfully, with six victories under his belt, a 102.2 passer rating and the eighth most passing yards in the NFL.

Arguably, he is the reason the Vikings are in first place in the NFC North.

But how long before midnight strikes in this fairy tale? Can Favre last 16 games playing at this level?

There is reason for skepticism because he petered out in each of his last two seasons.

The last time he played in Lambeau Field, in January of 2008, he threw an interception in overtime that led to the Giants’ game-winning field goal in the NFC Championship. And then last season, playing for the Jets, he threw eight interceptions and only two touchdowns in the team’s final five games.

Will things be different now that his odometer reading is higher still?

One who won’t doubt Favre is Browns coach Eric Mangini, who was Favre’s coach last year with the Jets. “I don’t know what the history of performance at that position at that age is, I just know that Brett’s different than a lot of guys I’ve been around,” Mangini said. “He’s a special player. I don’t underestimate Brett’s ability to do anything.”

Favre’s performance dip in New York clearly was tied to a torn biceps tendon in his throwing shoulder. Most quarterbacks wouldn’t have even played with it.

So the key for the Vikings might be trying to keep him as healthy as possible. “For any quarterback, they get hit a lot,” Mangini said. “They deal with a lot of different things over the course of a season. I know with Brett, he’s extremely tough and extremely competitive and last season things didn’t go the way we wanted to at the end. But he remained as competitive as ever and did the best he could.”

The Vikings are supposed to have a pretty good offensive line, but they have not done a very good job of protecting Favre. He has been sacked 18 times — sixth most in the NFL, and hit 35 additional times according to the official box scores.

That might not bode well for Favre. But he didn’t have a training camp to add more wear and tear on his body. And while the Vikings don’t have him on a “pitch count” in practice, they are monitoring the situation.

Favre is a physical freak when it comes to being able to withstand punishment. No player in the history of the game has been able to endure the way he has.

It is not uncommon to walk into an NFL locker room after a practice or game and see a twenty something quarterback with a bag of ice wrapped around his shoulder or elbow. But you’ll probably never see that with Favre.

“I ice when I feel like I need to,” he said in a recent press briefing. “When is the last time I iced? I couldn’t tell you. I’ve been pretty blessed. The good Lord has blessed me with a great arm and an ability to make some plays, but I should probably take better care [of it]. I say that, but it’s been 19 years. If it hurts, I take care of it. I’ve played the game a certain way and just been very fortunate.”

Perhaps the best thing for Favre would be to keep doing what he’s done all along. It seems to be working just fine.