Click here to listen to Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Dan O'Donnell report on how a local psychologist explains the way Brett Favre has opened up more men to be able to show their teary-eyed side.

Brett's Newsconference:
• Audio: Part 1 | Part 2
• More Audio at Packers.com

Packers Confirm Favre Retirement:
• Click here to read the Packers' statement

Email Us Your Thoughts About Brett Favre:
• Click here to email your thoughts (we may use them on-air or online later)
• Read thoughts sent in by others

Related Coverage:
• Favre: It's Over"
• Favre's Record Resume
• Brett's Comebacks
• Off The Field
• Hall of Fame Reservations
• Bart on Brett
• Favre: Real Men Can Cry
• Packers Still Own His Rights
• Autographed Stuff Selling
• Our Experts' Thoughts

Audio: Reaction 
• WMN's John Jagler and Gene Mueller breaking the news
• Bonita Favre: Is Brett So Sure?
• Brett's Voicemail to ESPN's Chris Mortensen
• Brett's Brother Scott talks to Today's TMJ 4 and with Bill Michaels
• Packers Coach Mike McCarthy with the Big Unit
• Former Packers President/CEO Bob Harlan on the Greenhouse
• Former Teammate Brian Noble
• Former Teammate Antonio Freeman on Today's TMJ4
• Former Teammate John Jurkovic
• Former Teammate William Henderson on Today's TMJ4 and with the Big Unit
• Wayne Larrivee on Charlie Sykes and Sports Central
• Larry McCarren on Today's TMJ4
• Bill Michaels
• Lance Allan
• Bart Starr
• Jerry Kramer on Today's TMJ4
• NFL Films' Steve Sabol
• The Enemy Perspective with Former Chicago Bear Doug Buffone
• CBS Sportsline's Clark Judge
• John Cox, who called his college games at Southern Mississippi

Audio: A Legendary Career
• Favre's Career Resume
• Where Brett Stands All-Time
• Favre's Playoff Record
• Brett's Comebacks
• Favre's 2007 Season
• Brett's Off The Field Legacy

Favre Year-By-Year:
• 1992 | 1993
• 1994 | 1995
• 1996 | 1997
• 1998 | 1999
• 2000 | 2001
• 2002 | 2003
• 2004 | 2005
• 2006 | 2007

They say real men don't cry, but then again, they didn't know Brett Favre.

He broke down during his news conference and chances are a lot of men did along with him.

Acceptable? According to a local clinical psychologist: absolutely.

Since Favre made his decision, there haven't been many dry eyes in Packers Nation, with grown men from here to Green Bay breaking a long-standing societal taboo.

"Especially when they see Brett Favre himself, able to express tears," says Dr. Paul Smerz, a clinical psychologist from Milwaukee.

He states the reaction to Favre's retirement has been so strong because he's what's known in psychology as an archetype, an idealized model for male behavior who's also, paradoxically, still just a regular guy.

In other words, guys want to be like Brett.

"I think men can look up to Brett Favre as more than just a hero, but something that brings out in them certain aspects of their own self, their masculinity."

"He's someone men look up to because of his performance on the field, but they see him as being a pretty rounded, balanced kind of guy who manifests a lot of values that men aspire to," says Dr. Smerz.

Including, though they won't admit it, sensitivity.

"He doesn't fight back the tears so much, because he's, in a sense, paid his dues already. I think he feels himself so accepted by the public."

Brett's Public History of Tears

In September of 1999, the Packers opened their season against the Oakland Raiders at a time when Favre was coming to terms with an addiction to alcohol, a behavior that was nearly forcing his wife Deanna to divorce him.

While suffering from a broken thumb and the pain he was enduring as he tried to overcome his humanness, he delivered a 10-point fourth quarter comeback to defeat Oakland, 28-24, at Lambeau Field.

In the postgame press conference, Favre broke down and had to cut short his comments, simply ending with "sorry, fellas" through sobs.

On December 22, 2003, the Packers played a game against the Raiders on a night where Favre, perhaps more understandably than any point in his life, had reason to shed tears.

It was the night after his father Irv died in an automobile accident, and a night where Favre dedicated his game to his father, and the Packers dedicated the game to Favre.

A few hours after Irv's death, Brett shed tears in a powerful team meeting that galvanized his team's efforts, and in front of an enemy audience in Oakland, Favre produced the best statistical day of his career with 399 yards and four TD passes in a 41-7 blowout of Oakland.

Favre also thought he was ending his career on December 31, 2006 in Chicago when the Packers blew out the Chicago Bears, 26-7 at Soldier Field. He cried through a postgame interview with NBC's Andrea Kramer, realizing that could have been his last game.

It wasn't. But this week, he realized he had played his last game in the 2007 NFC Championship Game.

And now, as the public bids Favre a final farewell, even the most manly of men can't help but get emotional, and Dr. Smerz says that's perfectly natural.

"Men find it very easy to identify with a sports hero, and I think that degree of identification to them overcomes any kind of a social taboo."