This is why the Minnesota Vikings coaxed Brett Favre out of retirement.

This is why the Vikings initially took no for an answer from Favre in July, then patiently waited a month while he pondered life without football. This is why the Vikings welcomed Favre with open arms in August even though he hadn't spent a day in training camp bonding with his new teammates.

For decades, the Vikings had been a quarterback away from serious Super Bowl contention. They believed Favre could finally get them over the hump. The hump comes today when the Vikings visit the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game. The winner advances to the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.

The Vikings had winning seasons with Jim McMahon and Brad Johnson at quarterback. They won division titles with Rich Gannon, Tarvaris Jackson and Warren Moon. They won playoff games with Jeff George and Tommy Kramer. They reached NFC title games with Daunte Culpepper, Randall Cunningham and Wade Wilson.

But no quarterback has been able to take the Vikings to a Super Bowl since Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton in 1976.

Tarkenton took the Vikings to another NFC title game in 1977, then retired after the 1978 season having thrown more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than any quarterback in NFL history.

Minnesota clearly has missed the greatness of Tarkenton over the years. But in Favre, the Vikings acquired one of the few quarterbacks in NFL history with better career statistics than Tarkenton. Now Favre has thrown more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than any other quarterback in history.

Tarkenton was 36 when he took the Vikings to their last Super Bowl. Favre is 40. Tarkenton introduced the quarterback scramble to the NFL in the 1960s, running for his life at the helm of the expansion Vikings. But by 1976, Tarkenton had all but stopped running. Once a prolific scrambler himself with more than 1,800 career rushing yards, Favre also is content now to hand the ball off.

But Tarkenton could still throw the football well into his 30s – as can Favre now that he has crossed the 40 threshold.

Only eight quarterbacks passed for more yards than Favre's 4,202 this season, only one threw more touchdown passes than his 33 and only one bettered his 107.2 passer rating.

But Favre played a different game in Minnesota than he did all those years in Green Bay. He was more careful with the football and more trusting of his teammates.

Favre was content to hand off to Adrian Peterson, the best back he has ever played with. Peterson finished fifth in the NFL in rushing with 1,383 yards, and he ran for 18 touchdowns on the way to a third consecutive Pro Bowl.

Favre was content to play a ball-control game. He wasn't in a hurry to score points because he knew he wouldn't need 30 to win. With one of the league's best defenses on Favre's side, Minnesota wasn't going to give up many points on a given Sunday. So Favre learned patience.

Favre didn't take risks and didn't throw interceptions, finishing in single digits for the first time in his career. Though his 531 passes were eighth most in the league, his seven interceptions were the fewest for any quarterback with at least 250 attempts.

Because Favre didn't beat himself or his team with turnovers, the Vikings won 12 games and an NFC North title. This season wasn't about Brett Favre – it was about the Minnesota Vikings ending a 32-year Super Bowl drought.

But don't assume Favre stepped off to the side and let others win all those games for the Vikings. He passed for 300 yards in six games and threw four TD passes three times. He also threw for a career playoff-high four touchdowns last week in Minnesota's NFC semifinal victory over the Cowboys.

Now the Vikings are one game away. All that stands between Minnesota and the Super Bowl are the New Orleans Saints.

This is why the Vikings coaxed Favre out of retirement.