The Green Bay Packers announced Tuesday that Brett Favre will retire.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss the announcement, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said Favre called him last night and said, "It's time to hang up the cleats."

The Packers say Favre is preparing to address the media.

The quarterback is scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday morning at 11 a.m. at team headquarters. His wife Deanna is also scheduled to attend.

Earlier Tuesday on the Packers' official Web site, Green Bay General Manager Ted Thompson posted the following message:

"Brett Favre has informed us of his intention to retire from the Green Bay Packers and the NFL. He has had one of the greatest careers in the history of the National Football League, and he is able to walk away from the game on his own terms -- not many players are able to do that."

Favre apparently informed the Packers of his decision within the last few days, but a timetable to officially make the announcement has not been decided upon.

Favre's brother Scott told WISN-TV in Milwaukee on the air that Favre had told him he had decided to retire because he couldn’t duplicate last year.

Favre has flirted with retirement over the last several years but came back each time and rebounded to have one of his best seasons in 2007.

The future Hall-of-Famer led the Packers to the NFC Championship game in 2007 after throwing for 4,155 yards and 28 touchdowns and compiling a 95.7 passer rating.

The Mississippi native will leave the game as the NFL's all-time record holder in several categories including wins by a starting quarterback, passing yards, touchdowns and consecutive games started.

A three-time NFL MVP, seven-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Favre was known as the ultimate gunslinger, often taking chances that resulted in big plays and endeared him to a national audience that regarded him as one of the toughest and grittiest players in league history.

He has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 61,655 yards and 442 TDs over 17 NFL seasons, the last 16 of which were played in Green Bay after the Packers acquired him from the Atlanta Falcons.

If Favre does not have a change of heart and sticks to his retirement plan, his last pass will go down as an interception by New York's Corey Webster, setting up the Giants' upset win in overtime during the NFC title game.

The Packers will now look to Aaron Rodgers, a former first-round pick out of California, to take over the reins of the team. Rodgers has had few opportunities to play since being taken with the 24th overall selection in the 2005 draft.

Favre skipped the Pro Bowl in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2003, so it really wasn't much surprise that he skipped this year's all-star game in Hawaii.

No reason was given why he pulled out of the game.

Just last week, the Green Bay Packers' official Web site briefly reported that the standout quarterback was retiring, but the page under the breaking news section was live for only a few minutes.

"There's nothing to it," Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb said after the posting. He said people who handle the Web site had set up a "dummy" page in the event Favre was to retire.