Brett Favre, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback, has announced his retirement after 17 record-breaking seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

The 38-year-old, who led Green Bay to the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division title last season, passing for 4,155 yards and 28 touchdowns, is the league's all-time leader in passing yards (61,655 yards), touchdown passes (442) and career wins (160).

Ted Thompson, Green Bay's general manager, paid tribute to a legend of the game.

"He has had one of the greatest careers in the history of the National Football League, he said: "He is able to walk away from the game on his own terms - not many players are able to do that. The uniqueness of Brett Favre - his personality, charisma and love of the game - will undoubtedly leave him as one of the enduring figures in NFL history."

The only three-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) in NFL history, Favre is the league's all-time leader with 5,377 career completions. He made nine appearances at the end-of-season Pro Bowl, contested by the players of the season from both conferences as voted by the fans and started 253 consecutive regular-season games for Green Bay, a streak that dates to September 27, 1992.

Favre led the Packers to a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots in the 1997 Super Bowl, the franchise's first title in 29 years. However, his hopes of ending his career with another victory were dashed this season as they fell one win short of the Super Bowl following a 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants, the eventual champions.

The MVP in 1995 and 1996 and co-winner of the award in 1997, Favre has five seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards and eight campaigns with at least 30 TDs.