Green Bay, Wis. ? Reggie White’s No. 92 was retired at halftime Sunday, and the next 30 minutes revealed why Brett Favre’s No. 4 might be added to the rafters sooner than the Green Bay Packers and their fans would like.

Favre topped 50,000 yards passing and broke John Elway’s single-stadium touchdown record but couldn’t prevent the Packers from being embarrassed by the lowly Cleveland Browns and starting 0-2 for just the second time since he took over from Don Majkowski 14 years ago.

Tampa Bay comes to town Sunday trying to put the Packers in an 0-3 hole for the first time since Favre was a sophomore at Southern Mississippi in 1988.

This could be a long, cold winter in Titletown.

After announcing he would put off retirement for at least another year, Favre worked tirelessly in the offseason to make sure he could give it all he had without regret in 2005 – just in case this was it.

But while he was improving his cardiovascular conditioning, counting calories and adding zip to his famous fastball, new general manager Ted Thompson was thinking more about the post-Favre future than about the here and now.

Thompson did nothing through free agency, the waiver wire or the draft – where he selected Favre’s heir apparent, Cal’s Aaron Rodgers, with his first selection – to get Favre or coach Mike Sherman any immediate help.

With Favre’s elite pocket of protection shattered by the offseason departures of Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle, the Packers took their time rotating possible replacements before deciding on oft-injured Adrian Klemm and rookie Will Whitticker, who has three false starts so far.

Then, the worst-case scenario played itself out when Pro Bowl receiver Javon Walker, who had threatened to hold out for a blockbuster contract but ultimately showed up to play for his $515,000 salary this season, blew out a knee in the opener.

Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre looks at receiver Robert Ferguson after he dropped a pass against Cleveland. The Packers fell to 0-2 after a 26-24 loss to the Browns on Sunday in Green Bay, Wis.

There’s no guarantee Favre’s former top target will ever cash in as he had hoped or be the deep threat he once was, or even if he’ll ever put on a green-and-gold uniform again.

Just as big a question is whether Favre, who turns 36 next month, will want to keep suiting up past 2005.

Favre wanted to go out on a high note after two years of personal trauma and tragedy, including the deaths of his father and his brother-in-law and his wife’s battle with breast cancer.

When Deanna Favre completed her medical treatments, she suggested he keep playing football so they might enjoy a season instead of enduring one. Hurricane Katrina put an end to that notion. The storm flooded his childhood home and his family ranch in Mississippi, and scattered his family like thousands of others.

Favre has guided Green Bay to the playoffs 10 times, tops in the free-agency era, and even in the years he didn’t – 1992, 2000 and 2001 – the Packers were in the postseason hunt until the final Sunday of the season.

Favre has always said he hoped to walk away from football before time took too much of a toll. But he has to look around at the rookie-laden roster and realize retirement is right around the corner.

An era is coming to an end, and it won’t be too long before No. 4 is on the stadium facade and not the football field.