Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre still remembers the feeling when he started his 117th consecutive game -- an NFL record for quarterbacks -- in November 1999 at Lambeau Field. "They stopped the game and I was kind of like, 'You know, it's not that big of a deal,' " Favre said.

At that point, even Favre had to find it inconceivable that he would make a run at Jim Marshall's record of 270 consecutive regular-season starts. But 10 years and 153 starts later, he is poised to break the mark held by former Vikings defensive end today when Minnesota plays at Detroit.

"I feel like stopping the game every time [I start now]," Favre said jokingly. "I think I always knew how difficult it was to play. In this game, you can get hurt. You can get hurt doing anything, but the game of football is physical. I don't get hit every play like running backs and linemen and stuff. But I think about 16, 17 straight years, that's a long time."

Favre's streak dates to the 1992 season with Green Bay. In the third game, he relieved injured Don Majkowski and rallied the Packers to a 24-23 victory over Cincinnati. The next week he started against Pittsburgh and hasn't missed a start since.

"It's hard to really put into words," Vikings linebacker Ben Leber said. "It's pretty incredible. You think about the amount of hits everybody takes and the way you feel. And you're always going to not just be hurt but be injured throughout your career. So to play through the injury and the pain, it really is truly incredible."

Favre, less than a month from his 40th birthday, has overcome numerous injuries to keep the streak alive. The most recent came late last season with the Jets when he had a torn biceps tendon in his throwing arm. That injury required surgery this spring.

Favre is still playing with a tear in his rotator cuff, and then there was the litany of ailments the Packers annually listed in their media guide. That list ran 16 deep and began with a first-degree separation of the left shoulder in November 1992 and ended with a right elbow bruise and left shoulder aggravation suffered in November 2007.

Favre said the one injury he thought might end the streak was the broken thumb he suffered on his throwing hand in St. Louis in October 2003. After a bye week, however, he gave it a shot and ended up throwing three touchdown passes in a victory over the Vikings. Favre admitted that attempting to play was "rolling the dice."

The "NFL Record and Fact Book" does not list most consecutive starts but only most consecutive games played. New York Giants punter Jeff Feagles extended his all-time record to 337 last Sunday. Marshall, who played for the Browns in 1960 and the Vikings from 1961 to '79, appeared in 282 games in a row, and there has been some debate about how many of those he started because the Browns did not keep records of starts. Favre, meanwhile, will play in his 273rd consecutive game this afternoon in Detroit.

"I think the fact that anyone can do it is amazing," Favre said when asked about Marshall's streak. "I think just playing in the NFL, period, is an honor and something that is very hard to do. But what Jim did -- and you can talk about the game was smaller then, it wasn't as fast or the season's were shorter -- it's still football and you still have to play in every one of those games and in his case be physical and hit or be hit.

"To even be mentioned with some of the greatest players to ever play this game regardless of position -- no matter how long I've played or honors I've received -- I'm honored more than anything to be mentioned in the same breath with guys like that."