the feeling i always got from the story was that he wasn't forced to retire, the packers front office just didn't want to play the will he/won't he game anymore. brett said he wanted to retire, like the last 2 years, this time they just said, "ok" instead of "think it over a couple more days" or "noooooooooo!" or "think of the children brett" and he equated that to disinterest in him.
he's probably breathing easier these days with peyton being sore...wouldn't want some attention grabbing punk to take his records....