A Packer Fan's Thoughts on the Brett Favre Saga

For our first post back from an extended hiatus, we're lucky to have guest columnist Jim Jelinek's lucid and refreshing thoughts on the Brett Favre saga.

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Imagine telling your boss that you retired. After years and years of labor and strain on the body, you have finally decided to call it quits. A few months go by and you get a sudden urge to go back to work. (Mind you this is a dream job you have and not flipping burgers or bagging groceries.) You go back to your boss and ask him for your old job back. One of two things will occur:

1. Your position is still vacant, or there was no person qualified to take your position at the time, allowing your boss to welcome you with open arms.
2. Your position has been filled by your boss because he had to move the company forward with the knowledge that you retired. At best, the boss can offer you a lower position within the company.

Does this story sound familiar? It should since it has been going on since March. (However, if it does not, you probably still believe that chess should be a professional sport and Tiger Woods is prepping for the next major.) Brett Favre has turned the small city of Green Bay, Wisconsin upside-down and inside-out by asking Ted Thompson for his old job back--a job that was given to three-year backup Aaron Rodgers. I am a large Packer fan and grew up watching Favre make the impossible possible. Throwing a pass across his body while on the run was something to marvel at, and I actually can say I learned to throw a football that way because of him. That and the fine art of the shovel pass.

I also like to keep things in perspective. Favre is pretending to be a kid in a 38-year-old body. At some point he has to realize that he cannot play football forever, at least on the professional field (though I hear that the Arena Football League could use a face to promote the sport). In March, he broke down, and with tears in his eyes (as well as in Packer fans eyes nationwide), retired. He claimed that while he could still play the game at a high level, he was just emotionally and physically drained. As much as I hate to say it, I believe him.

Four months have passed and now Favre wants his old job back, placing the Packers in a uncomfortable situation. Do they bring Favre back as the starter and make Rodgers sit another season? Doing so would cause several problems, the biggest being Favre pulling this again after next season. Rodgers has the right to prove his value in the final two years of his contract, and another season on the bench would basically kill any chance the Packers had to resign him. After all, why would Rodgers resign with a team that could not cut ties with a man who refuses to give in to the inevitable? I also do not believe in the two rookie quarterbacks can pick up the offense quickly enough in two years should Rodgers leave town.

Should the Packers bring Favre back as the backup quarterback? That option pretty much kills Rodgers' chances on being a decent quarterback. Every time Rodgers would look over to the sidelines he would see Favre standing there, just waiting for him to blow a pass or misread a route and get back on the field himself. Some fans might not even go to games to watch the game, but to catch a glimpse of a Hall of Famer standing on the sidelines. That would be too much pressure for any quarterback in the NFL to handle.

Ted Thompson would also never consider just releasing Favre to free agency. Thompson likes his draft picks as much as Packers fans like their brats.

So the last option would be to trade Favre. But to whom? The consensus right now is to the New York Jets or Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Favre does not want to play at either place. The craziest place to trade him would be within the NFC North Division. But crazy might not be a bad place to be to end this face-off. Sending Favre to Minnesota or Chicago (sorry Detroit, you have your own AARP member at quarterback) might be a good way to pick up some draft picks while cutting losses. Both teams are good and are in need of a competent quarterback. Neither have great receivers, though, making Favre shoulder most of the offense again. If Favre claims he can still play at a high level, send him to a division rival and make him prove it. It would not only make the rivalry the best that the NFL had ever seen, but Rodgers could put it on himself to beat Favre and end the speculation of Farve being a better quarterback option for Green Bay. And if the Packers cannot beat the team Favre lands on, they only have to wait a year or so before Brett finally hangs it up for good.

I had hoped that Favre would not have tried to unretire. I knew it would put both the team and Favre at odds, and nobody will be able to win at that. No player is or will ever be greater than the team itself, and Favre has to realize that. I remember Thompson being asked during a press conference whether he asked Favre for his input, and Thompson responded that the Packers are his team and not Favre's. I fully agree with him. Could you imagine what would have happened if the Dolphins organization asked for Marino's input on their running back situation?

I would like to see Favre take leadership with this ordeal and be the team player he used to be, when he renegotiated his contract several seasons in a row when the Packers needed room under the salary cap. Anybody who has seen or heard Favre knows it is not about the money. Dreams have to come to an end whether we like it or not because at some point we have to wake up to face the day. I will remember Favre with fondest memories, but the point is that the sun has set in Green Bay, and soon the gunslinger will have to ride off into the sunset.