Packers’ Loss is Jets’ Gain

It’s finally done - the Jets have traded for Brett Favre and now he and the Packers can move on.

This represents a sad ending to a storied saga. Favre is the three-time MVP who brought a Super Bowl back to Green Bay after a 29-year absence. Even at 38, Favre is better than an unproven Aaron Rodgers, and in a league known for short term thinking and a win-now mentality, Favre should be the starter in Green Bay. In the end, however, the indestructible and at times primadona-ish wunderkind and the Packers GM and Coach let egos and emotions interfere with a relationship that had at least one more year and possibly another playoff run left.

The Packers’ loss is the Jets’ gain. Favre, like every other Hall-of-famer who changes teams at the end of his career (e.g., O.J. Simpson, Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice), will look weird in a Jets uniform. He does not have the offensive weapons he had in Green Bay, and we are more likely to see the 2005 (20 TDs, 20 INTs, 70.9 passer rating) and 2006 (18 TDs, 18 INTs, 72.7 passer rating) Favre as opposed to the 2007 vintage (28 TDs, 15 INTs, 95.7 passer rating). But as long as the child in Favre comes to play on Sundays, the Jets will be exciting and the fans will get a treat as the team prepares to move into a new training facility and stadium.

Favre’s long-time fans, who were unwilling to see him ride off into the sunset, will enjoy another season of his unique play, even if the Jets #4 only vaguely resembles the Green Bay version.