Advertisement Of course, by normal I mean a world in which Favre continues to play football wearing green and — more green?
When Packers fans tune in this season, some will welcome the future. Many, however, will wonder what might have been. Even more will wonder how they feel about the situation.
Yup, Brett’s a Jet. He traded in the Lambeau Leap for a fireman who spells out J-E-T-S! He’s swapped his loyal fan base of Green Bay for the fickle fans of New Jersey.
To a huge number of green and gold faithful, that hurts.
But it could have been worse. He wanted to be a Viking.
One of the many stories moving on Thursday quoted Packers president Mark Murphy as saying, “It’s like a marriage that ends. It happens. Neither party is at fault.”
That may be, but Packers faithful will still go through all the steps of a bad breakup.
Sure, fans will remember all the good times they had watching No. 4. And just like a girlfriend they didn’t quite click with, fans will, in part, wish Favre some success in his new relationship.
But there’s the other side of the “divorce” coin. Many will believe Favre betrayed them. They will want to see the Jets trip over themselves and play with all the cohesion of a Paris Hilton relationship.
That’s wrong.
Granted, Favre is spoiled and shouldn’t have put either the team or himself into the awkward place they were. But who let him get spoiled?
For years, the organization and the fans allowed Brett’s waffling because he was the face of the Packers.
When the team drafted Aaron Rodgers, things really started cooking.
1 part Mr. Rodgers
1 part “retirement“
2 parts moving on
3 parts stay retired man
1 part divorce
Mix with news updates on every move Brett makes, including sneezes, whether he ate a cheeseburger for lunch and anything that could mean he wants to be a Viking.
You’ve heard it before: “Everything happens for a reason.” Favre is a great football player with a drive to do what he does best — be himself. And the Packers felt they needed to move on.
It really is a breakup. Why it happened isn’t as important as getting past it. Life goes on. The sun’ll come out tomorrow. (Good luck getting that out of your head.)
And come Sept. 8, the Pack still will be playing on “Monday Night Football,” and if all goes as planned, they will have the chance to ring in the beginning of Mr. Rodgers’ neighborhood with a win over the rival Vikings.
Curt Trnka can be reached at ctrnka@lacrossetribune.com or by yelling at the guy in the Favre Jets jersey at the bar.
