GREEN BAY, Wis. — When Green Bay sent Brett Favre packing in training camp, team officials knew they were trading away a wildly popular, remarkably tough player who might still have a good year or two left in him.

They also were waving goodbye to an unashamedly self-centered, notoriously indecisive diva with a penchant for throwing the ball to the other team. The Packers had learned to live with those things for years, and probably could have done so for one more season.
The one thing they couldn't live with was a player who admitted he couldn't get over his lingering resentment toward a front office that — wisely — ignored his advice about signing Randy Moss, hiring Steve Mariucci, and a handful of other personnel decisions.

Faced with a star player who was becoming a monumental distraction to the team he always claimed to put first — and who might have been trying to pout himself a path to play for division rival Minnesota — trading Favre to the New York Jets was the right call.

Even now, with the Packers teetering on the edge of playoff contention, it's still the right call.

If you think the Packers' 4-5 record would be significantly better with Favre at quarterback instead of Aaron Rodgers, it might be worth making a list of the Packers' biggest problems — then figuring out just how far down that list you have to go to find Rodgers.

Yes, the Packers have fallen out of first place in the NFC North after two straight losses, and face a tough fight to make the playoffs. But given all their other problems, it seems the Packers were bound to take a step backward with or without Favre.

They've been hit hard by injuries, something they largely avoided on their way to the NFC Championship game last year. Defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins was lost early on, and now they'll be without middle linebacker Nick Barnett for the rest of the season. Several other key contributors have missed significant playing time because of injuries.

Beyond that, the Packers are playing a more difficult schedule. And they're having a tough time running the ball on offense and stopping the run on defense, two fundamental flaws Favre wouldn't have been able to fix.

Rodgers, meanwhile, was a revelation in the first month of the season, showing off a rocket arm, quick feet and sharp decision-making. Then, he sprained his shoulder, an injury that cost him significant practice time but allowed him to prove his toughness by continuing to play.

Now Rodgers is mired in a two-game mini-slump — but both losses came on the road against teams with dominant defensive lines, Tennessee and Minnesota.

The Packers' offensive line couldn't block a pop-up ad at the Metrodome on Sunday, let alone Jared Allen, and Rodgers paid the price with four sacks and two safeties. Sure, Favre might have been able to get rid of the ball more quickly than Rodgers under the circumstances — but which team would have caught it?

Clearly, Rodgers has proven something to the Packers, who gave him a contract extension through 2014 — a significant sign that the franchise has moved on.

Believe it or not, Favre's name doesn't even come up much in Green Bay these days. About the only time the F-word has been uttered recently was after reports said Favre had given Detroit Lions coaches inside information about the Packers' offense earlier this season.

Favre initially denied the report, then appeared to backtrack slightly, saying he and then-Lions general manager Matt Millen talked about the Packers, but Favre didn't give him any game planning information.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy just wants the whole thing to go away.

``My focus is simple,'' McCarthy said recently. ``I don't want it in my locker room. I don't want our players to feel like they have to answer questions that first of all, they're not educated on, because they don't know exactly what so-and-so said, and this and that. We just want to stay above it and just don't want to deal with it. ... It's something that's in the past. We have moved forward.''

So have Favre and the Jets. They're 6-3 and tied for the AFC East division lead with the New England Patriots, who they'll face Thursday night.

But the Jets' recent three-game winning streak might be a mirage, given it came against the likes of dreadful Kansas City, fading Buffalo and hopelessly lost St. Louis. Before their streak started, didn't Favre and the Jets lose to Oakland?

While Favre is wearing a new uniform this year, one thing doesn't look dramatically different: He has thrown a league-worst 12 interceptions.

So maybe the Jets will make the playoffs, and maybe they won't. But either way, what happens after that?

There's every chance Favre will once again take months to make a decision on retirement. Or maybe he'll make a quick — by his standards, anyway — decision on his future, only to flip-flop months later.

If he ends up retiring, the Jets must start over. The Packers were going to be in that situation at some point anyway, so getting a head start on the Rodgers era will help them in the long term.

Either way, the Jets' offseason plans will likely be stuck in limbo for a while, and the distraction-free Packers will get to work on next season with no distractions. Privately, they might even enjoy a few giggles at the Jets' expense.

Oh, and they'll get an extra draft pick out of it, too.

Advertisement