Welcome Back Favre.....

Hey, here's a secret for you. Seems the NFL is keeping it pretty quiet. Shhh... This weekend, Brett Favre makes his return to Green Bay and Lambeau Field. I haven't really heard anything about it, but there seems to be a bit of drama surrounding his return. What? You already knew about this?

How could you not? I think FOX has run the promo for this game in a continuous loop, and ESPN has turned their colors to purple, gold and green for the week.

For die-hard Packer fans, this was a day they never imagined would they would see, but it has arrived. Their beloved #4 will be in Viking purple and gold. Seeing a local sports icon play for another team is hard enough, but for a hated divisional rival, takes it to a whole other level.

So how did we get here?

First things first. Brett Favre took himself out of Green Bay. It was not the Packers' general manager, Ted Thompson, not coach Mike McCarthy, and not future Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It was Favre himself. In the long term, his move will have helped the Packers, but in the short term, it has sure caused a two year soap opera that was completely not necessary.

At the end of the 2007 season, the Packers are one Favre interception away from playing in the Super Bowl. All looks good for Green Bay to keep going forward, but Brett starts his "not sure what I am going to do routine" back home in Mississippi. Meanwhile in Green Bay, the Packers have quarterback who they think can take over the team in Aaron Rodgers. This back and forth game of Favre's does not help the team to point forward and finish the task for which they came up short. Instead, they are having to think about the "will he, or won't he" scenario.

Seeing a good team in front of him, and a quarterback in waiting who was ready to lead the team, Ted Thompson did the only he could do in confronting Favre to make a decision about retiring. Thompson had 50 other players to think about, and could not be left hanging again while Brett pondered the subject.

When Favre finally decided to "retire" in March 2008, the Packers were sad to see him go, but they never lost a stride and moved Rodgers into the starting spot and to help lead the team. When Favre started the "maybe I shouldn't have retired" talk in the summer, the Packers had moved on, and rightfully so. Their option to Favre of coming back, but not as the starter was a fair proposal. If they had bowed to Favre and yanked the job away from Rodgers, that would have ended the Rodgers/Packers relationship, and Green Bay did not want that because they saw their future in Rodgers and his right arm. Plus that meant starting the process over again in finding a Favre replacement when he did eventually retire. That was not a path the Packers were willing to go, because they believed, and rightfully so, they had their future in Rodgers.

I also feel that at that this time, part of Favre had to believe Rodgers was the better quarterback at the time, or on the verge of becoming that better QB. Otherwise, Favre says yes to being the back-up, then when Rodgers falters, Brett could come in to save the day. Favre would have been all over that scenario.

Instead Favre decided to force the issue by saying he was arriving in camp and was going to be a part of the Packers (which the Packers wanted no part of) and thus started the soap opera which eventually lead to the trade to the Jets. While Favre's preference was to be traded to and play for the Vikings in 2008, the Packers were not going to let that happen, and they were correct in that position. Favre should not have been rewarded in getting to pick where he wanted to play in '08, while he was the cause the problem in the first place.

Packer fans were torn between their hero leaving and how it happened. While many blamed it on Favre, still many others are of the "Brett do no wrong" camp and blame this whole mess on Thompson. Many of those fans have changed their mind, and are now against Brett because he dons the Minnesota colors.

Another thing to remember is, if Favre did not play that selfish game of "will I retire, won't I retire", he would have gone into the 2008 season as the Packers' starting quarterback, and then events would have played out naturally. There was nothing in place saying Rodgers was moving up ahead of Favre into the starting spot. I'm not sure if he would have stayed the starter, because at this time Rodgers is the better player, but he would not be on the opposing sideline in Viking purple with many Packers fans disgusted with him.

In 2008, the Packers fell back to 6-10, but it was no fault of Rodgers. His 4038 yards and 28 touchdown passes against only 13 interceptions put him near the top of the class of NFL quarterbacks. So far in 2009, he has over 1700 yards and 11 TD passes against only 2 INTs. It was the defense and lack of running game which caused the turnaround of Packer fortunes.

Meanwhile, Favre had a very good start to 2008 with the Jets, but an arm injury slowed him down in the second half of the season, and the Jets stumbled and missed the playoffs. Because of the arm injury, and because Favre again indicated he would probably retire, the Jets released him from his contract, opening the door for him to join the Vikings. Of course that only came after 3 months of "will he or won't he" discussions about joining the Viking team.

So here we are with the most anticipated pre game field entrance for a regular season game we have possibly ever seen. While it was wild four weeks ago when the Packers were in Minnesota, it will be increased hundred fold in Green Bay. If I'm a Packer fan, I boo Favre with a vengeance. He is on the team that is a hated rival, and they are ahead of the Packers in the standings. Packer fans should boo each time he drops back to pass, and hope he is sacked ten times and the Packers win the game. In two, five or ten years, when the Packers retire Brett's #4, then Packer fans can give him the thanks and standing ovation his 16 years in Packer green meant to them and the town. But for now, it's "Go Pack Go!".