Brettie and the Jets

BRETT FAVRE: I like my teammates... I wish them the best. I really do. I don't want to make it any worse than it is. I mean, I've always been a Packer. I always will be a Packer. Do I play somewhere else? That remains to be seen, but I don't want to go back there just to stick it to 'em.







Jets Replica Brett Favre Green Jersey: $80.00

Favre not being traded to the Vikings: Priceless

That's looking on the bright side.

I still can't be that emotionally detached about Brett Favre no longer being a Green Bay Packer.

Jets' statement on the Brett Favre trade:

Brett Favre this morning is a New York Jet.

Favre, the Green Bay icon and future Pro Football Hall of Famer who retired, then unretired, then found out the Packers truly intended to move on without him, has been traded to the Jets by the Pack.

Details of the trade and terms of any reworked contract provisions aren't available. But Jets chairman and CEO Woody Johnson said early this morning:

"I am looking forward to seeing Brett Favre in a New York Jets uniform. He represents a significant addition to this franchise, and reflects our commitment to putting the best possible product on the field. Mike Tannenbaum and his football administration staff did a great job of navigating this complex process. I am excited about welcoming Brett, Deanna and their family to the Jets organization."

Unlike Woody Johnson, I am dreading seeing Favre in a New York Jets uniform.

I'll do my best to avoid the sight.

Packers' statement on the Brett Favre trade:

The Green Bay Packers have reached an agreement to trade quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets. Terms of the trade are not available at this time. The two teams agreed to the trade Wednesday night.

Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy and Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson issued the following joint statement:

“Brett has had a long and storied career in Green Bay, and the Packers owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for everything he accomplished on the field and for the impact he made in the state. It is with some sadness that we make this announcement, but also with the desire for certainty that will allow us to move the team and organization forward in the most positive way possible.

“We respect Brett’s decision that he could no longer remain here as a Packer. But there were certain things we were not willing to do because they were not in the best interest of the team. We were not going to release him nor trade him to a team within the division. When Brett ultimately decided that he still wanted to play football, but not in Green Bay, we told him that we would work to find the best solution for all parties involved. We wish Brett and his family well.

“We appreciate the tremendous passion shown by our fans. We, like them, always will see Brett Favre as a Green Bay Packer and our respect for him never will change. Moving forward, we are dedicated to delivering a successful 2008 season for all Packers fans.”

That's a classy statement. No doubt Favre will soon tell Greta Van Susteren that it's a lie. He probably has already text messaged ESPN.

I wonder how Favre will do in New York.

Will the fans there embrace him the way the Green Bay fans did?

New York can be pretty rough and unforgiving. He's not going to a kinder and gentler place. It will be an entirely different atmosphere than what Favre is used to in Green Bay. Favre is going from the smallest market in the NFL to the biggest.

If what he needs is to be loved unconditionally and adored, I don't know that he'll find what he's looking for there.

He'll probably be a guest on Letterman more frequently. That might make him feel wanted and special.

It's a jolt to read about the trade even though it was certain to happen.

Late Wednesday night the Packers and Jets agreed to a trade that would send the quarterback to New York for an undisclosed draft pick, an NFL source confirmed to the Journal Sentinel.

If only Favre had just said last March that he wanted to come back for another season. We would be thinking about the Super Bowl.

The way I see it the Jets haven't acquired Brett Favre. They'll have a Packer playing on their team. It will be weird.

I know. Favre is no longer a Packer.

Favre didn't want to be a Packer because the organization didn't want him to be a Packer because Favre wasn't committed to being a Packer because the organization wasn't committed to him because he wasn't 100% committed to the Packers.

Yeah, whatever.

It was fantastic to have Favre as a Packer for 16 seasons; but when push comes to shove, I'm a Packer fan, first and foremost, not a Favre fan.

Will I root for the Jets? No. Why would I? I'll be doing what I always do -- backing the Pack.

I'm loyal to one NFL team. I'm monogamous.
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Mark Kriegel provides an interesting take:

Already, they've been compared more times than each cares to remember: Brett Favre, now and again property of the Packers, and Tony Romo, who grew up in Burlington, Wisconsin.

It is said that Romo idolized Favre as a kid — how could he not? — though he minimized the reverence of his recollections before last November's game between Dallas and Green Bay. As it happened, Romo outplayed his erstwhile hero that night, throwing for 309 yards and four touchdowns as Favre left the game with an injured right elbow and a separated left shoulder.

Perhaps the evening foretold of an inevitable succession in the NFC. If so, the warning went unheeded. And it's too bad, as Favre might have actually learned something from the second-year starter. Favre wasn't facing a merely younger man. In Tony Romo, he went against a guy still endowed with a sense of humility.

Favre is gone, replaced by a dangerous strain of hubris. How else to explain his present circumstances? As Jay Glazer first reported, Favre will soon be taking snaps under center for the New York Jets.

What was he thinking, retiring and unretiring over and again? Actually — brace yourself for the columnist's conceit — I can tell you what he was thinking, some part of him at least: I can play forever.

Such pride remains foreign to Romo. A couple of years ago, no one knew who he was. Undrafted out of Eastern Illinois, he had yet to throw his first pass in the NFL. Now his standing with the Dallas Cowboys — not to mention the declining sympathies for Favre — entitle him to consideration as America's quarterback.

He's gone to a couple of Pro Bowls. He's an easy, if overwhelmingly sensible pick to take his team to the Super Bowl. Still, he speaks of himself in an almost fatalistic way, saying some months ago that "no one is going to remember me in five or seven years anyway."

In Oxnard, where the Cowboys have been practicing, I asked him if he really believed that.

"I'm serious," he said. "I'm going to live another 30 or 40 years and for five of them people will talk, and after that, no one's going to say anything."

That seems impossible, given the confluence of the gossip and sports industries. After all, not only is Romo the most heavily promoted star in the Cowboys universe, America's quarterback is also dating America's sweetheart.

"Once you're gone, I don't think it's nearly the same." Besides, he added, "I don't think I'm that important anyway. Honestly, I don't."

I don't know if someone so famous can ever get out gracefully, though I'd like to see him try. I wonder if he can go without acquiring the hubris of the man he admired.

As for Favre, I don't know where he'll be in five to seven years. But I know where he thinks he'll be: still playing ball.

Kriegel pulls no punches.
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UPDATE, 6:28 AM: I feel kind of sick.