As we let the news settle in that Brett Favre, QB of the New York Jets, has made the Pro Bowl for the umpteenth time in his career and take side bets if he’ll schlep to Hawaii with Deana and the family, let’s remember what it took to get him to this place.

Winter

Favre, still a member of the Green Bay Packers, slinks home to Mississippi after a cruel loss in the NFC Championship game on the home field of Lambeau. He threw an interception in overtime that paved the way for the New York Giants to go to the Super Bowl.

Speculation begins about his future in Green Bay.
The Packers press him for a decision to avoid the previous year’s strung-out process. Aaron Rodgers keeps mum on it all and waits to learn his fate as the new starter on the Packers or the perpetual backup.

Favre calls a press conference and mesmerizes the public with a tearful and seemingly clear statement: I am retiring of my own volition.

Speculation begins anew that he is not clear on that statement. He has conversations almost immediately including with the Packersa bout returning. The team’s concern is that he isn’t 100% certain, just as he wasn’t prior to the announcement.

The Packers are relieved, name Rodgers their starter and set about planning for their first draft without having to keep Favre in mind, except they do. Brett is having retirement remorse.

Spring

Favre, the Packers and sports media begin a months’-long soap opera about whether the Packers gave Favre the signal that they wanted him gone and if he jumped too soon.

The contractual side of the story gets ugly as the Packers refuse to consider Favre’s return. If he doesn’t file retirement papers the team owns his rights and refuses to consider releasing him which would net them nothing in return, especially if he goes to a rival.

Favre takes the bait and starts taunting the team with going to a division rival but…he can”t say for certain if he wants to play at all. He still might retire but he doesn’t understand why he wouldn’t be welcomed back to Green Bay.

The war of wills continues as Packers fans are split down the middle on the loyalty front. Half believe he should come back, half don’t.

Summer

Favre shows up in Green Bay via private jet, as training camp is in progress, won’t take questions about his future and realizes there isn’t much sentiment left for him in Wisconsin. The impasse over him wanting a release and not being accommodated with one gets deeper.

He goes on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren to tell his sad tale of woe. Still can’t understand why the Packers won’t release him from his contract if they don’t want him to start for them any longer.

The commissioner gets involved and asks both sides to enter counseling. The Packers show their good faith by saying he’ll be benched and hold a clipboard for Rodgers if he wants to stay in Green Bay. Favre threatens to go to Minnesota and beat the Packers brains in. This is why they needed counseling.

Favre signs reinstatement papers but doesn’t file them.

The Packers get down and dirty and claim he is a malcontent who just wants it all his way. Immediately, the team hires a PR specialist who used to work at the White House but some say it’s too late.

Reinstatement papers are filed and commissioner expresses sadness as he accepts the inevitable.

Packers and Favre’s agent get down to business to try to break the impasse of where his rights get traded.

Minnesota Vikings look like jerks for having had conversations with Favre supposedly about fishing and hunting, not about coming to their team.

The sweepstakes begin in the NFL. Jon Gruden pisses off his QB by considering Favre joining him. The Packers have offered Brett an alternative to playing for them or anyone: a ten year marketing agreement with unspecified responsibilities but a pay check of $25 million in total.

And that is a first offer.

Favre who a month prior wasn’t interested in New York signs with the Jets, gets welcomed by the Mayor of New York and Jets fans dance in the streets. EA is forced to provide download image of Favre in Jets’ uni after their game went to press with him in Packers’ colors.

Fall

Favre starts slow, gets on a roll, settles back down to earth and proceeds to take the moribund team to the brink of the playoffs and gets voted into the Pro Bowl.

Future?

What’s in store for this offseason? Why wait for that? Favre is already starting the cycle of drama again as he told the media in New York that these last few games might be his last. Don’t act surprised. It’s got to be this way for him and unfortunately for fans of the team he plays for.

Happy New Year, everyone.

See the slideshow pertaining to this article at Paula’s Examiner column.

NEW YORK – Step aside Mets and Yankees, it’s NFL football season and it appears your rivalry, as intense as it may be, may be sitting on the back burner until after the New Year.

The intercity rivalry between the first-place New York Giants (10-1) and, this is NOT a typo, first-place New York Jets (8-3) has found new life since Brett Favre jumped into the fray, joining the Jets after their underachieving season last year.

While the Jets struggled last season, the Giants were putting together a win streak that took them all the way to their Super Bowl upset victory over the undefeated New England Patriots.

Trash-talking in the parks and cafes are picking up steam since the first place Jets defeated the Titans last week who came into that game with a 10-0 record.

The Giants in the meantime are continuing where they left off and have only lost one game all year and are a favorite to make a return trip to the Super Bowl.

I spoke to several fans from both sides of the fence over this Thanksgiving weekend and clearly the passion for this rivalry has elevated. I discovered when you bring up the words ‘Giants’ and ‘Jets’, everyone is willing to drop their sandwich to jump into the discussion.

Giants fans believe if the two teams met, Favre would be running for his life and buckle from the pressure of the Giants defense and the Giants would “cakewalk” through a “blowout”.

Jets fans laughed that off and were still excited about Favre leading the Jets to the blowout of the previously undefeated Titans 34-13. They challenged the Giants fans, “Bring it on” and said their Jets look unstoppable now and that Eli Manning would need to be “scraped off the turf when the game was over if the two teams met”.

It’s great to see the passion Favre and the rejuvenated Jets have injected back into this rivalry.

Today’s week 13 schedule puts the Giants in
Washington and the Jets at home against the Broncos.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Updated on Oct. 23 @ 6:50 a.m.

NEW YORK – Looks like it’s time for the “he said, she said” game. Brett Favre denies giving Matt Millen and the Detroit Lions information on his ex-Packer’s offense prior to the Lion’s Sept. 14 game against the Packers earlier this year and reporter Jay Glazer said he investigated this story fully and continues to defend it.

“I stand by my story 1000 percent,”Glazer told The Associated Press. “I guess Brett and I will just agree to disagree on certain things. The way I do my work, I don’t go on what just one person told me. I investigated this fully and for quite some time. I spoke with several sources, and when I go with something, I make sure it’s dead-on. I think my track record speaks for itself.”

Favre made a few comments at the Jet’s weekly press conference, “When Matt called me and was talking about hunting . . . don’t think for a second I wasn’t thinking, ‘Now, surely he wants to know something,’  Yeah, I played for the Packers for 16 years and we played against the Lions a bunch, but it’s no secret what we did against them. I don’t have a playbook from Green Bay. I didn’t send the playbook. I didn’t call him and say, ‘Look, if you do this, you’re going to win the game.’ I didn’t do that.”

He added that if he were “a guessing man,” there’s a chance other (Lions coaches or staff) might have been listening in on the conversation.

Favre went on to say that sharing information is common in the NFL, and it isn’t against league rules.

“It happens every day,” Favre said. “It happens more than you know. Nothing happened that was any different than happens any other day. But the fact I was in Green Bay for so long and what happened this offseason, that makes it a big deal. I didn’t give (Millen) any game planning, I haven’t been in that offense in over a year. I don’t know what else to tell you. It was pretty simple.”

Against the rules or not, this doesn’t sit well with many players or fans. Glazer’s report said that Favre who was sent off to the New York Jets after an ugly divorce with the Packers, spent over an hour on the phone with Lions coaches, giving the hopeless Lions information on his former team’s offense. Favre says he spoke to Millen for ‘no more than 25 minutes’.

Either way, how embarrassing is this for the Lions since it appears Matt Millen did indeed contact Favre and his Lions got their asses handed to them on their home field 48-25 in front of 60,285 fans.

The Lions continue to ‘refuse comment’. Most anyone would agreee if there was no ill-intent on the Lions part, then they should step up to the plate, look the media in the eyes and explain nothing unethical happened.

The Lions Coach Rod Marinelli preaches accountability and good character to his staff and players, yet when something like this occurs or when one of his coaches drives through a Wendy’s drive-through naked, he is the first one to turn his cheek.  

If and when all the facts surrounding this surface and prove their was info sharing, this is worse than the New England Patriots spying scandal that rocked the NFL last year. At least the Pats were cheating trying to help themselves and those games in question were all victories.

The Lions are embarrassing enough when they get blown out playing fair but if they had a little extra helpful information and still got blown out, that is nothing short of pathetic, and Favre would be nothing short of pathetic for offering it to them, regardless of who called who.

Favre’s move would be taken as a blatant retaliation for the Packers offering the player an invite to come out of retirement, AGAIN, and compete to earn a starting spot on the team.

Favre didn’t want to compete. He wanted the QB spot handed to him.

After seeing Aaron Rodgers perform so well several weeks into the season, it’s obvious why the coaching staff wanted the white-hairing, old-timer to have to beat out the younger, quarterback.

Favre then said he was done and the relationship was trashed. His ego took off like a rocket and landed him in New York.

Speaking of Rockets and NY; almost overnight, Roger Clemens has lost most of the trust and respect that took him decades to gain and Favre may be following those same footsteps.

Some of the players were not afraid to voice their opinion on the issue. “He contacted them? I don’t respect that,” former Michigan Wolverine CB Charles Woodson said. “To seek a team out and to feel like you’re trying to sabotage this team, I don’t respect that. I know he’s been the greatest player around here for a long time, but there’s no honor in that.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had no comment but stressed that Glazer’s report detailed no illegal action. I can hear the Patriots screaming from here.

If such actions aren’t considered out of bounds, Woodson said they should be.

“I’ve never called a coach on another team and told them what’s going to happen,” Woodson said. “Obviously . . . there is a little bit of resentment there.”

Offensive lineman, Scott Wells said it would be disappointing if Favre shared information with a division rival. “Obviously it didn’t work out too well for them. We were still able to go out and move the ball on them and win the game.”

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax