The Nightmare Scenario?

Yesterday as I was driving up to Rochester and flipping radio stations along the way, I stopped on the Sirius NFL station to listen to Sirius Blitz for a while. Jim Miller and Solomon Wilcots were discussing Favregate and Miller referred to the possibility of Favre ending up in Minnesota as "the nightmare scenario" for the packers. Jim's back and forth with Wilcots suggested that both personalities felt that Favre ending up a Viking would lead to the undoing of existence as we know it. A true doomsday event.

I agree that it would be embarrassing for Packers management to see Favre sign with an NFC rival and then lose to that rival. The Green Bay fans will immediately question the decision to trade or release Favre in favor of putting Aaron Rodgers under center. But starting fresh this year with Rodgers is the right decision whether Favre wants to play or not. Favre's gunslinger tactics have always made him a high risk-high reward player at QB, and after 17 years in the league, it's time for Green Bay to roll the dice on a new signal caller. Particularly while they have the supporting cast to make their new starter effective immediately.

Whether you agree that it's time for Favre to move on from Green Bay, I don't think there's a legitimate debate that this situation is simply a reflection of the current state of professional sports. Iconic players do not spend their entire careers with a single team any longer. Whether it's for more money, personal issues, increased playing time or the chance to win a championship, stars are no longer faithful to a single city. That doesn't make them bad people. And I think most fans are intelligent enough to recognize that.

When you think of the biggest rivalry in sports, what comes to mind? Probably Red Sox and Yankees. There is no love lost between the respective fan communities of these two organizations. Yet when Johnny Damon left the Red Sox and joined the hated Yankees, the world did not end. Damon was a highly visible, much beloved member of the curse-breaking 2004 Sox. And when he visits Fenway wearing the Yankees uni, he is not reviled. The rivalry between the Packers and the Vikings is not nearly as rabid. So why would Favre's defection be such a tragedy?

I'm of the opinion that if Favre does indeed return to Football, Minnesota is the right team. It features a West coast offense, coaching personnel Favre is familiar with and all the components of a highly successful team, with the notable exception of a solid QB. But unlike Jim Miller, I wasn't a mediocre QB is the NFL for 4 seasons. So what do I know?