What’s the big deal? This is the question most of us outside the US are asking.

Every major newspaper stateside had Brett Favre and/or the Green Bay Packers as their top sports story with a little over a week to go until the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I conducted a little research and have found that in the two weeks leading up to the Games in Atlanta, Sydney, and Athens, the major sports stories carried by papers in the US were all related to the event.

So, with American football not being one of the events organized in Beijing, what is the craziness behind these headlines? Let’s get to explaining the problem first. To understand fully we have to go way back to 2005.

The Packers had to look at their situation with Favre not getting any younger at the age of 36. He was surrounded by young guys who needed time to grow, so the Packers selected Favre’s hopeful successor, Aaron Rodgers, in the third round of the 2005 draft. They were hoping to get at least two years out of Favre to ease Rodgers into the rosportsle.

After the 2006 season Favre hinted that he might retire, and did not make a decision to return until the team was well into the preparation for the 2007 season. Thus, after last year, the Packers asked Brett to make his decision in plenty of time to allow them to set the starting job by the time minicamps got under way.

Favre did so, and announced his retirement shortly after losing the NFC championship game against the eventual champions, the New York Giants. But, as the start of training camp was getting closer, it seems Favre had that itch to play once again and he has now asked the league to reinstate him.

The problem is, the Packers have moved on and made Rodgers the starter. They’re mostly unable to trade their unretired star as the teams that Favre would likely want to go to are divisional rivals of Green Bay (Minnesota and Chicago). Releasing Favre is not an option either as then they would simply be gift-wrapping him for one of those teams.

But why is this such a big deal? First of all, Favre is an icon, a true living legend in the NFL. He is considered one of the top five quarterbacks of all time. Plus his demeanor, his gunslinging style of play and his toughness have made him the people’s hero. He has played his whole career at Green Bay, one of the most respected franchises within the league for its rich history. All of this has made this current situation a perfect storm, when the unimaginable happens.

If Favre is that good, why would the Packers not want him? His age is the main issue. Make no mistake, Favre is a grade A quarterback who is coming off one of his best seasons. Yet he has maybe two seasons left in him and he has been contemplating retirement each of the past couple of off-seasons.

On the other hand, Green Bay has groomed Rodgers for exactly this situation. Word is, he is great at practices, which have the Packers expecting big things from him. Alas, he has barely gotten an opportunity to play. They really do not know whether he can cut it during the games themselves and his contract is going to expire at the end of this season.

So if Green Bay takes Favre back this year, they will probably lose Rodgers to free agency, as he certainly will not re-sign for a team that was never fully committed to him in four years. Then, once Favre really does retire, the Packers will be left without a plan at the most important position in the game.

So why can’t they trade him? Favre has the upper hand in any trade. He can scare any team away by saying he does not want to play there and if he is traded there anyways he will stay retired. The teams that we know Favre would approve of - Minnesota and Chicago - are direct rivals within the NFC North division so sending him to those teams would be a double blow. That is why the Packers are negotiating with Favre, asking for a longer list of teams he would be willing to play for.

Using him as back-up for Rodgers is out of the question. Could you imagine Green Bay fans not revolting and demanding their hero to be the starter? And you can guess what kind of pressure that would put on a young player like Rodgers. After every bad pass he would be reminded by fans that he is taking the spot away from their favorite son.

Plus, imagine the PR hit the team would get on opening night when Favre’s consecutive starts without missing a game record is ended because he is sitting on the bench as a back-up. No, there’s no way Green Bay would consider that possibility.

What, then, is the solution? Green Bay is probably trying to offer money to Favre to stay away from the game, but I don’t see that ending this dispute. Eventually I see the Packers somehow dragging this until September, at which time they will be forced to deal with either Minnesota or Chicago. This way they would at least get something in return for Favre, and can then try to sell it off as "Brett gave us no choice".

No matter how you look at it, the Packers are the big losers in this mess, so their mindset has to be on getting something positive out of a rotten situation.

Ralated tags:

Sports headlines, Sports TV