Did you ever have that on again, off again relationship you just couldn’t shake? I know I did. My high school sweetheart and I broke up and got back together something like 8 times over the course of almost 3 years before she finally said what might have been some of the most important words in both of our lives:

This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now.

Looking back I know I was being an ####, breaking up because I “needed space” and then crawling back when I got lonely. Every once in a while, she would need her space too and we’d take a break and then she’d call and talk to me “just to catch up” and in a few days we were back together and everything would be fine again. For a few months, anyway.

I think it was the beginning of the end of my own innocence when she decided she’d had enough and needed to move on for good. I remember talking to her that night and hearing the determination in her voice, and it made everything crystal clear. I never called again. I knew she was taking control of her life and growing up without me, and that I needed to do the same.

It’s time Green Bay makes that call. This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now.

This is hard for Packer fans to accept, for Brett Favre is the only quarterback many of them know, and those who have known other Packer QB’s are probably not old enough to recall with true clarity the greatness of the Lombardi era with Bart Starr under center. In fact, Brett Favre is probably the only QB most of the personnel in the front office have known. Like that first boyfriend or girlfriend, your first franchise QB is a hard thing to let go.

But Brett Favre needs to go away, and the Packers need to make sure he does. I am glad he’s responded to the reports of his return and said there’s nothing to it. But you know what he really needs to do? Sign and turn in his retirement papers and make it official. To the best of my knowledge and my Google skills, I don’t believe he’s done that yet, and this is damn near 6 months since he had that teary press conference where he told the world he was finished. Green Bay ought to demand that he make it official.

The fact is this yearly drama – will he or won’t he – is getting more tired than Pam Anderson’s numerous marriages. I liked Brett Favre as a player. His love for the game, his “gunslinger” style, his willingness to play through injuries and show up every day to do his job through all kinds of adversity is something to be admired in all walks of life. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you act when you’re a professional ANYTHING.

On the other hand, his willingness to get into other people’s business and hold the franchise hostage year in and year out as he mulls whether or not to continue being the consummate professional tarnishes that very image. And with each year this saga continues, the more dents you find on that trophy.

Professional sports are an all or nothing proposition. You have to take the whole thing, lock, stock and barrel, in order to be a part of it. To start allowing players to take training camps off or not actually travel with the team when they’re not in use undermines the very thing that should make sports inspiring – the concept of team.

I am an actor. Now, I only do live theatre, so I can only speak from that experience. Say I were to be cast in a show, play that role for a while, decide I am done playing it then leave long enough for them to find a replacement for me, that would be it for me and that show. The show has moved on. They sure as hell wouldn’t bring me back.

Brett finally decided to let the show move on, and that’s exactly what the Packers did. Aaron Rodgers has spent an entire offseason being the man. The team has spent an entire offseason with Rodgers as the man. The coaching staff has put in the time and effort to change their game plan to live life without Brett Favre and you know what? They’ll be fine. The Green Bay Packers were a great franchise before Favre took his first snap and it will be long after he’s gone.

In particular, Aaron Rodgers doesn’t deserve this. Recent comments aside, Rodgers has done nothing but conduct himself appropriately while waiting in the wings. It’s not his fault the Packers drafted him, and it’s certainly not his fault he’s in the middle of this whole mess. Think about this – if this continues, Rodgers could be a first round (albeit late) QB selection who spends the bulk of his prime as a backup through no fault of his own whatsoever. If you think for a minute that Rodgers would be the starter if he “won the competition” between himself and Favre, you’re out of your mind. So long as Favre is lacing them up, the Packers coaching staff is starting him. No way do they take the kind of PR hit that would come along with benching the football icon that is Brett Favre.

Look at his stats from two seasons ago, when Favre logged a 1-1 touchdown to interception ratio, or the season before that when Favre threw nine more touchdowns than interceptions. Favre still played and started all 16 games in both seasons. Yes, in the same article, I can venerate Favre for being the consummate pro, ready to play every day. But I can also point out that it’s pretty damn easy to do so when nobody’s trying to tell you no.

It’s time for that. Green Bay needs to tell Brett no. They need to make a statement of their own and say, once and for all, that they have moved on and are ready to start a new era at Lambeau Field. If he decides he wants to return and the Pack brings him back, Rodgers should demand a trade next offseason. It’s time Rodgers gets a chance to prove himself as a player, and I am sure there are several teams that would be willing to give him this chance.

If Green Bay allows this to happen, it damns the franchise to mediocrity for years to come as they draft and groom yet another heir to the throne of Brett Favre while throwing away the time they spent annointing Aaron Rodgers as that heir in the first place.

Please, Green Bay, stop stunting your own growth. Let that boyfriend go and move on to something new and different. Tell Brett that it’s stopping now and you’re moving on without him. You’ll be glad you did.