I never was a huge fan of the ol' gunslinger.  Sure, it was fun to watch him act like a 12 year old who just saw his first set of hooters when he threw a big TD pass, but the man always seemed to me like he thought he was bigger than the game.

The media rarely helped when it came to being objective about his performance, whether he played well, average, or poorly, or the team won or lost.  If Green Bay won, it was because Favre carried the team.  If they lost, it was because the talent around him wasn't good enough.  If he played poorly in one game, his teammates let him down.  If he played well, it was as if he was not only throwing lasers that made a Roger Clemens fastball appear slow, but also running down the field and catching them....breaking and/or dislocating a few fingers in the process.

Throwing into double coverage?  No big deal...his cannon arm would prevent defenders from intercepting, or maybe not.

Tossing it up for grabs to avoid a sack as a 12 year veteran who should know to either take the sack and live for another down, or simply throw it away?  Nope, not this guy.  He was going to complete a pass, and if his guy didn't come down with it, it was their fault, not his.

But this isn't about the 16 years he spent taking snaps as the QB of the Green Bay Packers...well, not really anyway.

This is about all the nonsense that has transpired since March 6th, 2008, when #4 announced his retirement.  Sort of.  I said at the time I doubted he'd remain retired, and that things could get messy if (when) he changed his mind (something he's good at...or, I guess, not so good at...) and wanted to play again.

I don't know all the details of the meetings he and various members of the Packers organization had from that day until Favre was sent to the Jets, and I won't put all the blame on Favre for how the situation was handled either.

Here is what I do know:

Favre retired....it was HIS decision.  Contrary to popular (Favre worshiper) belief, Ted Thompson did NOT run him out of town.  Had Thompson wanted Favre gone, in order to build the team to his own liking, he would have done so sooner than 3 years into his tenure as GM, don't you think?

He would not have allowed Favre to waffle for 2 offseasons, giving him ample time to decide about playing again, then giving him even more when Favre still couldn't decide.

He certainly could have began trade talks 5 minutes after Aaron Rodgers fell into his lap in the 2005 draft, don't you think?  Sure, fans would have been upset, but if Thompson's ego was really at work here, do you think he'd have given a rat's rear end?

When Favre announced his retirement, Aaron Rodgers was finally going to get his chance to prove he could play in the NFL....or not play.  While the record may not show much success, the stats say Rodgers is doing a pretty good job for a 1st year starter.  "But, he's been in the league for 3 years, he knows the system inside and out....he should be winning more games, blah blah blah."  Maybe so, but perhaps if the defense and special teams were performing somewhere in the neighborhood of "average," he'd have a few more wins under his belt.

The sad part of the whole situation is that because Favre changed his mind, he and his supporters expected he be handed his job back.  Why?  If a fellow employee takes early retirement, and you are in line to take over his position, but then he changes his mind 3 months later, would YOU think it was fair if they gave it back to him?  I doubt it.  Obviously, the NFL is not your average workplace, but the situation is similar in that Favre did retire, and Rodgers was in line for the job anyway (he was essentially drafted due to the "unkown" future of Favre, who had already been talking about retirement prior to the '05 draft).

Nobody is more sick of hearing that "If Brett Favre were still taking snaps, the Packers would be 10-5 (or better) right now" than I am.  Prove it.  The only way to compare the 2 right now is to look at their individual stats.  Those show that Rodgers is having the better individual season.

Translate Favre's stats into the Packers games, and in theory, they would likely have 1 fewer win, considering how the rest of the team has performed.

A few basic things need to be understood with both Rodgers and Favre.

1. Favre is not the single, solitary reason the Jets went from 4 wins last year, to a possible playoff berth this season.  A few key free agent signings, development of young offensive linemen, and...oh, that weak schedule they played (odd though, that they failed to win against any of the west coast teams they faced on the road, considering none of them are any good).

2. Rodgers is not the single, solitary reason Green Bay is dreadful this year.  Horrible defense, particularly against the run, leading the league in penalty yards against, poor offensive line play (due in small part to injuries, but also just plain ineffectiveness), lousy play-calling (McCarthy showed me once again that he is NOT a good coach, and last year was a fluke) and pathetic special teams (blocked FG's, inability to cover kicks or punts).

3. While Rodgers may be in his 4th year, holding a clip board for 98% of the 3 previous years does very little to prepare you for the speed of the game...actually, it probably does more harm than good.  Sitting one year is considered a good thing, so you can learn some of the more intricate details of life in the NFL, but 3 years is just too long.

4. Favre, after he was traded to the Jets, had trouble grasping their playbook.  The Jets had to "dumb it down" so Favre could understand it, and they've basically been running plays and using terminology that HE is familiar with all season.  Listen closely in their final game against Miami, and the pre-snap calls he makes are exactly the same as they were 12 years ago when Green Bay beat New England in the Super Bowl.

5. As much as some want to believe that Favre was the reason they ever made it there in the first place, much less win it, I call 'bullspit'!  Favre (as good as he supposedly already was prior to the '95 season) failed to get past the Cowboys in the playoffs for what seemed like 8 years in a row.  When they finally broke the playoff jinx, it was against San Francisco and Carolina, not the Cowboys.

On that team was Reggie White, Sean Jones, Santana Dotson, LeRoy Butler, Eugene Robinson, Craig Newsome, Doug Evans, Bernardo Harris, George Koonce (on the defensive side), Keith Jackson, Mark Chmura, Andre Rison (signed late in the season to replace an injured..), Robert Brooks, Antonio Freeman, Edgar Bennett, Don Beebe and Dorsey Levens (don't forget an o-line that featured Frank Winters, Adam Timmerman and Aaron Taylor...and a couple other guys I can't remember anymore).  They had Chris Jacke and Desmond Howard on special teams, and the coverage units were pretty good.

Favre won NOTHING by himself.  Aaron Rodgers won't either.  It takes a team to win in the NFL, and hopefully the Packers can build around Rodgers and get back in the playoffs soon, so the lame, illogical b.s. about how Favre would have led this year's team there will end, and all the blind morons who believe that stuff will go away.

The Packers are now Rodgers' team.  It's just too bad the coach is a bozo, his staff is almost as bad, and the team around him (minus the skill players on offense, and a few guys on defense) are not very good.  Ted Thompson isn't exactly doing a great job as GM either.  His drafts haven't produced the kind of impact players a team needs, and his lack of impact free agent signings aren't helping much.

What he has done right is get the team out of salary cap purgatory that Mike Sherman got them in, and managed to retain most of the key players with sensible contract extensions.  However, if Greg Jennings does not get an extension this offseason, I'll personally stand outside Lambeau Field and call for him to be tarred and feathered.