A New Shade of Green

December 30th, 2007. There I was, sitting in the stands at Giants Stadium. One day previous, the NFL's most high-profile regular season game in...well, ever, had taken place in the same stadium, a 38-35 New England Patriots victory over the New York Giants.

16-0, they were.

The New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs came in with a combined 7-23 record. With no beer to warm the stadium or spirits, guess who was to entertain several thousand frigid fans for the day?

The day was memorable for a couple reasons: 1. fantastic seats, thanks to a friend with better connections and a more positive attitude than I'll ever have and 2. the worst display of quarterbacking humanly possible. You know it's bad when the fans - stone cold sober, literally - are chanting for Chad Pennington to enter the game at the half.

Brodie Croyle and Kellen Clemens managed to "manage" the game and not throw a single pick between them - frostbitten fingers may be to thank for that - but it was a cruel end to the season. Even the overtime Jets' win was torturous for New Yorkers, coming nine minutes and 47 seconds into the extra session, and costing the Jets several spots in the draft, a.k.a. Matt Ryan.

Enter Brett Favre; right place, right time.

Jets' general manager Mike Tannenbaum got creative and pulled the trigger, not only on the Favre trade, but on Pennington, who will be out of New York as of today to clear cap space.

Now the story that, agonizingly, would just not go away, is just not going away for a long time. Cue the hysteria.

• The New York Post calls it "[the Jets'] boldest personnel move in team history". I hardly think it's bold. Giving up a conditional pick for a Pro Bowl quarterback who has a knack for theatrics and never-ever (ever) misses a game. They've also coined "Broadway Brett" as a nickname. Sounds like it will be nauseatingly pounded into our heads in no time.



• Mike Vaccaro says Favre is the talk of the Olympic games. He goes on to say the Jets could steal the Giants thunder. Does "defending champion" mean nothing these days? Though, he tempers his enthusiasm a bit towards the end, as does Jay Greenberg.



• William C. Rhoden says it's go time for Eric Mangini, as memory proves short for the coach who exceeded expectations a year earlier.



• Yahoo's Matthew Darnell brings up some interesting points and gives you a peak at his new jersey.



• CBS Sportsline's experts are very skeptical. [1][2]

Every legitimate, illegitimate, and basement news/blog/telegraph outlet is writing about this today - and most have been for weeks - so there's very little new to say about this whole fiasco. But there are three thoughts I haven't heard discussed.

• First, all the hubbub seems to revolve around the fact that Favre is losing his Packers virginity or some slice of innocence by going to another team. People are bringing up names like John Elway and Joe Montana to discuss points and counter-points.
  
  Did everyone forget his Falcons days? Short and forgettable days they were (two INTs in four attempts, ouchamagoucha), but he HAS played for another franchise. I think this is one of the more aggravating things brought up in sports today. People wonder about the legacy and performance of a millionaire changing locations. Players have to adjust to these circumstances ALL THE TIME, even so-called franchise players.
  
  Favre has lost teammates to free agency, trades, and retirement and he's had to leave a team before too. He left his father's high school program at Hancock North Central when he graduated, Southern Miss - where he gained legendary status - when he went into the NFL, and again with Atlanta. It's an inevitability for athletes that they will call different places home. New York will surely be a very different transitional experience for Favre, but let's not pretend like it's an insurmountable issue, because it's not. Not for any quarterback, never mind THE quarterback. Not for any man, never mind the Ironman.
  
  The only variable is fan perception, but somebody, somewhere will pay to see the guy play. That's why LeBron may chase $50 million in Europe and that's why it doesn't matter where Favre plays.



• With all the controversy stewing in Green Bay, I believe a potential solution was overlooked by all parties involved.
  
  Trade Aaron Rodgers.
  
  If the Packers sold high on Rodgers, it would allow them to get a return on a player with no track record and clear up all issues regarding Favre's legacy and the Packers' direction. Would you tell me Minnesota, Tampa Bay, or even the Jets wouldn't take a flier on Rodgers? It beats the alternatives in those locations. Would it create a rift in the locker room? I can't believe it would. Favre would instill more confidence - and wonder - and the club would shake it off, because that's what professionals are supposed to do. Instead, you moved a franchise figure-head, marketing superstar, and Pro Bowl quarterback who got you within a game of the Super Bowl the previous season, all in lieu of a passer with nothing proven. As far as the post-Favre/real retirement days, you drafted Brian Brohm at great value in the second round of last year's draft. Have him learn from the best, just in case the best ever does leave the game.



• Last, what does this mean for Madden '09? Will the sparkling photo of him in Packers' garb still grace the cover? Will they re-shoot with that darker green and white? Madden 09's website doesn't say anything yet, but they were kind enough to throw a pic up on their front page.
  
  I'm most concerned about the Madden Curse. Does it carry over? Does it stay in Green Bay? Was Brett Favre born before curses and, thus, invincible to their charms? These are the things I think.

It's too bad that things turned so foul, so fast in Green Bay. That is the most inconceivable part about this to me. How does a player with that history, that effort, and that success get traded out of town after another historic season?

Maybe it's greed. Maybe it's a need to move forward. It doesn't seem like there was any win-win solution in this whole process.

For much of middle-school and early high-school life, I was borderline obsessed with football jerseys, I wore them all the time. Eddie George, Marshall Faulk, Wayne Chrebet, Keyshawn Johnson, Dan Marino, Kerry Collins; I wore their names on my back for years. Of course, there was sufficient Patriots representation in there too, highlighted by Drew Bledsoe, Ben Coates, and Adam Vinatieri - and low-lighted by Terry Allen.

But there was one jersey that I wore longest and proudest. It faded over time, but the hero who wore it to work didn't. I continued to wear that jersey, even at Emerson. It seemed it could never go out of style, nor correctness and, while Favre will no longer lace them up at Lambeau, the jersey still seems appropriate. How could it ever go out of style?

Evidently, Green Bay decided the best ever was no longer the look they were going for. So, like Green Bay was scheduled to do in the season opener, I'll stash #4 away. Not to Goodwill, like so many worn-down and destroyed jerseys ended up, but to the shirt drawer Hall of Fame.

Brett has picked up new laundry and nobody can fill that old jersey.