Because, you know, everyone else is talking about it.

Lemme say upfront that I'm probably a little biased. I'm a Vikings fan and hence am required to detest Green Bay. But the Vikings haven't really been all that easy to support for the past several years, for a variety of reasons, and watching them play the Packers I've developed a healthy respect for Favre's talents. I went to Lambeau a few year back, it was cold as hell but the stadium was packed. Mostly nice fans too, they didn't give us a hard time for having Vikes gear (probably helped that they won the game, which was frankly terrible on the part of both teams). This was potentially one of the "last chance to see Favre in GB" games and everyone figured he was finished.

Then he had a nice year in 2007, the Packers got a decent running game to take some of the pressure off and he made fewer stupid plays trying to press for wins. The GB defense was excellent too. It ended poorly, with a playoff loss to the Super Bowl winners set up by a Favre interception, but arguably the real problem in that game was the complete disappearance of the rushing attack that had leveled Seattle previously. Anyway, Favre rides off into the sunset after an excellent career and Aaron Rodgers prepares to take the reins.

Mr. Rodgers (sorry) looked pretty good substituting for Favre last year (in contrast to previous seasons) and the top brass in GB clearly feels he's ready to step in. They aren't looking for anything spectacular, just solid competence at QB. If he doesn't pan out, they've always got Brian Brohm as insurance. And the division is total crap so it's not like the Packers need to be perfect.

Then... surprise! Favre changes his mind, wants to un-retire. Again. One might say, as usual. Certainly a bit selfish, certainly a bit inconsiderate, and definitely putting the Packers in a tight spot. Still, the goal of a football team is to win, and one would think that 28 TD/15 INT/4155 YDS goes a long way towards making that happen. Add in that Favre knows the offense inside out and has a comfortable rapport with the players and it's tough to see the on-the-field downside to putting him back in. Yes, it might cost you Rodgers... but, no disrespect to him, that's hardly the end of the world. Yes, Favre still has a tendency to go gunslinger in a fashion that can be as costly as it can be exciting... but his stats were actually better in the postseason than in the regular season last year, and with reasonable game management by the coach this is a controllable problem.

Plus, he's a living legend in Green Bay. You can't tell him to leave without losing substantial fan support and money. But apparently the Packers weren't interested in having him back. To say that the situation has not been handled gracefully is a massive understatement. From the (somewhat insulting) attempt to pay him to stay away, to the flip-flops on whether he would even be allowed to compete for the starting job, TT, MM, and the ownership have managed to turn an admittedly tough situation into an epic disaster. Favre probably already got the hint that putting the best possible team on the field was not the top priority for this group when his campaigning for them to obtain Randy Moss went nowhere, so he can't have been completely caught off guard by the cool reception to his return. Still the lack of interest in a clear upgrade to a demonstrated performer is surprising: this isn't Pop Warner, where Rodgers gets "his turn" to play; this isn't the minor leagues, where developing players is more important than winning games; this is the NFL, where winning translates into $$, and this is a team that used to live by the ethos that "winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." What happened to that competitive spirit?

So, the Packers looked to move on, and Favre looked to move on. The classy thing here would be to grant him his release and let him finish up his career where he wished. The Packers wouldn't even consider that -- they wanted compensation for losing him (even though they didn't want to play him) and they wanted to prevent him going to a division rival. So ok, trade him -- but again the club ruled out Minnesota as a destination. Apparently Favre is just good enough to upgrade the Vikings QB situation but not good enough to compete for the Packer's starting job. I don't think anyone in the Packers organization could actually say that with a straight face, but that's the only way to interpret that move and still believe that the Packers have a goal of being as competitive within their division as possible.

Anyway, it looks like Favre will be traded to Tampa Bay, ending the soap opera. I think it's unlikely that the Packers will have as successful a season as they did last year, and I think they would have done better to accept Favre, but he certainly didn't make it easy on anyone with his indecisiveness and unclear goals. Should make for an interesting subplot to the upcoming season, that's for sure.

Update late Wednesday: ESPN is reporting Favre traded to Jets for draft pick.
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Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson