Good News from the NFL

Today, the Green Bay Packers did not lose. Of course, that's because they didn't play.

Now, if you follow sports news, you've heard all the rumors and speculation and prognostication about #4. But I don't buy in to all the talk of why it would be a good thing to trade Brett Favre. Good on paper, bad in practice. Sure, the Packers could get some value for him, and sure, it might be nice to see Favre play for a team with enough talent to have a credible shot at winning the Super Bowl again. But there's also value to the fact of his continued identification with the team. He's come to define the franchise. And a new system would be as much of a struggle for him as anyone else; it seems unlikely that he would really be able to single-handedly turn a team around. More likely, his interception percentage would go up with a new receiving corps unused to him and a set of defenses that have studied his every move for the past twelve years.

Bestides, it was not nearly as much fun to see Joe Montana wear a Kansas City Chiefs uniform and perform only moderately well in a new system for his last two years; it would be just as not much fun to see Favre wearing a Cleveland or Oakland or Miami (or Kansas City) uniform. Everybody wants to remember Favre as a Green Bay Packer, and that's how it ought to be. So ride it all the way home to Mississippi, Brett, and tell Aaron Rodgers everything you know about how to do it with the joy and style that you've brought to the game.