Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers have not been on good terms lately.
The two were a bit like friends you knew who dated and then broke up, then completely imploded. They couldn’t mention each other without throwing in some kind of snide comment, and couldn’t be in the same room together at the same time.
Favre left the team on bad terms in 2008, when he retired as the team increased the pressure to move Aaron Rodgers into the starting job. Favre changed his mind and decided to come back, but the Packers had already moved on with a new man. They were sticking with Rodgers.
This led Favre to a jaunt around the league for his final few seasons, landing first with the New York Jets before going to Green Bay’s arch rival, the Minnesota Vikings (with a few other retirements and un-retirements thrown in, for good measure).
But now there seems to be a bit of a detente between Brett Favre and the Packers. Green Bay CEO Mark Murphy said the team hopes to bring Favre back into the family , and already the two have begun interacting more.
“I thought he and Aaron [Rogers] jointly presenting the Comeback Player of the Year Award was a great first step,” Murphy told Fox Sports Wisconsin . “We’re hopeful to have him back in the fold and get him back involved in the organization soon.”
Favre and Rodgers have not enjoyed the best relationship, so the meeting between the two appeared to represent a major step in bringing the Hall of Fame quarterback to the team again.
“I thought it was good timing to just let the fans know, to let Brett know, let’s move forward,” Rodgers said on his Wisconsin radio show in February. “Let’s heal things up and move forward.”
Bringing Brett Favre back to the Packers would be important for both. Favre broke records with the Packers and led the team to a Super Bowl win, ending his career as perhaps the greatest quarterback to wear the green and gold. The Packers now plan to retire Favre’s number within a year or two.
For Brett Favre, returning to the Packers could ease some of the tension that existed and help the public forget the image of a player, aging and bitter, leaving his longtime team in the lurch.