Broadway Brett affecting NFL

The Brett Favre soap opera has come to a conclusion and it couldn’t end soon enough for most people. The Green Bay Packers have traded Farve to the Jets for a conditional fourth round pick that should at the very least be a second round selection. Unfortunately, this will be play out longer in Wisconsin than most of the new shows that will be debuting on the various television networks this fall. This whole circumstance could have been avoided if Favre and the Green Bay Packers had acted like smart business people, interested in win-win scenario, instead of narcissistic individuals, playing to the crowd. This whole mess will end up having an impact on several teams, leading one to be cautious about making win total wagers.

Starting with Favre, his behavior off the field the several seasons has left a lot to be desired. The constant flip-flopping of retirement talk has made even boxers blush by comparison. In fact, its surprising Republicans haven’t come out and said Barack Obama is like Brett Favre, wavering on decisions.

Favre has given his all for the Green and Gold, no denying that, yet his constant off-field self-induced dramas has made him the butt of jokes. You have to ask yourself, why Favre would go on Fox’s Greta Van Susteren show. This is sports news, not national news in a traditional sense. Plus, calling out his employers, not feeling loved and wanted, despite making 12 million a year and having about 90 percent of the people in the state in your corner, no matter how many slip-ups over the years. Flying back to be at Lambeau Field for the team’s first official controlled scrimmage with Aaron Rodgers under center last Sunday, told everyone about how important Favre felt about his own shadow.

It’s not like the Green Bay front office is blame-less. General Manager Ted Thompson has never publicly stated any ill-will towards Favre, but has never gone out of this too praise him a great deal, more talking about the team in football-speak. His ridiculous stance of not wanting to Favre back is plain idiotic, since even if Favre were to play back to 2005-06 levels, he’s still in the top half of all starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Where do you or any other GM believes Aaron Rodgers ranks coming into 2008?

The sense you get is Thompson has done a good job rebuilding the Packers into a playoff team and he has fairly high opinion of himself for doing so. His Seattle days left more than a few feathers ruffled and he seems to have the full support of coach Mike McCarthy. This off-season, all of us have seen and heard more from McCarthy than any of his previous two seasons in Packer-land and it’s quite clear, he has his coach-speak down cold. The whole “80-man team” works well in July and August, but what about a divided locker after a few losses early in the season.

Kudos to Aaron Rodgers for being the best adult in the room. His situation was almost impossible after Favre retired, now with this, wow. If adversity determines the strength of a man, than Rodgers could probably win the gold medal for “clean and jerk” portion of the Beijing Olympics right today and the regular season is a month away. He’s done everything flawlessly off the field, however will be judged with greater scrutiny for what he does on the gridiron.

It is of note; the Packers have stayed at 9-1 odds to be NFC Super Bowl representative, however have been passed by Minnesota (5-1) and New Orleans (7-1) and tied by Philadelphia and Seattle as possible Super Bowl teams. Green Bay’s win total has also dropped from opening of Un9 to even money (-115 each side) at 8.5 wins at every sportsbook I could find.

Packer players have talked about being tired of all this talk about one man, who just recently became officially un-retired. What happens if the team gets off to slow start as Steve Makinen from StatFox.com wondered? “Opening Minnesota game has to be emotional on several levels, followed by a short week at sometimes challenging Detroit. Next is home game with Dallas. I’m not saying a 0-3 start will happen, but if it did, you could likely pull the plug on 2008 dreams.”

Tampa Bay figured to be the favorite all along, however something just didn’t click and will be determined in the days ahead. The New York Jets made plenty of noise in the off-season, with signings and now have made the play to knock the Giants off the front page of the sports section. A reasonable argument can be made that the Flyboys offensive skill players are every bit as good as the Packers with receiver Laveranues Coles and running back Thomas Jones leading the way. New York’s offensive line has to be considered above average with youthful talent blended with All-Pro free agent Alan Faneca. Sportsbooks across the world immediately pulled the Jets season total of wins and other long term projection odds. It would seem having the Flyboys at 7.5 or 8 wins, is looking a whole lot better today than on original purchase.

Minnesota thought they were seriously in the running, but underestimated Green Bay’s stubborn in keeping number four out of the division. The Vikings can say what they want, but having arguably the best offensive and defensive lines in the NFL, playing six games against Rodgers, Jon Kitna and T-Rex/Orton, would have made them feel pretty secure having the grey-speckled signal caller under center and improved their odds dramatically as NFC Central and NFC rep down in Tampa in February.

At this juncture, rehashing what should have occurred won’t change what did. Nonetheless, the miscalculations and ego-driven behavior will have direct impact on how the 2008 season will play out for all the teams involved in this fracas. It’s a sad day for Green Bay, but Broadway Brett is the new center of attention in the Big Apple.