Aaron Rodgers: Packers and Brett Favre Should “Heal Things Up and Move Forward”

During the NFL awards show on February 5th, an event once considered  unthinkable occurred when Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Packers QB Brett Favre appeared on stage together to present the Comeback Player of the year Award to Peyton Manning.  The surprising joint appearance was slightly awkward at times, but in general the two seemed to enjoy the moment, which is news in itself.

Favre left the Packers in 2008 after he retired and tried to comeback one too many times  The Packers were committed to Rodgers as their quarterback, and Favre’s departure, first to the New York Jets followed a year later by his signing with the division rival Minnesota Vikings , was about as contentious as it gets.  The two quarterbacks refused to even talk about each other, and Packer’s fans were at first split over the choice of Rodgers, and were later incensed at Favre’s move to Minnesota.

Since that time, Rodgers has won a Super Bowl with the Packers, validating the change at quarterback.  Favre retired again and for sure, and has had a couple of years away from the game.  Both players have had an apparent change in perspective over time, and now Rodgers says it’s time the relationship between the Packers and Favre was repaired.  Rodgers reiterated that point on his radio show, saying “I thought it was good timing to just let the fans know, let Brett know, let’s move forward. Let’s heal things up and let’s move forward.”

We think this is indeed the start of Favre’s return to the Packer family’s good graces.  Favre’s biggest issues were with general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy, the guys who make the personnel decision, so a complete reconciliation may not occur until those two move on.  But Favre will be a certain first ballot Hall of Famer in a couple of years, and at some point he’ll be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame.  By that time the bitterness will be behind and Favre can once again be appreciated in Green Bay for the great player that he was.