I promised myself that I was going to quit writing about Brett Favre. I am just as sick of reading and hearing about this whole mess as the rest of you are. But then yesterday THE Green Bay Packer was traded to the New York Jets and I felt like if I didn't write about it today I would be doing BlogHer a great disservice. It is the biggest thing going on in sports news this week. It is bigger than the Summer Olympics and if you don't believe me just turn on ESPN. Or CNN. Open up any news feed in your reader. Heck, just pick up a newspaper. They still print those, right?

Brett Favre is a New York Jet? Favre has been the face of the Green Bay franchise for as long as I can remember. He is even older than I am (he is 38) and you don't see many people my age left in the NFL.

Brett Favre in a New York Jets jersey is like Carrie Bradshaw in a pair of dirty old K-Mart sneakers.

But let's be honest here. Yeah it is a little bit surreal to see Brett Favre wearing anything besides green and gold but the real reason that everyone is so torn up is that Favre was the All-American Hero. The good guy. The one that always rooted for the home team and helped little old ladies cross the street. You could see him getting your cat out of a tree or taking a new neighbor an apple pie that he baked himself on the Tuesday after he won a Super Bowl.

And now he is just another money hungry athlete. A megalomaniac who couldn't let go of the spotlight.

I am all torn up about this and I am not even a Packers fan. But Dana is:

I don’t think you ever wanted to come back to Green Bay.  The
Vikings sparked your interest (even though everyone in the NFL denies
it) and when you couldn’t get your way, you threw a temper tantrum. 
Are you three years old?

I loved you, Brett.  I still do.  But I’m disappointed.  I grew up
watching you play.  I went to games at Lambeau FIeld and sat in awe,
happy to see you in action. The magnitude of your star shines brightly,
but I think that light has clouded your vision a little too much.

Were you really that upset that Coach McCarthy handed the starting
position to Aaron Rodgers?  Was that too much to bear?  The kid stood
in your shadow so long, you wanted to keep him there?

It makes me sad. He could have stayed retired and been a hero forever. He could have had a tv job in about 30 seconds. ESPN, NFL Network, FOX Sports, Inside the NFL, Monday Night Football... who wouldn't want to watch Brett Favre talking about football?

And what about his health? He is 38 years old getting hit by 250 pound defensive backs that are trained to knock the crap out of him. The older you are the longer it takes to heal. Doesn't he realize how many retired NFL players can't even walk without pain? I remember thinking last year how smart Favre was for getting out of the league without any major injuries. What if he is less lucky this year?

Janelle at First and Goal thinks that this is a win/win situation:

In the trade’s aftermath, the question of the hour is “Who’s the winner
here: Favre or the Packers?” In my opinion, they both won.  I say this
because both sides got what they wanted. Favre is playing again and the
Packers are moving into another direction... Now, I dont know about the Jets reaching the Super Bowl but I do know that they will at least clinch a playoff berth.

While I respect her opinion, I disagree. Not only do I think the Jets will have a losing season, but I also think that Brett Favre looks bad, The Jets look like they were so desperate that they needed a washed up quarterback and the Green Bay Packers Organization looks bad. Green Bay handled the whole thing so poorly they felt like they needed to hire Ari Flieischer.

Ari Fleischer! The former White House Press Secretary!

I have read hundreds (I'm not exaggerating) of blog posts on the whole Farve to Jets thing and except for Jets fans (who crashed the New York Jets official website yesterday buying #4 jerseys) everybody seems to be unhappy. 

I will leave you with this from Freedom Eden:

I wonder how Favre will do in New York.

Will the fans there embrace him the way the Green Bay fans did?

New
York can be pretty rough and unforgiving. He's not going to a kinder
and gentler place. It will be an entirely different atmosphere than
what Favre is used to in Green Bay. Favre is going from the smallest
market in the NFL to the biggest.

If what he needs is to be loved unconditionally and adored, I don't know that he'll find what he's looking for there.

 Good luck Brett. I hope you know what you have gotten yourself into.

Contributing Editor Sarah also blogs at Sarah and the Goon Squad and Draft Day Suit.