It Isn't Favre Versus Rodgers: It's Favre AND Rodgers

Why is anyone, including Green Bay Packer management, having a cow about this?

The Packers have the opportunity to play two quarterbacks: one a certain hall-of-famer and fan favorite and the other a player the Packers believed in enough to draft him as a first-rounder.

Why can't they both play on the same team? The Packers have the cap money to pay both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers this year. If Favre chooses to play for the Packers and is having a bad game, bring in Rodgers. If Rodgers is better than Favre that game, start Rodgers the next game. If Rodgers fails, bring in Favre.

We all know the Packers are the most unique franchise in sports. There is no deep-pocket owner: the fans own the team and pay for it. If the fans aren't happy, jersey sales and Packer Fan Shop sales and visits to Lambeau Field will decline.

The fans love Favre because he is frequently the center of Packer fans' joy in the return to glory, even though it was Reggie White who was the most important player in the Packers' last Superbowl win. Fans who watched every game Favre ever played in a Packer uniform also have seen Favre complete passes in almost impossible situations and that is the joy of Favre.

Green Bay Packer fans love Favre but they also love the Packers. Vince Lombardi told us about winning. Packer fans also know the journey is as important as the result. The joy of sports isn't when you win. The joy of sports is trying to win and Favre exemplified the effort to win.

The Packers can afford both quarterbacks this year. The NFL trading deadline is usually sometime in October. So why not just bring back Favre and have two quarterbacks on the roster? By October, some team will likely be looking for a quarterback and the Packers may be in place to trade one.

Americans develop love affairs with things like land, liberty and athletes. It is not my mission to examine these loves but just to note they exist. Americans, and especially sports fans, love tradition and love those who are viewed as carrying on or advancing those traditions. Favre, no matter his personality or interceptions, returned one fan base to glory after long years of ineptitude. If he threw six interceptions in a playoff game, fans would say: At least we were in the playoffs.

Packer management needs to understand the owners of their team are also the fans of their team. They also have to understand believing and supporting a team is more than just winning. Supporting a team is about wishing and hoping and praying and believing and grabbing the joy of the journey.

Brett Favre has always given us the joy of the journey, whether win or lose.

Packer management needs to understand the people who pay the piper. We always want the joy of the journey and we also want to reconnect with the joys of  other journeys.

The Packers can afford, until at least October, to play two quarterbacks. Let those two quarterbacks battle it out. We, as Packer fans and owners, have the right to watch.