Associated Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. ó By signing the papers, Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson knew he would become the man who traded Brett Favre.
And that a lot of fans wouldn’t be happy.
Thompson understood the anguish. Not easy to get rid of the face of the franchise.
“I don’t think anybody would be comfortable with that,” he said after trading Favre to the New York Jets late Wednesday night. “This is in many ways sad that this is where it came to. At the end of the day, though, we felt like ó I think all the parties involved felt like ó it was the best solution to a very difficult situation.”
To the Packers, there was no winning formula to their awkward and tense monthlong standoff with their star quarterback.
Packers president Mark Murphy urged fans not to assess blame either way.
“It wasn’t Brett’s fault, and it wasn’t our fault,” Murphy said. “But the relationship got to the point where it couldn’t go forward. Don’t try to blame either side. It’s like a marriage that ends. It happens. And neither party is at fault.”
Yes, Green Bay traded away perhaps the most beloved player in team history and will be without a three-time MVP who might still have a couple of good years left in him.