By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer
Lots of things come around full circle, and maybe the Jets trading for Brett Favre is one of them.
To me, this seems too much like when the Jets traded their own legendary quarterback -- Joe Namath -- to the Rams. By that time Namath was bruised, battered and just plain worn out. Broadway Joe mananged only four games for L.A. before coach Chuck Knox had the good sense to pull the plug.
Make no mistake, Favre is in much better physical shape than Namath was at the time. But he's still going to turn 39 this year. And there's undoubtedly questions regarding Favre's mental reddiness to return to the gridiron.
For years the Packers have fostered an environment geared toward making Favre as comfortable as possible. They dealt with yearly flirtations with retirment. When head coach Mike McCarthy came aboard, they made efforts to keep the offense Favre friendly. And of course there are the adoring cheeseheads.
None of those things are going to follow Favre to New York.
Not only is Favre's level of comittment open to questions, but he'll have to fit in with a new team. He'll have to learn a new offense weeks into training camp. And there will be more boos than cheers emanating from the stands should Favre turn in a season like he did in 2005 or 2006.
So while this might not be as ugly as the end of Namath's career, it's hard to imagine it being better than if Favre had simply called it quits and meant it.
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