I’ll strip away all context and just tell you this. A legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback has been traded to the desperate New York Jets in the twilight of his career, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday.
Is that sentence about Brett Favre in 2008 or Aaron Rodgers in 2023? It’d be impossible to tell without the granular details like “Twitter” and “podcasts,” wouldn’t it?
Rodgers, at age 39, is headed to play with the Jets and try and compete for a championship. Fun fact: Favre was 38 when the Jets acquired him 15 years ago. Spooky. Why it’s almost as if Rodgers more or less followed Favre’s path to New York from Green Bay.
Dearest Reader: That’s precisely what happened.
As another Packers football luminary begins a fresh era with the Jets, let’s examine all the eerily similar ways Rodgers found his way to New York like Favre once did.
1
Both began their career on the bench
Favre and Rodgers didn’t play much to start their respective Packers careers.
After the Atlanta Falcons traded Favre to Green Bay in 1992, Favre was supposed to be the backup to Don Majkowski. But when the incumbent starter suffered a severe ankle injury in Week 3 of that season, Favre stepped in and led a comeback victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The rest was history.
Rodgers spent a lot more time on the sideline. After being drafted in 2005, it would take roughly three years — with occasional spot duty sprinkled in — before Rodgers would ironically take over for the since-departed Favre in 2008.
If only the Packers knew what they had in both right away…
2
A meteoric rise to stardom
It didn’t take long for both Favre and Rodgers to acclimate to the NFL game.
After becoming the full-time starter, Favre soon morphed into one of pro football’s most exciting players, earning two Pro Bowl berths in 1992 and 1993.
Rodgers would take his lumps in 2008, but it was mostly all gravy from there. The ensuing 2009 campaign saw Rodgers take an elite Packers offense to the playoffs as he earned the first Pro Bowl selection of his career.
3
MVP-level play in their youth
Favre and Rodgers weren’t just run-of-the-mill stars in their early Packers heydays. They became the best players in the NFL as soon as they got comfortable in their green and gold digs.
In his fifth year at the helm of the Packers, at age 26, Favre would garner the first of three consecutive MVP honors. Meanwhile, in his fourth season leading the Green Bay attack, at age 28, Rodgers took home the first of four MVPs.
4
An early career Super Bowl victory teasing a new era in pro football
There was a time when many believed Favre and Rodgers would lead respective Packers dynasties. It happened for a peak-of-his-powers Favre when he took a dominant Packers to a win in Super Bowl 31 in 1996. And it happened for Rodgers when he took a Wild-Card Green Bay squad to a victory in Super Bowl 45 in 2010.
In both cases, it sure seemed like we’d be witnessing green and gold royalty in the years to come…
5
The playoff failures at Lambeau Field begin, as does the perennial disappointment
Before Favre and Rodgers entered the picture, trying to beat the Packers in Lambeau Field in January was impossible. It was an achievement with a mystique of its own.
But after leading Green Bay to a loss in Super Bowl 32, Favre never returned to the Big Game. From 1998 to the end of his Packers tenure in 2007, Favre had a postseason record of 4-6. A home playoff loss to Michael Vick’s Atlanta Falcons in 2003 was the first time the Packers had ever lost at Lambeau in the postseason.
On Rodgers’ pit of misery, his Packers would never travel back to the Super Bowl after their 2010 victory. From 2011 to the end of his Green Bay run in 2022, Rodgers was just 7-9 in the second season. His symbolic home loss might have been a defeat to the New York Giants in the 2012 divisional round after a 15-1 campaign.
6
Both start to toy around with retirement and fresh starts in their late Packers careers
Those who followed Favre’s Packers journey probably never thought someone could possibly mimic his winter drama. In fact, from 2006 to 2008 (and a little beyond), Favre made talk of his future a one-man circus. He actually might have been better at waffling around than throwing touchdowns.
Then Rodgers came around.
And he wanted to pressure the Packers after their 2018 failures.
And he had the infamous “Last Dance” with Davante Adams in 2021 that amounted to… a home playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
And now, over the last two months, Rodgers has been in a “darkness retreat.” He’s told us to “stay tuned,” and all the while, it was never completely certain whether he was retiring or getting traded.
What a fitting tribute to his Packers predecessor.
7
Getting the Jets to wine and dine them
Boy, for someone who didn’t seem fond of how Favre kept him from playing to start his career, Rodgers seemed perfectly happy copying him!
As an unhappy Favre tried to force the Packers’ hand in the summer of 2008, the Jets would pull out all the stops to court him before an August trade. The same sentiment holds true for Rodgers. Swap out some of the names in this recruiting report below and “California” for “Mississippi,” and it’s like Rodgers expressly wanted to imitate Favre.
I’m told the Jets contingent on the way to California includes team owner Woody Johnson, GM Joe Douglas, head coach Robert Saleh, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, possibly others. https://t.co/yooNauScXw
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) March 7, 2023
8
Officially joining the Jets
Eventually, Favre would find his way to the Jets. So, as you see now, would Rodgers. And stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Packers were eager to move on from both because they had a top prospect they finally wanted to be their starter. Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it or something.
All that’s left for Rodgers to do in his Favre mirroring is to play one season in New York and return to the state of Minnesota with a scorching-hot vendetta for the Packers. Talk about a potential on-the-nose development.
If that happens, he can never deny he didn’t read Favre’s Pro Football Reference and Wikipedia pages.
