Just because Brett Favre has been traded to the New York Jets doesn’t mean the Green Bay Packers are off the hook.

Just because Brett Favre has been traded to the New York Jets doesn’t mean the Green Bay Packers are off the hook.

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August 7, 2008

Mike Vandermause column: Thompson's legacy is on the line

Just because Brett Favre has been traded to the New York Jets doesn’t mean the Green Bay Packers are off the hook.

Quite the contrary, the fallout from the feud between Favre and the Packers is just beginning, and the spotlight here will shine brightly on General Manager Ted Thompson.

It was a bonus that the Packers were able to ship Favre to an out-of-sight AFC team and in the process receive a decent draft pick in return.

But that can’t disguise the fact Thompson will always be known as the man who ran a Hall of Fame quarterback out of town. Fair or not, that is the distinction Thompson must live with.

When asked at a press conference Thursday if he was comfortable with that, Thompson said: “No, I don’t think anybody would be comfortable with that. This is in many ways sad that this is where it came to.”

Thompson, and to a lesser degree coach Mike McCarthy, passed up a chance to retain Favre for a 17th season in Green Bay. Cut through the verbiage, semantics and public relations spin and one fact remains: Had the Packers organization pursued Favre more aggressively five months ago, he would be wearing a green and gold uniform today.

Forget about McCarthy’s five-hour huddle with Favre on Monday, or team president Mark Murphy’s lengthy meeting with the quarterback last week in Mississippi. The die was cast in March.

Thompson wanted to move forward. As head of the football operation, that’s his call to make and he’s taking major hits from the fan base for it.

Thompson’s stance on Favre will either go down as one of the gutsiest, shrewdest moves in franchise history. Or it will be viewed as one of the most lame-brained decisions in team annals.

Final judgment will arrive in the next couple years, maybe sooner, and the answer won’t be complicated.

If Aaron Rodgers blossoms into a solid starter this season and leads the Packers deep into the playoffs, while Favre shows his advanced age in the Big Apple, Thompson can rightly tell his critics to buzz off.

However, if Rodgers struggles or gets hurt while Favre shines, there will be no end to the flak awaiting Thompson. He will get berated unmercifully for allowing one of the greatest players in Packers history to slip away. The stakes are incredibly high.

“This is a high-risk business,” Thompson said. “This is the National Football League. We understand that when we sign on. Yeah, does that put us at risk? But there’s all kinds of risks in the NFL, there’s all kinds of risks in life. You make the best decisions you can based on what you believe is in the best interests of the Green Bay Packers.”

But this is no ordinary gamble, and if Thompson is wrong, his legacy will be forever tainted.