Why Miami Dolphins fans shouldn't care about Brett Favre to New York Jets trade

To Miami Dolphins Fans: There is no doubt that the 2008 NFL off-season has been dominated by two stories: Jason Taylor’s exodus from the Miami Dolphins and Brett Favre’s decision to unretire (like he was actually retired in the first place) and return to the NFL.

As Dolphins fans, we thought we were in the clear with Taylor being traded to the Washington Redskins a few weeks ago. But then Favre’s situation worsened. It became more than a national story. The Favre Watch was on and, no matter how hard we tried, we could not get away from it. All that we could hope for was some type of resolution—anything to get Favre out of the ESPN.com top story, away from the PTI headlines, muting the mouths of our talk radio pundits and sports commentators that all had their own opinion on the situation. Something that would allow us to re-focus on real sports stories—our own team’s training camp and pre-season games, the exciting MLB season and the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Then they (the Packers, media, God himself) go ahead and f*&k us again. Favre gets traded to our rival New York Jets late Wednesday night. Let’s stop right here so I can clear something up. No, this is not some rant about how Favre being on our hated foe is going to keep us from winning games or the division. In fact, the only negative of this entire situation is that we will not stop hearing about Favre no matter how hard we try. We play the Jets twice a year and follow our division closely—now there is no escaping Favre and the drama he drags along with him.

Aside from that, the fact of the matter is this: as far as Favre and the Jets are concerned, I could care less. I’m indifferent. It doesn’t matter. I could even argue it helps us. Let me break it down and show you The Silver Lining of this whole situation.

* I am going to start by matter-of-factly stating that the Jets are no longer my most hated NFL franchise. The New England Patriots, with the help of Bill Bellichick and the city of Boston, have taken that title with ease. The improvement of the Jets can only help to overthrow the villainous Patriots franchise, perhaps even knock them out of the playoffs all together with a little luck and some hard work. Maybe Favre can be instrumental in sending the Pats back into the dark ages.

* Favre’s first game in the green-and-white will be against our Dolphins at home in Dolphins Stadium on a hopefully hot and sunny Sunday afternoon. Aside from the fact that we can deal a strong blow to Favre’s celebratory return to the NFL by going out and beating the Jets, the game is going to be a LOT of fun! The stadium will be packed, the Dolphins will sell a LOT of tickets—it will be CBS’s 1:00 p.m. nationally televised game. If they allowed a Week 1 Flex game, it would be on Sunday Night Football.

* Favre’s tenure with the Jets will not be long. We’re looking at most likely a two-year run, three years max. (Interesting, considering he “retired” this year and may now play for another two.) The Dolphins are nowhere near close to seriously competing for a division title, conference title or Super Bowl championship in the next two years. Let’s stop kidding ourselves. We’ll be lucky to win 4-5 in ’08, 6-8 in ’09 and 9-11 in ’10…and that’s if everything goes right! Favre’s presence in New York does not affect the future of the Dolphins. Will we lose a few more games to the Jets over the next two years? Sure. Do the Jets have more time to find a suitable QB to replace Favre? Maybe. Aside from that, it doesn’t matter.

So, in the end, the Favre situation has come to impact us more than we would have originally hoped. Luckily, it will all be superficial. He is not a threat to the future of the Miami Dolphins, and the present isn’t promising enough for us to get worked up over anyway.

The goal of this edition of The Silver Lining is to qualm any concerns about Favre joining the AFC East before they arise—to put out a flickering, hopefully non-existent fire. To say, honestly, as far as Brett Favre is concerned, I no longer care and haven’t for quite some time—and neither should you.

Favre Speaks, (Billy) Packer Fired, Donaghy Co-Horts

I figured Monday is a good time to tie up some loose ends from the weekend and, without computer access all day, I honestly didn't feel like going too in-depth on one story.

Favre Speaks: Retired Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre spoke publicly for the first time since deciding to return to the NFL with none other than Packers fan and shareholder and FOX News talking head Greta Van Susteren. Conflict of interest?! Among other asinine comments, Favre said he wants to return but no longer feels welcome in Green Bay. Read the rest...

(Billy) Packer Fired: After 27 years as the lead college basketball analyst for CBS, Billy Packer was fired over the weekend. Packer covered 34 consecutive years of March Madness tournaments (starting at NBC) and is now being replaced by studio analyst Clark Kellogg. While I enjoyed Packer during broadcasts, especially the two Florida Gators runs in 2006 and 2007, it was time for him to leave. All the best, Billy. Read the CBS story...

Donaghy Co-Horts: Also big news stepping from the weekend is former NBA referee Tim Donaghy's private phone records. According to reports FOX, Donaghy made 134 phone calls during the 2006-07 season (most before or after games he worked) to fellow official Scott Foster. Perhaps this scandal is not based on "one rogue official" as Commissioner David Stern claims?

Brett Favre: I Want To Play (Just Not in Green Bay)

Just when you thought it was safe to be an NFL general manager, your long-time, future Hall of Fame, Super Bowl-winning RETIRED franchise QB makes your life difficult. That has to be what Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy are thinking this afternoon as Brett Favre has told the team he wants to play with an unconditional release from his Green Bay Packers contract.

Wow.

Three days after expressing to Packers' officials during a conference call his desire to play in 2008, Favre had his agent James "Bus" Cook send an overnight letter officially asking for his client's contractual release. Favre claims pressure from the Packers seeking a decision caused him to retire in March even though he had felt the same way about retirement as he did in previous seasons.

More so, Favre indicated that his tenure and dedication to Green Bay should be enough to afford him an unconditional release, without any strings or worry of trade: he wants full control of his future, even though he is under contract for three more years.

Wow again.

Simply put, this is a horrible move on Favre's part. While I fully support ANY athlete wanting to play as long as he is physically able to, Favre went out like a champion last year, even if his last pass was an interception. The only reason to return should be to win a Super Bowl and, at this point, is that really going to happen? Of course not.

What are the chances that Favre is going to pick the one team out of 32 that will win the whole schabang? He is going to have to learn a brand new system and work with a new offensive line and receivers. The chances for ultimate success are slim, regardless of where.

This may be all fun and games to Favre, but while his achievements and success in Green Bay will be unscathed, his legacy won't be. All he needs to do is look at Joe Montana and ask him how it worked out in Kansas City. Montana got injured and played well but never reached the level of success he did in San Francisco--and he spent FIVE YEARS there. What is Favre going to accomplish in one or two? Or is he planning to play until he's 43?

Green Bay Packers Press Release: The finality of his decision to retire was accepted by the organization. At that point, the Green Bay Packers made the commitment to move forward with our football team.

As a retired player, Brett has the option to apply for reinstatement with Commissioner Goodell. If that were to occur, he would become an active member of the Green Bay Packers. As always, the Packers will do what's right and in the best interest of the team.

Brett Favre Not Retiring?

Don't call it a comeback because, let's face it, he never really left. According to multiple sources including ESPN's Chris Mortensen and current Green Bay Packers players who wish to remain nameless, future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre is giving serious consideration to returning to the gridiron this year.

What a surprise.

For me, the surprise was that Favre "retired" in the first place. Especially considering he put up totals of 4,155 yds. and 28 TDs while compiling a 95.7 passer rating just last season. He also brought his team to the NFC Championship game and came close to making the Super Bowl a season after putting up dreadful numbers: 18 TDs, 18 INTs and a 72.7 passer rating.

ESPN is expected to go on the air in just a few minutes with a Favre report. I was allerted to this from a text message from ESPN's news service telling me to be sure and watch NFL Live at 4:00 p.m. today. The show started with host Trey Wingo saying Favre has told head coach Mike McCarthy that he has the itch to play again and continued with studio analyst and current Green Bay Packers player Al Harris saying he has spoken to Favre on a few occaions in which he has reiterated the same feelings.

If Favre does return, one would expect he wants it to be with Green Bay, though in all actuality it may have to be with a team other than the Packers. They just spent the draft giving new QB Aaron Rodgers a plethora of back-ups and competition for his job. One now wonders if Favre's retirement was premature or if he's trying to pull a Roger Clemens and get max money for the least amount of work and has wanted to play and return to the field all along?

Favre is still under contract with the Packers and is currently listed on IR. His family is reportedly pushing him to return to the field. All he would have to do is speak with management and request a reinstatement into the league in order to make his contract active again. There should be more developments in the coming days.

All I can say is if I was the Packers, I would say it's time to move on. If they decide not to, Rodgers should find somewhere else to play.