Favre Comes Back, Pack Haltingly Embraces Him

Quarterback Brett Favre rejoined the Green Bay Packers yesterday, ending his five-month retirement with plans to play this season and, apparently, a pledge from the team that he'll be given a chance to win back his starting job from would-be successor Aaron Rodgers.

Favre and the Packers had been at odds in recent weeks, with Favre asking to be released and the club offering him a lucrative marketing deal to stay in retirement.

But once the NFL announced yesterday that Commissioner Roger Goodell would reinstate Favre this afternoon and Favre boarded a plane to travel from Mississippi to Green Bay, things changed quickly. Barring a last-minute trade of the quarterback to another team or another abrupt change of heart by the three-time league most valuable player, Favre might have an opportunity to pick up where he left off last season, when he led the Packers to the NFC title game before he tearfully announced his retirement in March.

"Sixteen years after Brett Favre came to the Packers, he is returning for a seventeenth season," Mark Murphy, the team's president and chief executive, said in a written statement released by the club. "He has had a great career with our organization and although we built this year around the assumption that Brett meant what he said about retiring, Brett is coming back. We will welcome him back and turn this situation to our advantage."

General Manager Ted Thompson and Coach Mike McCarthy had been adamant in recent weeks that the team had moved on without Favre and was committed to Rodgers as its starter. If Favre returned, they said, it would have to be as a backup. But last night a source familiar with the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said that Favre would be allowed to compete with Rodgers for the starting job and that the club's negotiations with Favre on the proposed marketing deal had ended.

McCarthy is scheduled to address the team's quarterback situation in a news conference tonight at Lambeau Field.

In his statement, Murphy said: "Frankly, Brett's change of mind put us in a very difficult spot. We now will revise many actions and assumptions about our long-term future, all predicated on Brett's decision last March to retire. As a result of his decision, we invested considerably in a new and different future without Brett and we were obviously moving in that direction. That's why this wasn't easy. Having crossed the Rubicon once when Brett decided to retire, it's very difficult to reorient our plans and cross it again in the opposite direction -- but we'll put this to our advantage. . . . This has been a tough situation, but the Packers will make the most of it."

Favre arrived in Green Bay last night. The Packers had a scrimmage scheduled for last night but will not practice today. They're scheduled to practice tomorrow afternoon, and Favre perhaps could be on the field if he passes a physical.

His reinstatement will become official this afternoon. The Packers technically have 24 hours after Favre is reinstated to trade him, release him or put him back on the roster, but promised to make the move today. Favre's $12 million salary for this season will go back on the Packers' salary cap. He currently is on the team's reserve-retired list.

Favre, after deciding in recent weeks that he wanted to play this season, filed his reinstatement request with the league office last week. Goodell had delayed approving it to give Favre and the Packers time to settle their dispute.

The Packers still could trade Favre, either before putting him back on the roster or at some other point in training camp. The chances of that could increase if Rodgers wins the starting job, or if an injury to another team's quarterback increases Favre's trade value. The Packers had tried to trade Favre in recent weeks and reportedly had drawn interest from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets.

It is thought that he wanted to play in Minnesota, but Thompson had said the Packers would not release Favre or trade him to a fellow NFC North team such as the Vikings, Chicago Bears or Detroit Lions. The Packers and Vikings face one another in the regular season opener at Lambeau, and tensions between the two franchises escalated when the Packers accused the Vikings of tampering for improper contact with Favre. That charge remains under investigation by the league.

If Favre remains in Green Bay, some relationships will have to be repaired. Favre took several verbal swipes at Thompson in interviews over the last few weeks. But the general manager said last week he wasn't taking anything personally. Favre's relationship with McCarthy seemed to remain mostly unscathed. Rodgers said last week that he thought his relationship with Favre would be unaffected if Favre reported to training camp. But that was when Rodgers, the former first-round draft pick who spent the last three seasons as Favre's understudy, thought the starting job was his.

Favre, who will turn 39 in October, has started 275 straight games, including the playoffs. He had been considering the marketing deal, reportedly worth between $20 million and $25 million over 10 years, offered to him by the Packers. The Packers said the offer had been on the table since March. But it did not become public knowledge until Murphy traveled to Hattiesburg, Miss., last week to meet with Favre and his agent, Bus Cook.