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Green Bay's 2006 season came to a screeching halt last night, five whole months before it began, as Brett Favre has decided to return for another year, according to various sources.

 

Bart Starr, another aging symbol of Green Bay's glorious past, reportedly turned down the opportunity to quarterback the Packers this year. That's too bad. Starr, pictured here at his tryout last week, was a much better playoff quarterback.

 

As loyal Cold, Hard Football Facts.com readers (Hi, cousin Cletus!) know, Favre was almost singularly responsible for throwing away Green Bay's 2005 season, and for driving the team down into the depths of a 4-12 record in the cushy NFC North. Packers management should have done the humane thing this offseason and cut Favre, ending the sappy soap opera of whether this feeble, drooling, mistake-riddled old dog would return to the NFL.

 

This once-great quarterback and future Hall of Famer was arguably the worst quarterback in football last year, as he posted the following stat line, which included more INTs than any player had thrown in nearly 20 years (Vinny Testaverde, 35, 1988):

The Packers have a perfectly good 2005 No. 1 draft pick (Aaron Rodgers) waiting in the wings to take over as quarterback. Instead of looking to the future – and whatever it may hold – Green Bay management and fans seem content to cling to a glorious past that reached its apex 10 years ago, when Favre (aided by the No. 1 defense in football) won his only Super Bowl.

 

They should accept the inevitable: The future of the Packers is in the hands of Rodgers or somebody – anybody – other than Favre. The sooner the Rodgers Era begins, the sooner management and fans can judge whether Rodgers is the man for the job. They're simply delaying this process by at least a year. Football is not going to end without Favre. Green Bay fans should accept that he's just part of a glorious past, much like Starr, Lombardi, Hutson and Lambeau.

 

Hey, here's an idea: Why not dig up Curly Lambeau's rotted carcass and let it stalk the sidelines this year? It makes about as much sense as letting Favre run the offense at this point in his career.

 

The truly unbelievable aspect of all this is that Packers fans generally seem content to let Favre back on the field. Like Green Bay management, their misty eyes are on the past and not on the future.

 

At the very least, true Packers fans – those who actually want to see them win again – can hope that Favre will get benched in the preseason and then decide to retire. And then we can remember fondly the great Favre of 1995-97 as he's carted off into the Hall of Fame.

 

But cheer up, Packers fans: There's always next next year.

 

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The Cold, Hard Football Facts Favre chronicles: