Once the drama of his reinstatement and possible trade is finally worked out, it will be interesting to see how this Brett Favre thing ends on the field.
History provides a mixed bag of results for Hall of Fame players who switched teams at the end of their careers after long runs in the same place.
Joe Montana started all but two games during his final NFL season with Kansas City in 1994. He led the Chiefs to a playoff appearance and beat his former team, the 49ers, and the quarterback who replaced him, Steve Young, 24-17 in Week 2.
Franco Harris, one of the first casualties of the Rooney family's reluctance to pay big money to veteran players at the peak of their primes, was released by the Steelers in 1984 and rushed for 170 yards in six starts for the Seahawks, a quiet exit to a career in which Harris rushed for more than 12,000 yards.
Jerry Rice had a great run with the Raiders following a Hall of Fame run with the 49ers, but he hung on one season too long, splitting the 2004 season between Oakland an Seattle, where he talked Hall of Famer Steve Largent into letting Rice wear his No. 80 jersey. Rice then tried to make the Broncos roster during the 2005 preseason before finally giving up.
The classic example of a player who retired at his peak, leaving fans and teammates wanting more, is former Browns running back Jim Brown. Brown walked away from football on July 14, 1965, after owner Art Modell insisted he report to training camp instead of finishing work on filming of the movie "The Dirty Dozen."
None of these comparisons is exact. Favre showed last season that he could still play at the highest level in the NFL, but skills can diminish quickly in a league that becomes faster every season.
It's hard to imagine Favre stepping in with a team on the verge of becoming a contender, learning a new system, developing a rapport with his receivers and leading a playoff run at this point in his career. The situation would have to be perfect.
Maybe Tampa Bay makes sense. Or the Jets. But even with Favre either of those teams would face fairly stiff odds of reaching a Super Bowl.
-- John Dudley