It’s been nearly 15 years, but the ending still stings for many in Green Bay. The Brett Favre era didn’t go out in a blaze of Lambeau glory. It sputtered into drama, tension, and ultimately, a one-way ticket to New York. By the time the Packers officially traded him to the Jets on August 7, 2008, the relationship had fractured beyond repair.
What should have been a smooth passing of the torch to Aaron Rodgers turned into a soap opera. The same fanbase that once watched Favre fearlessly zip passes through NFC North defenses now watched him zigzag through retirement talk, front-office standoffs, and public interviews.
The split wasn’t clean. In fact, it was so messy that fans picked sides. It was Rodgers vs. Favre before it ever became Packers vs. anyone else. In 2018, ESPN’s Rich Cimini dug into the chaotic chain of events behind that trade, revealing behind-the-scenes nuggets, like Favre joking about the Jets’ camo dress code and how a last-minute text to GM Mike Tannenbaum changed history. Still, the real turning point came well before Favre boarded that New York-bound plane.
In the new Netflix documentary, out on May 20th, 2025, Untold: The Fall of Favre, renowned NFL writer Peter King offers a firsthand account of how it all went down. “On the Saturday before the Packers were supposed to report, I was in Favre’s kitchen,” King says.
“He had an agent, Bus Cook, who was telling him, ‘They’re going to come back to you.’ And Brett said, ‘What do you think?’ to me, and I said, ‘I think if you wanna play, you’re gonna have to go to the Jets or the Bucs. I don’t think you’re getting your job back.’ Bus thought I was full of it. And when Brett went there, he found out, ‘I’m not gonna get my job back.’ So, he got sold on the Jets, and, you know, the rest is history.”
That’s the quote that hits. Because it confirms what many suspected: Favre didn’t walk away; the Packers just nudged him out. And not gently. At the time, the Packers’ brass believed Favre couldn’t win another Super Bowl. Their confidence in Rodgers was rising, and they weren’t going to risk letting him walk without a full evaluation. Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel reported the front office had already made peace with the call: the playoff struggles of the past decade and Favre’s annual retirement waffling had worn them out.
However, the layers go deeper, though. Because this isn’t just about football. The documentary also unpacks the personal spiral that followed.
Brett Favre wasn’t the same after the demise of his father
Brett Favre’s former confidants suggest that things unraveled after the death of his father, Irvin. Wisconsin-based host Bill Michaels shares in the documentary, “I think Brett had a certain level of non-accountability when he became Brett Favre. But once Irv passed, he was the only one in charge of him. And I think that’s where maybe things got a little off the rails.”
One moment you’re a Hall of Fame quarterback. The next? You’re making headlines for scandals far outside the pocket. And behind the scenes, not everyone was buying into the family-man image. Former Packers beat writer Dylan Tomlinson recalled, “My editor pulled me aside and said, ‘I want you to write the story of Brett Favre as a family man.’ I said, ‘I don’t write fiction.’”
That alone paints a complicated picture. The star. The legend. And the man behind it all—suddenly exposed, and in some ways, no longer untouchable. So when fans today whisper, Is this Rodgers all over again?, they’re not reaching. The blueprint is eerily familiar.
Just a couple of days back, during the live interview with Mike Stud in Texas, when a fan asked Rodgers if he’d return to Green Bay, considering he’s still a free agent (the Steelers have not signed him), and they came asking? Yes, obviously, he did say he would. But not until he rambled a whole narration of why he’s already written his legacy as a Packer. And you’ve just got to remember the whole Brett Favre Breakup.
Another aging icon. Another changing of the guard. And yet another tug-of-war between legacy and progress. The only question left: have the Packers already made their decision this time too?
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