Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- In the end, the Green Bay Packers were highly motivated to put the Brett Favre saga behind them.
First, coach Mike McCarthy pushed Favre hard during a meeting Monday night to determine once and for all if a reconciliation could occur. After eight hours of meetings, McCarthy and Favre agreed the relationship wouldn't work.
About 48 hours later, the Packers had traded him to the New York Jets.
Deals for starting quarterbacks, much less future Hall of Famers, do not often materialize in a span of two days. Initial rounds of bids are taken, a market is established and then haggling begins. There are delays, breakdowns, re-starts and then, usually, some sort of contract adjustment.
But the Packers moved quickly and with purpose to finalize this trade. Terms were not available Wednesday night, but it's safe to say the Packers were motivated by more than compensation in this deal.
Favre's return to Green Bay this week was an embarrassing, awkward and potentially destructive event for one of the NFL's most storied franchises. Players were tense, McCarthy was distracted and members of the team's loyal fan base were openly protesting during training camp practices.
Although players seemed more relaxed Wednesday after Favre's departure, the team's decision-makers knew the ordeal would not be fully over until they moved Favre to another team.
Looking back on the way things played out Wednesday at Lambeau Field, it shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as it was.
General manager Ted Thompson, an old-school football man who almost always attends practice, was nowhere to be seen for either of the Packers' two sessions Wednesday. His regularly scheduled news conference, initially set for 11:30 a.m. CT, kept getting pushed back - but never outright canceled, suggesting he was hopeful of having an announcement at some point Wednesday.
As it turns out, the deal was completed Wednesday evening and announced at about 11:15 p.m. CT.
Thompson, coach Mike McCarthy and president/CEO Mark Murphy will hold a news conference Thursday morning, an event that will provide final closure to an organizational nightmare. For the Packers, it couldn't come a moment too soon.
Seifert joined ESPN.com in 2008 after covering the Minnesota Vikings for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for eight years. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and daughter.
