Green Bay Packers Football Team

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The question is: Sleeves or no sleeves? When the New York Giants play the Green Bay Packers for the NFC championship today, a fair amount of attention will be paid to what the players wear under their jerseys. That's because the forecast calls for a low temperature of minus-8 degrees with a wind-chill factor dipping to minus-30.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Until the last instant, even after Brett Favre threw a second-and-eight pass into the hands of New York cornerback Corey Webster in the first minute of overtime and gave the Giants an opportunity they would not squander, he was sure his Packers were destined to win the NFC championship. "This game, and this season, it's been one of those things where you just, 'Yeah, we're going to do it.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The circumstances could not have been much tougher. With the windchill factor approaching minus-30 degrees, kicking the football felt like kicking a piece of cardboard. And Lawrence Tynes couldn't have been feeling confident after hooking two field-goal tries -- two potential game winners -- wide left.

More than once Tuesday, Green Bay's mayor felt the need to gently remind his teary-eyed staff members of this: Brett Favre retired, but he's still alive. Regardless, the sudden jolt of it all -- Favre's decision to end his 17-year NFL career -- hit hard, especially in a place where he spent 16 seasons, won three most-valuable-player awards, a Super Bowl, and more games than any other starting NFL quarterback. "It's somber here," Mayor Jim Schmitt said in a phone interview.

Brett Favre turned up the heat on the Green Bay Packers on Friday, telling them he plans to show up Sunday for the start of training camp, according to an NFL Network report. Poker, anyone? The Packers, who have made it clear they're moving forward with Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback, have compiled a list of teams that might trade for Favre. In a recent interview with Greta Van Susteren, Favre essentially called Packers General Manager Ted Thompson a liar and indicated he cannot trust him.

These are confusing times for the men and women on the bar stools in the Fox River Valley towns of Wisconsin. With their shot and a beer comes the inevitable talk of Brett Favre. Some will be wearing their sacred No. 4 Packers jerseys as they belly up. Since the early 1990s, Favre has been the deity and they have knelt before him. To live in this area for an extended period of time, to call Sheboygan or Appleton or Fond du Lac home, is to better understand it and its people.

The Green Bay Packers were determined not to let the Brett Favre fiasco become a distraction to their young team. So much for their good intentions. Not only has the situation become a circus, but a traveling one. Instead of dealing from a position of strength, the Packers buckled. Three days into training camp, team President Mark Murphy flew to Mississippi to plead with the unretiring quarterback not to show up to practice.

Throughout his career in Green Bay, Brett Favre was known for his last-minute comebacks. Somehow, this wasn't what the Packers had in mind. Favre, who retired in March, has been reinstated and will be added to Green Bay's roster today. The latest indication is the Packers will make him Aaron Rodgers' backup for the moment with the intent of putting the starting job up for grabs.

Still grasping the reality of what he is -- the newest member of the New York Jets -- Brett Favre focused Thursday on what he says he isn't. "I'm not a traitor, I never will be," he said, less than 24 hours after his falling out with the Green Bay Packers led to a trade. "It's a business, that's how it works." And for the Packers, it was a smart business move.

SAN FRANCISCO -- It was so clear back then, in April 2005, when quarterbacks Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers were selected in the NFL draft. There was nothing murky that day about who won and who lost. Smith was taken No. 1 overall by the San Francisco 49ers, and Rodgers -- once thought to be in the running for the top pick -- languished for almost five hours before Green Bay took him 24th. The cash disparity told the story. Smith's contract guaranteed him $24.