To me, this is all boils down to the fact that Ted Thompson lied to Brett Favre, and that he has been wanting to install his boy, Aaron Rodgers as the starting QB for the Green Bay Packers for a long time now. Ted did not know how to tell Favre he wasn't wanted anymore in Green Bay.
Favre was good enough to bring this rookie team to fruition, but come hell or high water, Ted Thompson was going to hand the job to Rodgers sooner or later.
Why do I say this, you may ask?
Because, when Thompson and McCarthy went down to Mississippi (in May or June) to ask Favre if it's ok to send him "his locker", Favre said ok, but also told Ted that he has been seriously been thinking about returning and to not be surprised if he comes back in July.
And what did Ted Thompson do?
He brushed him off.
Retiring Favre's jersee 9 months after he last used it. Physically removing Favre's locker and sending it to Mississippi. Hell, Ted did everything to exorcise the ghost of Favre at Lambeau besides salting the earth where Favre walked so nothing would ever grow there again!
All of this tells me that Thompson was never interested in having Favre return, no matter how much lip service he'd given to the media to the contrary.
It didn't matter to TT that the Packers had just gone 13-3 and were one win from the SB. It didn't matter that Favre was coming off the best season of his career. It didn't matter that Favre was the MVP runner up either. TT was given an opening, and he was going to install his guy.
Now, have you ever had someone tell you what you want to hear, but you know, or suspect deep down that they're not being honest with you?
Favre is a straight shooter. I'm sure that he takes people at their word, until it is proven otherwise that he can't. From Favre's interviews, it sounds like he figured out that TT was just "buttering his ***", or appeasing him, and not really dealing straight up all along.
That's why Favre felt unwanted, out of the loop, not part of the Packer's plans, etc. And It's not becase Favre is selfish, or egotistical, or a prima donna, or bigger than the team or any of the other names and slanders that some Thompson fans are so apt to label him with, it's because TT has been lying to him all along. Appeasing his HOF QB so that he can install his own "project" because then the team would totally belong to him.
If anything smacks of ego, this does on the part of Ted Thompson.
So before anyone goes writing Brett Favre off, just remember how you are being manipulated by the Packer organization. The same way a politician manipulates his constituents by lying to them and telling them what they want to hear to get your vote.
Think about that, before you so readily condemn Brett Favre for all of this mess!