As Brett Favre and the Packers continue to make amends, one of the most important steps is a mutual admission of guilt.
Favre took care of that on his side during a lengthy radio interview with ESPN Wisconsin on Tuesday, admitting that he could have done things differently.
"Sure. The reality of it, as we know, is that it's over and done with. You can't go back," he said. "I'm one of those that would never say to someone -- 'Hey, if you could do it all over' -- that's not me. I do get that question ... quite often. If you had to do it all over again, well I would say you don't.
"But yeah, okay, could it have been avoided or could it have been done differently? Absolutely. I've said it so many times on my end. Obviously, if I was undecided when I told Mike (McCarthy) I would retire, how you would avoid that is -- don't retire. You wait till you know 100 percent which, I don't know if I'd ever have known 100 percent."
The strain caused years of discomfort and unease for the future Hall of Famer, which has finally subsided. Favre said he loves the fact that his relationship with Packer fans is back to normal, and maybe even better than it ever was before.
But it also might have helped the career of another future Hall of Famer in Peyton Manning.
Favre explained on Tuesday:
"In my opinion, I think the Indianapolis-Peyton separation was handled correctly simply because they had seen the Packers and Favre separation not go so well," he said. "They were smart in how they handled it, and that's both sides. That's a great example of learning from others' mistakes."
There was certainly a professional glaze over Manning's joint press conference with owner Jim Irsay and in the end, Favre might be right. His divorce from Green Bay was one of the first examples of a high-profile franchise player moving on in the modern media world. Joe Namath (Rams) and Joe Montana (Chiefs) didn't have to move on under the same circumstances.
Though Manning and Favre have their own personalities, there's no doubt the Colts at least took the Favre situation into consideration. The desire for an organization to be perceived as both professional and player-friendly to franchise quarterbacks has never been higher.
With Andrew Luck coming down the pike, they needed to be the farthest thing from a Packers-Favre situation.
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