Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre's trade to the New York Jets late on August 6, about which you may have heard, has negative repercussions on the preseason schedule of your Denver Broncos. The Pack is slated to face off against the Broncos on August 22, and had Favre been locked in a quarterback controversy with previously anointed starter Aaron Rodgers, the contest would have attracted scrutiny nearly on par with the Democratic National Convention slated to begin three days later.
How interesting is the contest now? What do you think?
Sure, it'll be mildly interesting to gauge whether Rodgers has the stones to stand up to the withering pressure that's now beaming down upon him. And yes, the Broncos actually play the Jets in a game that counts this season -- November 30 at Giants Stadium in bucolic New Jersey. But by then, we should have a good idea whether Favre is still capable of performing at the level he did last season, or if his move was the modern-day equivalent of a late-period Joe Namath playing out the string in a Los Angeles Rams uniform. And given the dimunition of suspense on the Favre front, the game's meaning will be determined by how the Broncos have fared up to that point, not by the feverish attention of U.S. Sports Nation.
So congratulations, Barack Obama: You've got the stage to yourself again. -- Michael Roberts
