Either the last throw of Brett Favre's career will have cost his team a Super Bowl appearance against a prime-for-upset New England Patriots team, or his legacy could end on a more upbeat note.
We don't need anybody - even the president of the Green Bay Packers - to tell us which one will be the case. Common sense alone already bespeaks the answer.
But Mark Murphy, who recently took over the front office position of Bob Harlan, still told goers to the Milwaukee Press Club lunch what is practically certain.
My guess is that he will come back,"" Murphy, the former athletic director at Northwestern, said on Wednesday.
While Murphy demurred to talk about his conversations with Favre, he did say that the organization expected to hear soon about a decision
""A lot of the expectations will ride on whether Brett Favre will come back,"" Murphy said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ""Certainly if he comes back it gives us our best chance to get to the Super Bowl and have another great year.""
That right there is why - not to drop a bombshell - Favre will be back. There is percentage in coming back because the Packers, in the absence of major injuries - are a playoff team by default in the NFC North.
Green Bay deserved to get to the Super Bowl all the way up until kickoff on Jan. 20. From that point forward, though, it became clear that the game-planning was not good enough. Plain and simple, the Packers were outcoached and outplayed by a team peaking at precisely the right moment.
It should not have come down to Corey Webster's interception against Favre. The game should have been over shortly after Lawrence Tynes set up for a 37-yard field goal.
Nevertheless, Favre took a lot of the blame, and the context for him makes it worse. If he goes out on that pass, that play will come in the same breath as the playoff fatal errors that would mark the second half of his career: St. Louis, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Minnesota.
You can bet that the Packers will not make the same mistake they made against the Giants. Going in as 7 1'2 point favorites, Green Bay for some reason undervalued their running game when it was at its best. That's on the coaching staff, which should get a pass from everyone except themselves for last year's efforts.
When Favre comes back, he'll be welcomed not only by a more experienced coaching staff, but also better players. They're better for having gone through two playoff games and having come up short. What's different heading into next year is that the Packers will have an established running back, more help on the offensive line and additions to the secondary.
What would hold Favre back from returning, Murphy said, was the so-called grind of the season. ""He wants to make sure he's ready to put himself through that again before he makes a decision to come back,"" he said.
Murphy said word from Favre would come before the end of the month. That's early for Favre, and it reflects the fact that, all factors considered, this is not too tough of a decision.
E-mail Jon at bortin@wisc.edu to make a wager as to when Favre will make his decision.
