Favre changes tune on switching teams

[Scott Campbell]

You heard me. There are around six million people in the San Francisco Bay Area. To them, Montana was GOD, and he had 4 Super Bowl rings and 3 SB MVPs to confirm his place in the firmament. Yet off he went to KC. At the age of 37.

In Wisconsin, we have around 5.5 million people, for whom Favre is GOD, with one Super Bowl ring and three NFL MVPs to confirm his place in the firmament.

I'm not getting in to the whole Montana/Favre debate. I'm just saying that if playing for another team can happen to an icon like Montana, it can happen to an icon like Favre.

Do you think anyone in the Bay Area could have conceived of Montana in anything than a 49er jersey? But it happened.

I lived in the Bay area during the Montana years. First off, half of those people are/were Raider fans even though the Raiders were still in LA. Secondly, they had Steve Young waiting in the wings. And Young had gotten extensive playing time while Montana was hurt, and he looked great. People knew there would be life after Montana for the 49ers. And lastly, people in the Bay area don't worry about players embracing their commnity. Not everybody wants to be in Wisconsin, so when players like Favre and Reggie embrace the community, we embrace them back a little more than many places would. Therefore it hurts more to lose them.

While Joe was and is loved in the Bay area, I don't think his status ever approached that of Favre's in Wisconsin. Just ask a Raider fan.

IMO