GREEN BAY, Wis. - The ball is back in Brett Favre's hands, and the country is waiting to see what he does with it.
Almost six weeks to the day after Favre told Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy that he was seriously considering ending his retirement, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that he was reinstating the legendary quarterback at noon CDT on Monday and ordered the Packers to make room for him on their 80-man roster.
And it appears not only will the Packers take Favre back, they will allow him to compete with Aaron Rodgers for the starting quarterback job. A source close to the Packers told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sunday afternoon that it was understood between both parties that Favre would have a chance to compete for a starting job.
Before that can happen, however, Favre must meet with McCarthy.
The Packers' coach wants to sit across from Favre and see if he really has the fire to play. Almost all of their conversations have been over the phone, and so McCarthy figures this will give him an opportunity to see whether Favre is serious about coming back and putting in the time it takes to be a starter.
Asked after the team's intrasquad scrimmage Sunday night if he was a hundred percent sure that Favre would be in uniform again for the Packers, McCarthy said:
"That's a great question. That's one of the topics of our conversation tomorrow. I think it's important for people to sit down face to face and answer all those type of questions. We'll do that tomorrow. I look forward to talking to him tomorrow night."
According to at least one of Favre's old teammates, he's serious about returning.
"He wants to play," cornerback Al Harris insisted.
If Favre is given the opportunity to compete for the job, it will be about as complete a turnaround as anyone could have predicted, given that general manager Ted Thompson and McCarthy have stated forcefully for several weeks that there would be no competition for the starting job. Over and over again, they said Rodgers was their man.
McCarthy declined to commit to there being a competition and continued to say Rodgers was his starter. But he said nothing was set in stone until he sat down with Favre.
"There's been indecision throughout Brett's path back here to Green Bay," McCarthy said. "It's important for us to sit down and communicate. That information will come out and will be used to move forward."
Favre wound up back in Green Bay on Sunday after Goodell agreed to reinstate him. That followed intense negotiations between the Packers and his representatives on a marketing and promotions deal that would have paid Favre more than $20 million over a 10-year period upon his retirement. But negotiations broke down, and the Packers were forced to take Favre back.
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