First the Green Bay Packers tried to convince Brett Favre to stay away. Then they tried to pay him to stay away. Finally, when it became apparent that Favre couldn't take a hint, they traded him away.

But if the Packers' decision-makers — president Mark Murphy, general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy — thought trading their quarterbacking icon to the New York Jets would put an end to this story, they were badly mistaken.

Sorry fellas, but this one's just revving up.

All season, Packers fans will compare Favre's play in New York with that of his successor in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers. Every week, they will look to see who performed better, who stayed healthier, who has a better record. The season will be a referendum on whether the Packers made the right call in squeezing out Favre after he ended his brief retirement.

When they marched in to discuss the trade Thursday, Murphy, Thompson and McCarthy put on an impressive show of solidarity. In a scene no doubt orchestrated by Ari Fleischer, the former Bush administration spokesman hired by the Packers as a public relations consultant, they tried to put closure to a story that has divided the team's fan base.

But to put it in terms that Fleischer might understand, the Packers just traded away their only weapon of mass destruction and closure is months, if not years, away. Still, the Packers' brass put up a unified front.

"The three of us have been in complete agreement on every single decision we have made in this process," Murphy said.

That's not particularly comforting since they admitted that some decisions — poor communication with Favre, Murphy flying to Mississippi with $20 million in hush money — blew up in their faces.

Basically, two things caused this mess: The Packers refused to believe Favre wanted to play football and Favre refused to believe the Packers wouldn't welcome him back as the starter. They were both wrong, something neither side realized until they sat down this week.

Unfortunately, when the Packers' big three sat down Thursday, they refused to answer the most important question: Since Favre clearly does want to play, why didn't they want him back as their starter?

Did they tire of his waffling on retirement? Do they think his play has deteriorated? Did they want their own guy in there?

McCarthy again put the onus on Favre, saying he felt too much resentment toward the organization to make a commitment to play. The Favre camp disputes that, saying the Packers were Favre's first choice all along. That probably means all it would have taken to get Favre to return was to give him back his starting job, something McCarthy refused to do.

Given the stalemate, the Packers escaped this mess about as well as they possibly could have. They received a quality draft choice for Favre and sent him to the AFC, where they won't have to face him.

No matter how they spin it, however, the Packers forced Favre out of Green Bay.

And if Favre thrives in New York while Rodgers gets hurt or struggles in Green Bay, or if the Packers go 6-10 and the Jets go 10-6, this story not only won't go away, it will get bigger than ever.