With all the hype, you’d think Brett Favre is 10 feet tall and can throw the football 100 yards from one knee. The reality is, there’s been just one quarterback in NFL history to lead his team to a playoff win at the age of 39 – Phil Simms, with the Giants in 1993.
Favre turns 39 on Oct. 10.
“Now Brett could be different, he has been different his whole life – but I think they are long odds at age 39 to take this team to the playoffs,” said ESPN analyst and former Eagle QB Ron Jaworski.
Favre’s improbable journey from Packer to Jet hits its next milestone Saturday night when this 38-year-old with a lot of catching up to do starts for Gang Green in a preseason game at the Meadowlands against the Redskins.
“He is going to have to try and learn this system in three weeks and it’s just not going to happen,” Jaworski said.
“It is going to be very limited at least for the first quarter of the season. The other thing that comes into play is the comfort level of his receiving corps. It takes time to develop that chemistry.”
Regardless, Favre’s trade has sent fans scrambling for seats and networks scrambling to highlight Jet games.
Saturday night’s matchup will not only be shown locally on WCBS-2 as planned, but nationally on the NFL Network. The final two preseason games against the Giants and Eagles will be shown on tape delay on the NFL Network.
Favre inherits a 4-12 team that made a slew of free-agent additions in the offseason. Despite the reduced time frame Favre has to learn the offense, coach Eric Mangini is not likely to give him extra reps during the preseason games in preparation for the season opener against Chad Pennington and the Dolphins.
“That’s a tough one for Eric to answer, because clearly Brett is going to need the work in the system,” Jaworski said.
“He doesn’t need the experience on the field, he has that, but it’s a matter of playing with these offensive lineman and wide receivers. It takes time to develop as an offensive group, so you would think he would want to play more. But do you want to run him out there for games that are meaningless for the most part?”
Especially with Favre complaining of a fatigued arm earlier this week.
Last season, No. 4 took a Packer team few expected to make the playoffs to within one game of the Super Bowl – a 23-20 overtime defeat to the Giants in the NFC title game. Hopes were similarly low this season for the Jets, but with the Great Brett come Great Expectations.
And the pressure will be on Favre to match what Simms and the Giants did in ’93 – an 11-5 regular season and a wild-card win over the Vikings losing to the 49ers.
“The Packers relied on Favre last year and the Jets saw a guy who could put a team on his back offensively and carry them,” Jaworski said.
“Last year he was throwing the ball like he was 24 and none of his throwing ability was diminished.”