Only issue that matters is winning

OK, enough with the Packers jokes.

It's time to dilute the controversy with Brett Favre down to all that matters: Does he or Aaron Rodgers gives them the better chance to win the Super Bowl?

As a baseball executive told me over the weekend, it's better to have tough decisions to make than no decisions at all.

The Packers appear to have a tough one, but at least they have two viable options.

I always refer back to what George Seifert said he learned the most from Bill Walsh: Don't let anything get in the way of winning.

The Packers currently are letting all sorts of other issues obscure the objective of winning the Super Bowl.

It isn't that complicated, fellas.

If Rodgers is the best option, start him at quarterback Sept. 8 and find a sensitive way to erase Favre from the roster.

The Packers can't outright release Favre and give him the opportunity to play for the Bears, Vikings, Lions or any other NFC team.

Instead the Pack will have to dictate terms in which Favre agrees to sign with only an AFC team like, say, Baltimore.

Then Rodgers, who hasn't started a professional game, can be not only the main man but the only man.

Yes, the notion that Rodgers gives the Packers a better chance to win a championship than Favre would is absurd.

But Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy know both better than any of us do. Maybe they think Favre's time has passed and Rodgers' time has arrived.

Or maybe the Packers' brain trust believes going back to Favre would divide the locker room more than going forward with Rodgers would.

Regardless, if Thompson and McCarthy believe the Packers are better with Rodgers, he has to play and Favre has to go.

But if they believe Favre is the quarterback with the better chance to win a Super Bowl, he has to be welcomed back - grudgingly or not.

As distasteful as it is, pro sports teams must manage the quirks of world-class athletes.

The Red Sox won two World Series tiptoeing around Manny Ramirez being Manny. Closer to home, the Bulls won three NBA titles with Dennis Rodman being the Worm. NFL teams compromise their principles for shady characters all the time.

Maybe Favre should be mentioned in the same sentence as Ramirez and Rodman and maybe he shouldn't be. But it sure appears he is behaving like a prima donna causing problems rather than solutions.

Doesn't matter. The Packers should be Super Bowl contenders this season. If Favre gives them the best chance to get there . . .

Well, assuming winning is the priority, if not the only thing, Thompson and everyone else in the organization have to reconcile their differences with Favre.

The GM, the coach, the players . . . they all have to forget their pride, pat Favre on the head and tell him they love him more than he thinks.

They don't have to like doing so. A lot of teams do a lot of things they don't like to contend for championships.

So the Packers' assignment is uncomplicated: Pick the quarterback they perceive to be their best chance to win a Super Bowl.

And that's no joke.