It was approximately 23 years ago that the Green Bay Packers sent a first-round draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons for one Brett Favre.
The exact date was Feb. 10, 1992, although many in the media — from local to national — has said the trade took place on Feb. 11. This is because they’re idiots.
The confusion could lie in the fact that newspapers, which were the dominant form of information dissemination at the time, report yesterday’s news. So the first mention of the Favre trade would likely have appeared in the Feb. 11, 1992 printings.
The Packers formally announced the trade on Feb. 11 and offered up Favre for a conference call with local reporters, only two of which covered the event. This would seem to be another indication that the trade took place the day before.
The Green Bay Press Gazette actually noted that the trade took place on Feb. 10 three years ago.
But this is the age where no one in the media does their homework, so let’s just throw out a date that’s in the general vicinity and report it as truth.
Anyway, no one knew who the hell Brett Favre was at the time. He was the Falcons’ third-string quarterback in 1991 and some people were baffled that Ron Wolf parted with a first-round pick to acquire Favre.
So naturally, Wolf and coach Mike Holmgren had to get in rah-rah mode and let everyone know that Favre was their QB of the future, not just some backup that they overpaid for.
That led to an interview with Brett’s dad, Irvin Favre, who described his boy as “mean” and “a battler.” That in turn led to this headline in the Press Gazette.
Front-page news, baby! Because so little goes on in Green Bay that getting to know the Packers new backup quarterback is the most important thing you need to know today (if today were Feb. 12, 1992).
23 years ago today, #Packers traded for Brett Favre. No one knew him. This was next day's @gbpressgazette front page. pic.twitter.com/frkBYcTCAz
— Jeff Ash (@JeffAshGB) February 11, 2015