"It's an NFL game of chicken, and Brett Favre just put his foot on the accelerator.

Favre officially moved to end his retirement Tuesday by filing for reinstatement to the league, meaning he's planning to show up at Green Bay Packers training camp sometime this week.

That's the last thing the Packers organization wants or needs.

The Packers have ordained Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback. Imagine the awkwardness of Favre, a 16-year starter who owns every major NFL passing record, holding a clipboard and wearing a baseball cap as he casts his long shadow on Rodgers.

Would Favre be relegated to the auxiliary locker room, where the second- and third-stringers hang out? Would he be forced to share a dorm room at St. Norbert College with one of the long snappers? Would he have to sing for his supper or lug Gatorade to practice for his teammates?

Yes, those are ridiculous scenarios, but no more absurd than having Favre appear at all.

General Manager Ted Thompson cannot let that happen. He owes it to his head coach; he owes it to Rodgers; he owes it to the team.

Packers training camp has been a circus without Favre in attendance. A raised platform was set up at Clarke Hinkle Field for McCarthy to address the herd of media after practice on Tuesday. Players have been hounded with Favre-related questions in the locker room. Rodgers in particular has been bombarded.

The media attention will multiply and the scene will degenerate into a zoo if Favre shows up.

"Any time you have a situation where there's a distraction or there's one guy getting all the attention and the buzz rather than us being able to concentrate on executing plays, it gets a little redundant," veteran cornerback Charles Woodson said. "You get tired of answering questions. It's only going to get worse if he shows up at camp tomorrow or the next day. We just all (have) to be prepared."

Be prepared for thousands upon thousands of fans lining the practice field. Be prepared for Rodgers having to walk past pro-Favre rallies. Be prepared for Thompson being burned in effigy.

Those convinced Favre has been acting like a selfish brat might jeer one of the greatest players in Packers history. Those convinced Favre is the better quarterback will document every Rodgers incompletion and misstep.

A civil war involving the only publicly owned franchise in pro sports would break out.

Thompson cannot possibly want that. He cannot possibly allow that."