Tom E. Curran • E-mail

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Brett Favre Era in Green Bay is over. Reason? Just put down “damaged psyche.”

Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who met with Favre for five hours on Monday and again on Tuesday, said the quarterback isn’t in the “proper mindset” to be part of the team. The coach said Favre was unable to promise full commitment to playing for the Packers and that the contentious battle since Favre wanted to unretire left marks.

So it’s worth asking now why, if Favre truly wanted to play for the Packers, he didn’t simply tell McCarthy that he was going to commit to the team. And if he doesn’t want to play for the Packers, why did he ask to be reinstated? And why did he come to Green Bay on Sunday night to a hero’s welcome?

The logical answer appears to be that, for all of the lip service he’s paid to the idea of being the forever quarterback for the Packers, he wants to be traded. And he’s trying to paint the Packers into a corner to get it done.

Reports that a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is looming have circulated.

McCarthy said he and Favre agreed to speak again Tuesday night. Can McCarthy’s mind be changed by anything Favre might say?

“I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s in that place,” McCarthy said. “We talked about a lot of things and this has been very stressful for him and very stressful to his family.

Once McCarthy saw how many misgivings Favre had about the Packers, the questions about an open quarterback competition with Aaron Rodgers or a path back to being the starter never was visited.

“I didn’t get the answers that I was looking for to open that competition,” said McCarthy. “So why would I do that? It would be poor leadership, It’s not a popularity contest. I wasn’t gonna do it.”

McCarthy described his meeting with Favre as “brutally honest.” After meeting this morning with McCarthy, general manager Ted Thompson and Packers president Mark Murphy, Thompson and Murphy left Lambeau Field to meet further with members of Favre’s family.

“My whole intent (with the meeting) was, ‘If you’re coming into the locker room to play for the Green Bay Packers, where is your mind?’ We could never get (past) that question,” said McCarthy.

Later, the coach said, “Why would I want anybody with a negative mindset in my locker room? I don’t want to classify him as a negative mindset. It’s very personal. But he’s in a place right now that he has to make decisions for himself.

"My whole goal in talking with Brett was, ‘Are you ready to be the guy Thursday night in the season where, I leave my office and I walk back to the quarterbacks (room) and you’ll be in there studying film.’ And he said, ‘That’s a very good question.’ He’s in a tough spot right now.”

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