Jets Discount Favre Gear Upon Following His Latest Retirement

Jets, Immediately Following News Of Favre's Retirement, Offered 50% Discount On His Gear

Following QB Brett Favre's announcement that he intends to retire, the Jets started offering Favre-related merchandise for 50% off its original price, according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. The Jets on their Web site posted an ad which read, "Celebrate The Historic Career Of #4." Best notes Favre's one-year stint with the Jets "always had a business undertone," and his arrival last August came as the Jets prepared to sell PSLs for their new Meadowlands stadium. Favre's No. 4 Jets jersey was the top-seller on NFLShop.com from April 1-January 31, and during the same span the Jets were fourth in the NFL among team merchandise sales. Meanwhile, Favre yesterday said of the possibility of working as a TV analyst, "Right now I have no desire to do anything." Best notes if Favre "ever does want to make a post-career career of television analysis, he will need practice." Favre is a "good talker -- a little too good," and he would "have to learn to talk in digestible sound bites, not in meandering, angst-ridden soliloquies" (NEWSDAY, 2/12). Showtime’s Cris Collinsworth said of Favre's retirement, “You have to remember this is a business. How many of those luxury boxes in the new stadium, PSLs (did he help sell?) He created a buzz in New York that simply wasn’t there before he got there. Did he earn his money? You better believe it” (“Inside The NFL,” Showtime, 2/11). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes the Jets were "interested in selling Favre jerseys and [PSLs], but had no interest in creating the kind of media opportunities that might have translated into establishing a greater presence here than he had" with the Packers (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/12).

ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY: In Wisconsin, D.J. Slater notes Favre’s “second exit from the game didn’t have the same splash ... as the first did 11 months ago,” as local sports stores “were nearly empty" yesterday. Jeff Cornils, manager of a Packerland-Plus location in Wausau, Wisconsin, said of his Favre-related merchandise, “There’s nobody asking about this stuff” (WAUSAU DAILY HERALD, 2/12).