In team sports, it's said that no one person, whether an athlete, an owner or anyone else, should ever be bigger than the team.

For the franchise that has carried the ultimate banner for team and community, the non-profit shareholder-owned Green Bay Packers, it's turned out, in an unavoidable scenario on the team's part, that it's no longer the case, even if philosophically it shouldn't be that way.

Yes, Brett Favre is bigger than the Green Bay Packers, and you could even say that he runs them, even to the point that he may get his way with the Packers after this meeting - wait, that's days of meetings - with Mike McCarthy

He and agent James "Bus" Cook pulled a perfect orchestration to force the Packers' hand and either take him in for what many sources report to be an open competition for the quarterback slot, even after a month of "Aaron Rodgers is our quarterback" on the part of Packers football brass, or trade him, probably to their closest NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings - something which seemed unthinkable.

How?

Because no player in the history of the Green Bay Packers has ever meant more to the franchise than Favre.

More than Don Hutson, the man who defined the wide receiver position.

More than any of Lombardi's superstars, Starr, Hornung, Taylor, Nitschke.

You could even say that there have been three figures that not only brought the Packers its greatest successes, but saved the franchise.

Curly Lambeau started it. Vince Lombardi brought it the ultimate glory.

And when the team could have fallen into the depths of permanent mediocrity 25 years after the post-Lombardi years, Favre brought the team 11 playoff berths, seven division titles, two Super Bowls and a World Championship.

Had he not played that role, Lambeau Field might be the old 56,000 seat bowl that it was before he showed up, because there might not have been a stock sale or the approval for the 2003 stadium renovation without the success and goodwill he brought to the team and the area.

When you gain that much stature, especially in the Internet era, you become a hero that, in the eyes of many fans, go beyond the bounds of your team.

You define your team.

So when the mess began in July that Favre wanted to return from retirement, and not play in Green Bay, he not only tore Packers nation apart, he brought many fans onto his side.

For one obvious reason: he's the best possibility at quarterback for the Packers to win a Super Bowl.

That's plainly obvious to anyone who watched Favre have a season that would have produced a fourth MVP had New England's Tom Brady not broken half of the NFL single-season passing record book.

It's also obvious to anyone who saw the Family Night scrimmage where Aaron Rodgers performed subpar for the expectations connected to the other, top flight talent this team has on its roster.

Favre and Cook knew the Packers eventually had to lay down its case and take him in, and they pulled out a stronger-armed tactic much greater than any tracer he threw into the chest of a wide receiver coming over the middle.

Could they trade him? Yes. Now, it's proven, though, that they realistically can't.

Not only for the sake of PR, but for the sake of winning.

Brett Favre, you won the tug of war with Packers management.

Now, if at the end of this two-day meeting you and Mike McCarthy decide you should stick around, Packers management and the world's most loyal sports fans believe you'd better win us the big one for all you put them through.