Packers' changes leave few memories

RENTON — Four times in the regular season and twice in the playoffs, the constants were always Mike Holmgren on the Seahawks' sideline, Brett Favre on the Green Bay sideline.

A mentor and mentee for the ages, Holmgren the coach who helped turn Favre the quarterback into an NFL legend.

Even when Holmgren left Green Bay for Seattle after seven seasons, he was always linked to Favre. The two always spoke highly of one another and took time to visit before their six Seahawks vs. Packers meetings. Once they even visited after a game, when Favre walked onto the Seahawks plane after the 2005 regular-season finale to tell his former coach he wasn't going to retire, as was widely expected that year.

But time marches on, and on Sunday when the Seahawks and Packers meet for the seventh time since Holmgren left Green Bay, Favre will not be the Green Bay quarterback. And Holmgren will be facing the team he took to the Super Bowl twice (winning once) for most likely the final time as Seahawks coach. He announced before the season that 2008 will be his last in Seattle.

Holmgren was asked if it will be odd to face a Packers team without Favre.

"It'll probably be a little funny when I look out there the first time," Holmgren said.

But Holmgren doesn't have time to be sentimental. The Seahawks are 1-3 and in need of a win.

"The game is special because we've got to get going here," Holmgren said. "That's what makes this game special. I always felt a little bit more emotional about the game, I couldn't explain why necessarily, but when we traveled and played them back there."

Perhaps because there is a street named for Holmgren near Lambeau Field, and because Green Bay is a small town full of places Holmgren would visit. Trips to Wisconsin always brought back memories.

"The game here in Seattle was more of another football game than when we went back there," Holmgren said. "It's been awhile now. I've been in Seattle longer than I was in Green Bay."

Favre is with the New York Jets after a tumultuous offseason that ended with Favre being traded. Packers coach Mike McCarthy apparently wasn't in a mood Wednesday to discuss the offseason of waiting to see what would happen with Favre.

"I wasn't waiting for anything," McCarthy responded when asked about the situation. "I was just coaching the football team. I think it was a distinctly different situation that really doesn't factor in the game this week, quite honestly."

Aaron Rodgers, Favre's replacement, will more than likely factor into the game's outcome. He's dealing with a sprained right shoulder that has yet to keep him from playing a game, though Rodgers was limited in practice Wednesday.

Rodgers has spent the past three seasons as Favre's understudy. He's off to a good start as the starter, with a 63.2 completion percentage and nine touchdowns with four interceptions. Last week, Rodgers — the first quarterback other than Favre to start for the Packers since Don Majkowski in September 1992 — threw for 313 yards in a 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

"I've been preparing myself for this for the last three years, knowing that at some point I was going to get an opportunity," Rodgers said. "Knowing that the comparisons with Brett will be there my entire career. I embrace those, and anytime I'm mentioned in the same sentence with him, it's an honor. It really is."

Favre, Rodgers said, taught him much about being a quarterback and a leader. Mostly the week-to-week routine of the position.

"I got a firsthand glimpse of a great player and the things that he did to make himself great," Rodgers said. "I try to take a lot of those and incorporate those in my game and learn from the things that he did."

Rodgers feels that being a backup for all that time added years to his career. He was also able to develop without much pressure to perform.

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, himself a Favre backup early in his career, said he is impressed with what he has seen of Rodgers. But he admitted to reporters in Green Bay that he's glad Favre isn't the quarterback coming to town.

Hasselbeck spoke with Favre while he and the Packers were locked in conflict.

"I said, 'Hey, listen man, as long as you're not coming to Seattle, I wish you the best and hope you can extend your career,' " Hasselbeck said.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com