I’ve been following this whole Leno/Conan/NBC debacle online, as I don’t really have NBC to actually watch it all unfold.  After hearing all the details I can’t help but feel kinda similar to another recent retirement situation, the one between Bret Favre and the Green Bay Packers 2 summers ago.

Brett Favre
On March 4, 2008 Brett Favre gave a teary eyed announcement that he was in fact retiring from the NFL after 17 years in the league. He’d had a long and successful career, but now he was stepping aside to let his successor in waiting Aaron Rodgers take the reins of his longtime team, the Green Bay Packers. Announcing this in March gave the team plenty of time to prepare for the transition to their young quarterback.

Jay Leno
On September 27, 2004 Jay Leno announced that he was leaving the Tonight Show in 2009 after having hosted the show for 17 years. It had been a long and successful run as host, but now he was stepping aside to let his successor in waiting Conan O’Brien take over NBC’s flagship late night talk show. Announcing it 5 years in advance gave NBC plenty of time to prepare for the transition to their new host.

Aaron Rogers
Drafted in 2005 by the Green Bay Packers after sliding from being a potential first overall pick to number 24. He became the heir apparent to Brett Favre in Green Bay, their longtime, future Hall of Famer quarterback. For 3 seasons he bided his time as backup, learning the Packers system and honing his craft. Finally after 3 seasons of waiting he was to get his chance to be “The Man” in Green Bay.

Conan O’Brien
Starting in 1993 he started as the host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, after David Letterman had defected to CBS. For years he was the heir apparent to Jay Leno at NBC, their longtime Tonight Show host. For years he bided his time in the 12:30am timeslot, building his following and honing his act. Finally, after years of waiting he was to get his chance to be “The Man” at NBC.

Favre
From the time Favre retired there were rumours of his desire to play for the hated Minnesota Vikings. As summer rolled on these rumours began to grab more traction and Favre announced that he wanted his old job back or to be traded to the Vikings. After showing up in training camp and generally creating an awkward situation for Aaron Rodgers and the entire Packers organization, Favre was traded to the New York Jets. This avoided the problem of trading Favre to their hated rivals the Vikings and facing him twice a season and at the same time gave Brett a fresh start with a new team.

Leno
After Jay had announced that he was stepping away from the Tonight Show rumours started popping up that about his desire to jump to broadcast rivals Fox. In the months preceding his departure from the Tonight Show NBC announced an unprecedented move, they were going to give Leno a primetime 10pm talk show 5 days a week. This avoided the problem of Leno competing head to head with NBC 5 nights a week and at the same time gave Jay a fresh start in a new timeslot.

Favre
After 7 unsuccessful months with the New York Jets, Brett retires again and asks for his unconditional release from the team following the season. At this point Brett is now a free agent and the rumour mill cranks up again about his going to the Minnesota Vikings. After a few months of waffling Brett finally signs on with Vikings and will now face how old team the Packers twice in the same season. In the end Brett got exactly what he wanted, to play for the Vikings.

Leno
After 7 unsuccessful months in the 10pm timeslot, NBC cancels The Jay Leno show. NBC decides to reorganize their late night lineup, attempting to shoehorn Jay Leno between the evening news and Conan’s Tonight show. In the end it looks like Leno will get that he wanted all along, his old show the Tonight Show back.

Conan O’Brien has refused to be part of moving the show to a later timeslot and at this point it looks like he’s the one who’s going to be moving to another network.  Sad really as NBC never really gave Conan a chance to grow a following for the Tonight Show, as Leno’s show offered a poor lead-in to the nightly news, which in turn weakened the Tonight Shows ratings.