(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)

Almost exactly 16 years ago — starting in late November of 2008 — Brett Favre’s one-year shotgun marriage to the New York Jets went into the tank. At the time, the Jets were 8-3, squarely in the AFC playoff picture, and coming off a 34-13 win over the Tennessee Titans. But there was also a problem.

Favre’s throwing shoulder was in pain.

Though the franchise wouldn’t know it definitively until an MRI in late December, Favre had taken a hit against the Titans and tore the biceps tendon in his throwing shoulder. It was an injury that would take a season of Favre-mania i...