Brett Favre played a lot of football. One of the longest careers in NFL history. Much of its greatness coming at the expense of the Chicago Bears. So in a weird way, he has a connection to this franchise that is stronger than most other teams. He also isn’t a stranger to quarterback competitions. He lived through them both early and later in his career.

What does he make of the Bears’ looming battle between Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles?

Favre appeared on Da Windy City podcast with Mark Carman to discuss the Bears/Packers rivalry among other topics. Carman, a lifelong Bears fan, couldn’t resist asking the Hall of Famer his thoughts on the competition. While he fully admitted he hasn’t watched either guy practice, to him the answer is pretty clear.

“I look at it this way. How will Nick Foles play in Chicago? I don’t know. I just base it off how they both have performed when they have been given the opportunity and Nick Foles, I think, has performed better…

…If you just based it off how they’ve performed in real game situations? Obviously Nick Foles won a Super Bowl. And played lights out…Just based off of that, Nick Foles is the better player.”

Brett Favre is unbiased which makes his statement interesting

It is hard to argue with what Favre says. Going purely based on accomplishments on the field, Foles vs. Trubisky isn’t even a comparison. He has the Super Bowl ring and multiple playoff victories including one against Trubisky. One where the latter had the better team. The biggest reason experts haven’t been able to throw their weight behind Foles has nothing to do with ability.

It’s about availability.

In his career, Foles has never yet started a full season in the NFL. He came off the bench in 2013 to replace Michael Vick. In 2014 he started eight games but broke his collarbone. The next year he started 11 in St. Louis for the Rams but was eventually benched in favor of Case Keenum. After that he was the backup from 2016 to 2018 for Kansas City and Philadelphia. Last year represented his first chance to start in five years and he broke his collarbone in the first game of the season.

So while he might be the more proven player, Trubisky has started more games than him in a season three times already. So the Bears have to weigh things. Is Foles that much better that they’re willing to take the risk of starting him? Favre thinks so.