Donald Driver has always been a fan favorite and will be for the rest of his playing career.. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

“Tweeps: when I said I will be a Packer for life. It is now true. Packer for life” – Donald Driver

That was the tweet from the Green Bay Packers’ all-time leading receiver earlier tonight … fifty-seven characters that packed a punch in Packers Nation.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Driver’s agent, Jordan Woy,  said the two sides have agreed to terms and will finalize a deal tomorrow.

JSOnline best described the situation and how it has come to this point:

The drama all began in mid-January, the morning after Green Bay’s playoff loss to the New York Giants. Back then, Driver made it clear he wanted to keep playing – be it in Green Bay or elsewhere. With all four other wide receivers returning and Tori Gurley and Diondre Borel maturing, Driver’s future was certainly in doubt. Green Bay gave pay raises to both Gurley and Borel when other teams tried to sign them off its practice squad.

And it might be awfully difficult for coaches to keep the promising Randall Cobb on the sideline in his second season. Driver’ caught 37 passes for 445 yards, his lowest output since 2001. But his presence in the locker room is valued. Those younger receivers on Green Bay’s roster vying for a roster spot have lauded Driver’s leadership and former teammate Antonio Freeman said Driver’s going to fight to keep playing.

So many, myself included, have opined about the fact that the Packers would never sign Driver. They had too many young legs in the fold and the roster didn’t have room for a 37-year-old receiver in decline.

To a certain extent, that’s still true. But the Packers appear to be doing what everyone thought they should – because it was the right thing to do.

Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy have batted nearly perfect this offseason – striking rich on a few free agent signings (but not all), making uncharacteristic, but important moves to shore up a solid draft, inking a gob of undrafted free agents and have now capped those moves with the impending signing of Driver.

This news comes off the news earlier this spring when veteran offensive lineman Chad Clifton was released, and Pro-Bowler Nick Collins was also let go because of his neck injury.

It also comes off Driver’s winning of Dancing with the Stars, thus gaining nationwide attention.

So, come tomorrow morning, Driver will make good on his statement that he will indeed be a Packer for life.

Packers Nation is beaming as wide as a Donald Driver toothy smile.

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Brett Favre was joined on the field by former Packers QB Don Majkowski, the player from which Favre replaced at the position back in 1992. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Will Green Bay Packers fans ever have those warm, fuzzy feelings they felt for Brett Favre not so many years ago while he led the team to two Super Bowls, won three straight Most Valuable Player awards and broke just about every passing and endurance record on the planet?

Packers president Mark Murphy thinks that within a year or two the team will consider formally retiring Favre’s number and bringing him back to Wisconsin for the event.

That’s what he told Lori Nickel of JSonline in a story published by the Milwaukee newspaper.

You have to believe that by that time the opinions of so many Packers fans who soured on Favre may be changed by then. With Favre announcing his retirement so many times, eventually being shunned by the team, playing one year in New York and then finishing up his final two seasons in Minnesota didn’t sit well with Packers fans who had come to view him as god-like for so many years.

But Murphy seems to think that the number of fans who might be inclined to boo him today will have softened by the time a formal ceremony could be planned in a year or two.

I have to agree.

Brett Favre during a December game back in 2007. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

Personally, I feel Favre is the best quarterback ever to wear the Green and Gold. While Aaron Rodgers is fast on his way to matching and maybe eclipsing Favre’s popularity, he still has a long, long way to go to match what Favre accomplished on the field. Whether Rodgers can stick around or whether he will want to hang out with the Packers for as long as Favre did remains to be seen. If he does, there’s no reason to believe he couldn’t at least match what Favre did.

Favre is a first ballot Hall of Fame player. He will go in as a Packer, no doubt. His day of honor will come at Lambeau Field and my hope is that the fans remember the good days, not his final days in purple. Those days are a mere blip on Favre’s career radar.

Packers fans are better than that and will come around to honor him for what he did for the team, the franchise and the entire league.

For the sake of everyone, my hope is that the ceremony, the cheers for him one last time will come sooner than later and will bring full circle the man and his intimate relationship he had with the city of Green Bay and the fans of the Green Bay Packers.

Here’s a reminder of what the man meant to the Packers and the NFL: