Amazon.com Review
Product Description One of New York's top sports columnists chronicles the ups and downs of Favre’s bold, brief tenure with the Jets, a cautionary tale for Viking fans, a told-you-so tale for Packer fans.
When future Hall of Famer Brett Favre came out of retirement and the Packers traded him to the Jets on August 7, 2008, it was one of the biggest stories in sports annals-and the most exciting news championship-starved Gang Green fans had to cheer about in a long time. Favre's record is unparalleled: he holds records for everything from the most career touchdown passes and the most consecutive starts among NFL quarterbacks to the most career victories as a starting quarterback. This book captures the ups and downs of his bold, brief tenure with the Jets and what seemed to be the swansong season of Favre's legendary NFL career.
Photo and Caption Excerpts from No Substitute for Sundays
Favre soaks up the sights and sounds in warm-ups before his first - and only - Jets-Giants preseason game. | 
Favre awaits the start of the Jets-Giants preseason game with rookie offensive tackle Nate Garner. | 
Favre uncorks one over the middle during the 28-24 victory over the Chiefs. |
Favre rolls right before hitting Laveranues Coles across the field against the Patriots in Foxboro. | 
Favre celebrates a touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles to give Jets 6-0 lead against the Dolphins. | 
Favre's stunning 27-yard naked bootleg sets up the first Jet score against Bills. |
From the Inside Flap
On August 7, 2008, the New York Jets announced that future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre would come out of retirement and pilot Gang Green through a suddenly much more promising season. Jets Nation was electrified. The tri-state area mobilized for action, ready for the most exciting autumn since the days of Joe Namath. And the fans would not be disappointed—at least not right away.
In No Substitute for Sundays, longtime New York Post sports columnist Steve Serby captures the ups and downs of Favre's bold, brief tenure with the Jets and what seemed destined to be the swan song of his legendary NFL career.
How does a team coming off of an utterly dismal season persuade one of the greatest and most famous athletes in any sport, a man who holds records for everything from the most career touchdown passes and the most consecutive starts among NFL quarterbacks to the most career victories as a starting quarterback, to climb aboard what looks like a sinking ship? Serby takes you behind the scenes for a fascinating look at Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum's furious campaign to woo Favre, keep ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also had a strong interest in aquiring him, and craft a trade deal acceptable to the Green Bay Packers.
It's not often that an NFL quarterback gets to face the man he replaced, or the man who replaced him, twice in one season. Serby provides absorbing parallel portraits of Favre and former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington as they battled each other in blistering heat in the season opener. The Jets' victory seemed like the best of omens for Favre and his new team at the time, but the rivals would meet again.
With an opening rant by WFAN's Joe Benigno, this action-packed account includes extensive coverage of the 2008 season, including the thrilling highlights of the game against the Cardinals in which Favre threw six touchdowns, a career high. It also tracks the at-first subtle, then unmistakable, signs that Favre's fragile shoulder was failing, and the Jets were failing with it. Serby takes you deep inside the momentous final game of the season in which the team faced Pennington and the Dolphins again, this time with a very different outcome.
Packed with the kind of savvy insights that only Steve Serby can deliver, as well as scores of photos of Favre and his teammates, No Substitute for Sundays takes a bittersweet look at a season filled with hope, exhilaration, and compelling drama as well as disappointment and despair. It is essential reading for Favre and Jet fans or anyone who loves football.
