Divorce is never easy. Whether you’re Christie Brinkley. Or, apparently, Brett Favre.

Too many of us may have paid way too much attention the past couple of weeks to the uber-ugly divorce of Brinkley and her philandering hubbie Peter Cook.

But it may ultimately rate only slightly higher on the Acrimony Meter than Favre’s apparent attempt to receive his unconditional release from the Green Bay Packers.

Favre, of course, retired from the Pack in early March. With tears filling his 38-year-old eyes, the NFL’s only three-time MVP said, “It’s been a great career for me, but it’s over.”

But it was something else he said that day that we probably should have studied much more closely. “I know I can play,” he added, “but I don’t think I want to.”

That “but” just might be the biggest seen around the NFL since the playing days of William “Refrigerator” Perry. For less than five months after that farewell speech, Favre is now seeking that unconditional release, which would allow him to sign with another team and extend his playing career to an 18th season or more.

And this is where it begins to look like one very messy divorce, each side digging in, each side determined not to walk away with nothing. The Pack seem wholly interested in not allowing Favre to surface anywhere as a player save the home sideline of Lambeau Field.

“I don’t want to deal in hypotheticals,” Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson told various news outlets on Saturday. “Brett is still retired. I know that there has been a lot of publicity about about him being released, but if he applies for reinstatement, he will go back on the Green Bay Packers’ active roster and we will deal with it then.”

Just to be clear, because Favre retired, he must write a letter to request his reinstatement to the active 80-man roster. At that point, Green Bay would either have to comply or release him.

In other words, the Pack would either have to return to the marriage or divorce.

If you have any doubt about Green Bay’s preference, you need only listen to Thompson, who said late last week: “The finality of (Favre’s) decision to retire was accepted by our organization. At that point, the Green Bay Packers made the commitment to move forward with our football team.”

Move forward. Move on. You don’t have to be a marriage counselor or a divorce attorney to grasp the finality of that sentiment.

No wonder Favre is said to have told a Green Bay assistant coach in late June, “Give me my helmet or give me my release.”

None of this easy. Not for the Packers, who spent the late spring and early summer prepping Aaron Rodgers to become the starting quarterback. Not for Favre, who proved a year ago in tossing 28 touchdowns and leading Green Bay to the NFC title game that he remains one of the top five quarterbacks in the game.

And not for the Pack’s Cheesehead fans, arguably the league’s most loyal. They will quite naturally expect the NFL’s only publicly owned team to welcome back their ultimate hero for at least one more august autumn.

As Thompson said Saturday, “Quite frankly, it’s a little gut-wrenching as an organization to go through it. This stuff hurts a lot of people.”

No one ever expects to get hurt. If they did they wouldn’t marry in the first place.

Exactly four years ago, Brinkley told Good Housekeeping magazine: “This marriage (to Cook) is forever. We have a foundation of love and honesty and respect, we we’re a real team. Peter is the greatest father, so involved. He’s our Rock of Gilbraltar.”

Four years later it turns out he was romantically involved with the baby sitter. Life’s full of unexpected and painful surprises.

The problem for Thompson is that Favre remains one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks, as dazzling on a given night as Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. He has every right to say, as he did on Saturday, that Favre could compete for the starting job. But the reality is that if Rodgers were better, Favre wouldn’t have made an NFL record 253 consecutive regular-season starts.

On the other hand, Favre might want to consider his legacy. Yes, he could return to the Pack, perhaps reach a third Super Bowl and ride off into the sunset a slightly bigger hero than he did this time around. He’s been Green Bay’s Rock of Gilbraltar for more than 15 years. Next to Vince Lombardi he’s arguably the most beloved Packer ever.

But what if Green Bay releases him? Does he really want to finish as Joe Montana did in Kansas City or Michael Jordan did in Washington or our own late Reggie White did in Carolina, legends of the slow fall?

As Brinkley exited the courthouse last week after she and Cook settled out of court, she told the media, “It’s, to me, a very bittersweet moment because it really is the death of a marriage.”

No matter how Favre Vs. Green Bay concludes, Packer fans know exactly what she meant.

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