Brett Favre visits the Bay Area on Sunday with the New York Jets. It will be the last time we see him in person. Probably. I am assuming that the Raiders and Jets will not meet in the postseason.

In watching Favre on Sunday, many locals will be filled with respect and awe. Not me. I will be filled with melancholy. Because I remember when it wasn't such a big deal to have a certified great quarterback take snaps in Northern California. In fact, it happened every week.

Think hard. When was the last time we had anyone remotely in Favre's class playing around here? For either the Raiders or 49ers?

The answer: five years ago. In 2003, the Raiders' quarterback was Rich Gannon, a four-time Pro Bowl selection and former league MVP. The 49ers' quarterback was Jeff Garcia, who was a three-time Pro Bowl pick at that point and has since reached another.

After that year, Garcia was gone. Gannon was, too, after being injured in the third game of the 2004 season. And ever since, both the Raiders and 49ers have gone so far south, they might as well be playing home games in Puerto Vallarta. Their combined record in the post-Gannon-Garcia era is 36-100.

It all fits into one of my theories. I often wonder if NFL franchises do it completely backward.

Right now, each owner hires a general manager and coach, then has one or both of them pick the starting quarterback.

How about hiring a proven great quarterback first — through free agency or a trade, I guess — and then having him pick the general manager and coach?

Evidence shows it might be worth a shot. The Jets were 4-12 last season. Favre has them at 3-2. The coach is the same guy, Eric Mangini. Draw your own conclusions.

Normally, I am not in the habit of quoting Ron Jaworski, the former Philadelphia quarterback who has morphed into televised football's way-too-talkative Mr. Wizard. However, Jaworski once said something concise and to the point about how football teams win.

"The heartbeat is the quarterback," Jaworski once said. "Everyone who has any intelligence about the game understands you must have consistency at that position to be a championship team."

Consistency? Did the man say consistency? Yes. The consistency of skill, talent and endurance.

So. Here is the quarterback consistency for the Raiders since Gannon left:

—Kerry Collins for two seasons (my memory of Collins is mostly of his immobility and how, whenever he was sacked, it looked like the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down.)

—Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter splitting time for one season (as Coach Art Shell looked like his expressionless Hall of Fame bust).

—And last season, Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper sharing duties, with cameo appearances by JaMarcus Russell.

None of the above reached the Pro Bowl while they were with the Raiders. Or came close.

Here is the quarterback consistency for the 49ers since Garcia said goodbye:

—Tim Rattay and Ken Dorsey splitting time for one season (gives you a stomachache just thinking about it.)

—Alex Smith eventually taking over for Rattay one season (whatever happened to all those Tim Rattay jerseys that people actually wore to home games?).

—Smith playing one entire season by himself with extremely mixed results (causing a premature spike in the purchase of Alex Smith jerseys).

—And then, Smith and his infamous shoulder sharing time with Trent Dilfer, before he gave way to Shaun Hill.

None of the above reached the Pro Bowl while they were with the 49ers. Or came close.

Now, this does not mean that a top-tier quarterback is the entire answer. You can look at Garcia for the proof, as he has moved around the league to Cleveland (where he had no supporting cast and struggled) and Philadelphia (where he had a very good supporting cast and did very well) and now Tampa Bay (where he has a decent supporting cast and should make the playoffs).

At the same time, the performance of Favre with the Jets has demonstrated once more that "& well, it is far easier to predict what a somewhat battered, great 39-year-old quarterback will do in a given season over a promising 23-year-old (Russell of the Raiders) or a hard-working 29-year-old journeyman (J.T. O'Sullivan of the 49ers).

In the long term, Russell and O'Sullivan might be the answers for the Raiders and 49ers. In the short term, it's hard to forget that Favre was available to either team this past summer when the Packers were trying to move him.

The success of Favre in New York also shows that the fans (or cranky old owners) who fulminate about a change of coaches for their teams and thinking that will solve everything "& well, they could be fulminating in the wrong direction.

Hire the quarterback first, then the G.M. and coach. Someone should try it once and see what happens. Because it would beat what has happened around here for five years.