Last week, when Holmgren was asked about his future by reporters from St. Louis, Holmgren cracked open the door by saying he still is "99 percent" sure he was going to take a sabbatical after this season.

Of course, Michael Jordan gave the same percentage a few times regarding his retirement, and everybody knows how that turned out.

On Wednesday, meeting with Seattle reporters for the last time before his Qwest Field finale, he said his failure as a general manager in his first few years in Seattle serves as motivation to succeed in that arena in the future.

"After you (coach) for a while, you kind of maybe crave a little bit of a new challenge, and that's one of the reasons, quite honestly, that I came to Seattle," Holmgren said. "I wanted to learn and do that. It's like a movie actor that all of a sudden gets too old to act in movies and now all of a sudden he wants to direct. I had this vision that eventually I'd kind of go from here, to here, and then ride off into the sunset.

"So it was important to learn how to do that, at least get the experience. I've learned a lot in ten years here about that. That's why, right in the back of my (mind), there's an itch I can't scratch. It's still there. Maybe someday."

Asked whether it was possible for one man to work as both a head coach and a general manager and be successful, Holmgren was unequivocal about his opinion.

"Absolutely. When you read or write or hear people say (coaches) can't do that, it's usually started by out-of-work general managers," Holmgren said. "Jimmy Johnson certainly did it, and did it very, very well, so it can be done."

What this means for Holmgren remains to be seen. He definitely is not returning to the Seahawks, who jumped on the opportunity to replace Holmgren with Jim Mora as soon as Holmgren offered that he was retiring.

His wife, Kathy, still wants him to take a year off. There could be openings in both San Francisco and Oakland, allowing Holmgren to remain in Bay Area, where he grew up.

And both Washington owner Daniel Snyder and Dallas owner Jerry Jones are enamored of what Holmgren has accomplished in his career - and could easily make changes in their organization to accommodate his desire to join them, if that is what he wants.

But he still has another few games before he must face the future.

For now he gets the Jets and his old friend Favre, who on Wednesday said that he owes his career to Holmgren.

"I truly believe that I would not be sitting here talking to you today, still playing professional football, had it not been for that guy," said Favre, who was once again named to the Pro Bowl.

SERIES HISTORY: 17th regular-season meeting. The series is tied at 8-8, though the Jets have won the past five games and eight of the past nine. This will be the first time in 11 years that the Jets have visited Seattle, their first playing in Qwest Field. Seattle, which won the first seven games of the series from 1977-83, has not beaten New York 1991.