ALL YOU EVER NEEDED - To Know About Ted Thompson

[woodbuck27]

LIFE ON SIDELINES FITS FOR PACKERS' THOMPSON

General manager keeps a low profile in a high-profile job

By Tony Walter / greenbaypressgazette.com



His nicknames in high school were Teddy-Bear and Clarence. He doesn't think he's an introvert, but says he's probably the oddball in his family. He says he was relatively close to getting married twice, but says it was probably his fault it didn't work out. He watches "The Simpsons," votes conservatively, reads the Bible, drives a Cadillac Escalade, likes country and western music and is inclined to "step outside and yell at the darkness from time to time." Ted Thompson, at all other times, tries to make the Green Bay Packers a better football team. But the Ted Thompson outside his Packers persona has remained in the shadows during his first 18 months back in Green Bay. In an exclusive interview to talk about things nonfootball, Thompson recently discussed his past, his interests and his personality. "I think I'm rather outgoing in some respects," said the 53-year-old Thompson, whose title is executive vice president, general manager and director of football operations. "At the same time, I don't run to every microphone that I can find to do an interview. I don't push myself out in the press, but I'm not like Howard Hughes or anything like that."

"He's bright, trustworthy and he's always there for you," said best friend Mike Reinfeldt, vice president for football operations for the Seattle Seahawks, who worked in the Packers' front office from 1991 to 1998. "Great qualities for a friend."

East Texas native

Thompson was born and raised in Atlanta, Texas, a ranching and timber community about 170 miles east of Dallas. The third of four children of Elta and Jimmy Thompson (who still live there), he was an athlete, with football emerging as his favorite sport. "Most people had their sports heroes," said Jim Thompson, Ted's younger brother by four years, an attorney in Atlanta. "Mine was right in my house." But they were, after all, brothers. "Once, when I was 5 or 6, we couldn't find any baseballs so we were playing with a croquet ball," Jim Thompson said. "Ted hit me in the back of the head, and I still bear a knot there. I don't think I've been adequately compensated to this day."

Ted Thompson said his parents were strict, his father a believer in corporal punishment. He held summer jobs in a steel factory, in a state park and in Atlanta neighborhoods cutting lawns. "I didn't particularly like it," he said of the lawn jobs. "It was OK, but then some little old lady would call on Saturday morning at 8 o'clock when I was planning to go play golf … and my Mom would say forget about the golf."

Bill Dupree was president of the Atlanta High School senior class of 1971 and a football teammate of Thompson.


"We had a good team our senior year," said Dupree, who also still lives in Atlanta. "Ted was our offense. He was the fullback and it was Thompson left, Thompson right, Thompson up the middle. But he didn't like the limelight and was always humble."


Classmate Debbie Vaughan Hensen recalled that Thompson was "always a very nice guy. He and one of my best friends dated, and she was crowned Miss Atlanta in 1971. His brother, Frank, was a big cut-up, but I remember Ted as quieter."


One of Hensen's better memories of Thompson was in 1981 when he played guitar and sang at their 10-year high school reunion.


Max Sandlin Jr., who grew up down the street from the Thompsons and later served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1997-2005), said there wasn't a finer all-around athlete in East Texas in the early 1970s than Thompson.


"Our moms would feed us and then push us out the door and lock the door," said Sandlin, now a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. "We'd ride our bicycles and play sports. You could get your driver's license at age 14 in Texas and Ted had a '58 Chevy and later had this green Ford Maverick, one of the ugliest cars Ford ever made."


Sandlin and Thompson played basketball together for the Atlanta High School Rabbits, a team Sandlin said was "vertically challenged. But we owned the lane and whenever anyone would come down the lane, Ted or I would knock them to the floor."


Oiler teammates

Seattle's Reinfeldt and Thompson played together for the Houston Oilers for several years.


"When I went to Houston from the (Oakland) Raiders, it was the middle of the season," said Reinfeldt. "Bum Phillips (Oilers coach) came up to me and called Ted over and said, 'Help this guy get situated.' That tells you something about what they thought of Ted."


Reinfeldt said he and Thompson played in an NFL Players Association golf tournament in Florida in the late 1970s when Thompson won a closest-to-the-hole competition. The prize was a year's use of an Excaliber. "We had to drive it back to Texas and I had the worst virus," Reinfeldt said. "So he drove it all the way himself."


Thompson thought about being a coach when he finished playing football, but nothing worked out. He tried his hand as a stockbroker but ended that voluntarily, saying, "I'm not going to call people I don't know and sell them something they don't need. So I managed my own accounts, I played golf, did some charity things. I pretty much enjoyed life for six or seven years."


Thompson has never married. "Everyone else (in the family) is normal," he said. "I was the only oddball in the bunch. They all got married and have children. I think my parents were always a bit disappointed that I didn't get married and I didn't have grandchildren."


But Thompson said his football lifestyle wasn't the best environment for a marriage.


"I had what I thought were two chances with what I think would have been good matches, but I probably messed them both up," he said. "I would have liked to have been married and had children."


Reinfeldt said Thompson "isn't a quick study. It takes time to get to know him. When we went to Seattle, the equipment men and trainers reported to him and they didn't know what to think of him. But when he left, they said they really missed him."


Having a relatively low profile in Green Bay, despite being in a high-profile job, seems to suit Thompson.


"I think this is a marvelous place," he said. "People recognize me but they don't much bother me. You go to a restaurant and you see people look twice. People want the team to do well, so they want you to succeed, so they're always offering encouragement, sometimes advice. And sometimes I'm the face of the organization."

[SorrowofMaybelle]

Interesting article.

[MJZiggy]

See, now that's a scoop. Nice article.

[MadtownPacker]

That is a good article but seemed to be pushing the "not married" agenda too hard. Why? :smile:

OK I know, but still didnt it seem like it to you?

[MJZiggy]

Maybe they've been reading the Trapped in the Closet series. :shock:

[woodbuck27]

That is a good article but seemed to be pushing the "not married" agenda too hard. Why? :smile:

OK I know, but still didnt it seem like it to you?

APB has been putting the heat on. Tank wanted answers. :mrgreen:

[Harlan Huckleby]

"I had what I thought were two chances with what I think would have been good matches, but I probably messed them both up," he said.

http://www.jasonstuart.com/images/NewPic_May2005/handsome_thumb.jpg http://www.msu.edu/user/hytowers/blair.jpeg


ya, well, we all have our regrets.

[GrnBay007]

Harlan!! :shock:

I don't understand why people find it SO odd that he never married. He's obviously been totally committed to his career. Some people just don't find that special someone and for those that are workaholics sometimes they (and the person they either marry or missed out on) are better off.



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[GrnBay007]

Oh yeah....interesting article Woody, thanks.



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[Harlan Huckleby]

Harlan!! :shock:

I don't understand why people find it SO odd that he never married.

What I find odd is how many people DO get married! It seems like almost everybody gives it a try.

Hah! I remember attending a Ralph Nader speech once. It was a tiny group of people out on the street. Anyway, this right-wing asshole companion of mine was taunting Ralph about never being married. How embarassing.

I wish Ted Thompson was gay, that would be good for gays to have some presence in NFL.

[Packers4Ever]

That is a good article but seemed to be pushing the "not married" agenda too hard. Why? :smile:

OK I know, but still didnt it seem like it to you?

I know, Mad, I thought the same thing right away...

[MJZiggy]

The Q & A behind the story:

Q&A: Thompson story began in small-town Texas

Packers executive left the Lone Star state to begin his second NFL career


Ted Thompson has been executive vice-president, general manager, and director of football operations for the Green Bay Packers since January 2005. For almost 18 months he has been answering questions about the football team, the NFL draft, quarterback Brett Favre and other favorite subjects of Packers fans. Recently, he sat down with the Press-Gazette’s Tony Walter and answered questions about himself.

Q. You’re from Atlanta, Texas. What kind of town is it?

A.It’s something like 6,200 people now. The high school had 700 students. It’s a nice town, a ranching and forest timber area. Beautiful country, I think. All my family still lives in Atlanta. My parents do, and my brother. I have another brother that lives in West Texas. It’s a nice town, and you go back there and things haven’t changed much.

Q.Are there any fast-food restaurants there?

A.Yeah, there’s a McDonalds, some pizza places, a big Wal-Mart. That’s pretty much the social gathering place, the Wal-Mart.

Q.What are your parents like?

A.My mom was a homemaker. My dad was in the steel industry when he first got out of the service, then went into ranching and cattle. More recently, he’s semi-retired but still works in the timber business, buying and selling, that sort of thing.

Q.Did you have any jobs during high school?

A.I had a couple of interesting jobs. I worked for a construction company under the umbrella of the Halliburton Co., and a place called Lone Star Steel factory, where I worked for one summer. Then I got a job working for Atlanta State Park, this beautiful place where people come with campers. And my job was to show them the nature trails or mow the grass around the campsites. It was outside and you’re not breathing steel. When I was younger, I didn’t particularly like it, but I was a lawn mower. My brother, Frank, and I would mow people’s yards. It was OK but then some little old lady would call on Saturday morning at 8 o’clock when I was planning to go play golf. She’d call my mom and say I need my yard cut today, and Mom would say forget about the golf.

Q.Were your parents strict?

A.Yeah, my mom worked very hard to make sure her children were fed and clothed. My dad was a strict disciplinarian. He was the head of the household, and corporal punishment, he believed in that.

Q.Where were you in the family order?

A.I was third. My sister was born; then a year later, my brother, Frank, was born. Then a year later I was born. I’m not so sure I was planned. My younger brother is about four years younger. His name is Jim. He’s an attorney. My sister’s name is Debbie.

Q.Do you have nieces and nephews?

A.Oh, yeah. Everyone else is normal. I was the only oddball in the bunch. They all got married and have children. I think my parents were always a bit disappointed that I didn’t get married and I didn’t have any children.

Q.Was football always your main sport?

A.Football was always on the horizon when I was younger. But like most other boys in America, I played Little League and Pony League baseball. We didn’t have a high school baseball team at the time, so I switched over to football. In seventh grade was the first time I ever played football and I broke my shoulder in a practice on the day of our first game so I never actually played my seventh-grade year, even though my dad took me to about five different doctors trying to find someone to OK me to play. From eighth grade on I never got injured or missed any time in college through pro.

Q.Did you participate in other sports in high school?

A.In a little town like that and a little school like that, you played football and as soon as football season was over you played basketball. And as soon as that was over you ran track and you played golf, and then you played baseball in the summertime. So it was sports all the time.

Q.Were you any good at basketball?

A.No, I like to think I was but I wasn’t really that good. I controlled the ball. I was the point guard.

Q.What position did you play in baseball?

A.I grew up playing shortstop and pitching. I played outfield at SMU after my eligibility was used up.

Q.Did you always plan to play college football?

A.We didn’t have ESPN then. There’d be maybe one college game on TV on Saturday afternoon. I didn’t know if I’d get to play college football or not. I started getting letters the summer prior to my senior year. So I knew there was an interest there but I didn’t know if I’d get a scholarship. Later on in my senior year I realized I’d be able to get a scholarship.

Q.What did you study in college?

A.I studied business, and focused on financial things. So I thought I’d be like everyone else, graduate from SMU and go into business.

Q.Did you enjoy the college years?

A.I really enjoyed my time in college. The longer you’re out of college, the more you wish you’d stayed longer. You learn what you can and can’t do. I was like everyone else who went off to college. There are times when you don’t study as hard as you should, or you don’t attend class as often as you should. I was reasonably intelligent so I could get through school.

Q.Didn’t you play for Coach Hayden Fry at SMU?

A.Yes, I was recruited by Hayden Fry. He was a remarkable recruiter. He was a really good people person. He had one of those minds.

Q.Did he come to Atlanta to recruit you?

A.No, he didn’t. An assistant did. When I would visit another school like Texas Tech or one of the other schools that recruited us, we had to fly through Love Field (in Dallas). Every time I would come down the ramp to switch planes, Hayden Fry would be at the bottom of that ramp and say I hope you have a good visit and we really want you here. And I’m thinking he’s out there only for me. He’s probably meeting 100 different recruits in the course of a weekend. But he was remarkable at that.

Q.Do you still have friends back in Atlanta or from college?

A.Yes, I see several when I see my parents and family in the summertime. I see a couple people then in Atlanta. I always make it a point to get together with a few of the players and classmates I went to school with at SMU. But you get kind of separated.

Q.Do your parents still live in the same house where you grew up?

A.Same house. We moved into that house when I was in the ninth grade. We lived in a little town called Douglassville, Texas, which is a population of 173. We went from Red Hill, which was 50-something, to Douglassville, to Atlanta, which was over 5,000. Moving up.

Q.Were you drafted after college?

A.No, I was not. There were 17 rounds when I came out and I was not drafted. It was a little different in those days for college free agency but I didn’t hear from anybody. Then a scout for the Atlanta Falcons showed up at my dorm room about two days after the draft and wanted me to sign a contract. I didn’t know anything about it so I said something to the effect that I’d have to let my people look at this.

Q.Did you have any people?

A.I didn’t have any people but I didn’t know what else to say. He said I could have anyone I want look at it but he had to catch a plane in 30 minutes. So I passed up on that. And then Bum Phillips called me a couple days later and had just been named head coach of the Houston Oilers. Bum had worked for Hayden Fry as defensive coordinator my sophomore year. So Bum called me and said would you like to try out, or would you like to come down and try out for linebacker, or something like that. So I said sure.

Q.What was your favorite pro football team growing up?

A.It was very strong Cowboy country. I suppose I was (a fan). I wasn’t a huge professional fan. But high school football and college football were the No. 1 products. They were more cherished than the NFL.

Q.Did you intend to go into business after your pro career ended?

A.I actually thought long and hard, and sent out a couple letters about being a coach. I spent my entire life learning the game and thought I’d like to try it. And I didn’t have any success. So I said, what the heck, I’ll go back to my roots. So I sat in a chair at a small brokerage firm in Houston for about a year and thought I’m not going to call people I don’t know and sell them something they don’t need. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It didn’t fit my personality. So I managed my own accounts, I played golf, did some charity things. But I pretty much enjoyed life for six or seven years.

Q.What’s your golf handicap?

A.I was pretty good back then. But my game’s horrendous now.

Q.What type of books do you like to read?

A.I read mysteries, like when I travel. I read the Bible every night. I’m not a preacher but I read the Bible every night before I go to bed. I read about how other successful people have done, and what they think is important.

Q.You grew up in a Christian home?

A.I grew up in a Protestant church, the Methodist church.

Q.Do you still go to church?

A.Yes. When I first moved here, it was a little helter-skelter. I had a good church in Seattle that I went to, too.

Q.Do you like to go to movies?

A.I like to. I don’t do it here. It’s too difficult.

Q.What type of movies do you like?

A.I like fun movies. I don’t like movies that are so serious and you have to think a whole lot. I don’t like horror movies. To me, that’s not fun. But if I can see a good war movie that’s not too cynical or not too nasty, that’s fine. I like movies like “The Princess Bride,” which was remarkably funny. “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” those kind of movies.

Q.Are you political?

A.Probably. I’m a conservative by nature and probably vote the way most conservatives would vote. I’m not necessarily stuck in sand on that but I have a conservative tilt.

Q.What kind of music do you listen to?

A.Country and western, and I like Christian pop music.

Q.Have you been to any good concerts?

A.I’ve been to a couple pretty good concerts. ZZ Top, a Dallas band, and (Bruce) Springsteen. I went to see him twice. And he’s up there for four hours and that’s the best band I’ve ever seen. It’s not what I drive around and listen to on the radio but I like that kind of music. I like that kind of show.

Q.Are you a good cook? Do you cook a lot?

A.I wouldn’t classify myself as a good cook. I don’t cook as much as I used to. I don’t seem to have the time. I like to cook dishes with my mom.

Q.What do you do when you want to get away? What’s your escape?

A.I don’t get a chance to do it very often but I try to play some golf.

Q.Who were your major role models?

A.My parents were. Obviously, Bum Phillips was a huge impression on me. Ron Wolf.

Q.How do you blow off steam when you get angry?

A.I just step outside and yell at the darkness from time to time. I don’t carry feelings around with me. If I have something I want to talk to somebody about, I just go and do it. If there’s something I thought could be better, I just go and talk about it.

Q.What’s your favorite television show?

A.I watch a lot of the History Channel. I am a regular fan of the Simpsons. I like the satire.

Q.Do you have a favorite kind of car?

A.I drive an Escalade. I’ve had a lot of different cars. I started out with a ’57 Studebaker. I’ve had sports cars.

Q.Are you renting a home here?

A.No, I bought a home. It’s in De Pere.

Q.How do you deal with being recognized in public?

A.I think this is a marvelous place. People recognize me but they don’t much bother me. You go to a restaurant and you see people look twice. People want the team to do well, so they want us to succeed. So they’re always offering encouragement, sometimes advice.

Q.You’ve always been single. Did you ever come close to being married?

A.Well, close is a relative term. I had what I thought were two chances with what I think would have been good matches but I probably messed them both up. When I was playing, I didn’t think it was necessarily a very good environment for marriage. But I was young and enjoying life and that sort of thing. Yes, I would have liked to have been married and had children.

Q.Do you think you ever will?

A.I don’t know. I’m 53, so I’m not sure anyone wants a 53-year-old man.

Q.Are you an introvert?

A.No, I don’t think so. I think I’m rather outgoing in some respects. At the same time, I don’t run to every microphone that I can find to do an interview. I don’t push myself out in the press but I’m not like Howard Hughes or anything like that.

[woodbuck27]

Oh yeah....interesting article Woody, thanks.



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Thanks GrnBay007. :smile:

I thought the article gets a little deeper into the man/Football Man - Ted Thompson, than what we've seen before.

GO Packers !

[Harlan Huckleby]

Q. Bottom man or top man?

[Harlan Huckleby]

I'm not sure why it has been left to ME to play the role of house gay basher.

Guess Tank is off on July 4th vacation.

Actually, I am very pro gay, think they should be able to get married and play grab ass in public parks. I just can't resist a bad joke.

[MJZiggy]

I can only wonder if he's been flooded with calls from every 45-55 year old divorcee in the state of Wisconsin. Who would want a 53-year-old man?

[Willard]

I can only wonder if he's been flooded with calls from every 45-55 year old divorcee in the state of Wisconsin. Who would want a 53-year-old man?

Ziggy, don't you know 53 is the new 33?

[LaFours]

Being that everyone has had to guess at what makes TT tick up to this point this article gives some good insight into who he really is. Thanks for posting Woodbuck!

[woodbuck27]

Being that everyone has had to guess at what makes TT tick up to this point this article gives some good insight into who he really is. Thanks for posting Woodbuck!

Yes he has been quite the mystery man. It only took about 18 months to inform us a little more on who TT is.

I'm just waiting to see what APB has to say on the article. LOL :roll:

[woodbuck27]

I can only wonder if he's been flooded with calls from every 45-55 year old divorcee in the state of Wisconsin. Who would want a 53-year-old man?

Arrraaagghhh! Did I detect a little male bashing in there?

When males reach the age of 50, and if they have good health - that is when they become most interesting. SEXY !

Especially if they LOVE the Packers.

[MJZiggy]

I can only wonder if he's been flooded with calls from every 45-55 year old divorcee in the state of Wisconsin. Who would want a 53-year-old man?

Arrraaagghhh! Did I detect a little male bashing in there?

When males reach the age of 50, and if they have good health - that is when they become most interesting. SEXY !

Especially if they LOVE the Packers.

No, I was merely repeating his own question from the middle of the interview when he said, "who would want a 53-year-old man."

And the answer is, every unmarried 40-50 something in the area. Football fans :smile: and golddiggers :sad: (last I recall he makes some serious coin). No male bashing involved. I'm afraid to ask why you find 50-year-old men sexy though. :oops:

[woodbuck27]

I can only wonder if he's been flooded with calls from every 45-55 year old divorcee in the state of Wisconsin. Who would want a 53-year-old man?

Arrraaagghhh! Did I detect a little male bashing in there?

When males reach the age of 50, and if they have good health - that is when they become most interesting. SEXY !

Especially if they LOVE the Packers.

No, I was merely repeating his own question from the middle of the interview when he said, "who would want a 53-year-old man."

And the answer is, every unmarried 40-50 something in the area. Football fans :smile: and golddiggers :sad: (last I recall he makes some serious coin). No male bashing involved. I'm afraid to ask why you find 50-year-old men sexy though. :oops:

Geeee Ziggy if I got into all that, that is that, then we would go off topic here. LOL.