""TED THOMPSON SIGNED WHO ""

[Tony Oday]

What team has "gone over the top" with these FA signings? When has a team EVER won just because they made these splashes? What a joke. Peppers is OVERPAID...I bet he doesnt even play 12 games this year because of injury. What else is out there? Really. I mean LT or Westbrook? Do we need an aging former star in the backfield to make you happy? What this team needs is a SS and there wasn't one decent enough to sign yet. Lets go position by position:

QB- AR, enough said, not many are better in the WHOLE NFL much less the FA pool

HB- Grant and B Jack- Grant as it stands now is better than LT and Westbrook but I think they would be good at the right price here to back up grant and have a change of pace back

FB- We have our battering rams

WR- Jennings, Jones, Driver, Nelson- Who do you want here? T.O.?! please. This is a talented WR corp that needs to correct some things late, the drops, but we have size speed and talent here

TE- Finley and Lee. Finley may be a super freaking star and Lee is a nice Vet backup

OL- Signed the TOP FA in Chad Clifton and we will draft his successor, I would like Tauch back but I think Ted basically said to him, find a contract and let us match it, I actually am one of the few Pack fans that likes Wells at Center, and Lang, Colledge and Barbre have starting experience but need to gel to stick...who would you have signed here?

DL- Pickett signed and locked up, BJ Raji showed flashes, Jenkins, Jolly to solid starters...who would have put us over the top here?

LB- Hawk solid if not unspectacular, Barnett solid as well, CM keep up what he did last year and look the F out, Jones played well in a rookie campaign and we have Pops as a backup with Chillar...heck we could have Hawk as a backup with Chillar as a starter! Nothing in FA that "puts us over the top" here.

CB- Woodson = Stud, Tramon solid in what he did needs time to develop into a shut down corner and I think that will be this year. Harris- injured but damn if anyone can come back from that at his age it is him. Bell Bush and Underwood...yuck...FA class that could come in and start over Woodson or Tramon...nobody.

Saftey- Collins will be locked up, Bigby and Martin...well time to shit or get off the pot basically, we need an upgrade here but what was the "over the top" FA here?

Punter- this could be a FA signing but well its a freaking punter

Kicker- I am one of his detractors but Crosby isn't as bad as I thought. I love Rackers but Crosby actually looks better...he just needs a different coach maybe. agian nothing out there that really is a huge upgrade



Basically there was nothing in this FA class that would have made our team markedly better.

[vince]

The media will not run Ted Thompson out of town. Articles such as these are sometimes interesting to read and discuss, but are generally not persuasive, particularly when they fly in the face of the bottom-line results on the field. People will latch onto and emphasize that which is consistent with what they already perceive and mostly ignore or bash that which isn't.

The media just undermines their own credibility with the majority of fans when they continue to criticize with unintelligent and inaccurate pot stirring of what is clearly a young, rising playoff-caliber team. That doesn't by any means mean that they are above all criticism, but criticisms better have some meat to support them or they will be dismissed - and perhaps ridiculed - by the overwhelming majority.

The professional media has bowed to the times I guess by entering the fray of unreviewed, amateurish opinion-based blogs, bypassing the ethic of objective press altogether. They get readers and clicks short-term, but they undermine their own credibility and contribute to their own demise over the long-term.

Not winning is what influences people's perceptions, and will be what runs Ted Thompson out of town if it occurs to a great enough extent before he retires or otherwise quits first - not the media.

[RashanGary]

The media will not run Ted Thompson out of town. Articles such as these are sometimes interesting to read and discuss, but are generally not persuasive, particularly when the generally fly in the face of the bottom-line results on the field. People will latch onto and emphasize that which is consistent with what they already perceive and mostly ignore or bash that which isn't.

Not winning will influence people's perceptions, and will be what runs Ted Thompson out of town if it occurs to a great enough extent before he retires or otherwise quits first.

Not to mention, if you conducted a poll of Packer fans on the job of Ted Thompson (and we've done it here in the past), nobody thinks like Retailguy. Well, almost nobody.

The media is angry at Ted for not talking to them. They lash out, but they're doing a horrible job getting through and even if they did, like Vince said, Thompson controls his own destiny. If we win, he stays. Simple as that.

[cheesner]

TT makes the job of sports journalists pretty hard with his slow motion management style. A Magic 8 Ball interview generates more interesting quotes than Teddy does. I think this explains the hostility.
.

Interesting point, one not brought up very often.

WHAT? I bring this up all the time. I talk about Ted's lack of skills for his role, besides personnel all the time.

I'll be the first to tell you that even I don't agree with everything in that article, but all I've read here is the typical, grab one sentence and use that the bash the whole article type of bullshit analysis that you guys always do. Cynicism is easy, real thoughtful probing analysis isn't.

He has some inflammatory junk in there, which is undeserved, but some of that article is damn fair.

Ted's free pass with the media is over. They are damn tired of getting misled and bullshitted all the time. These articles are going to appear with increased frequency, most likely. That's not good for the Packers. Not at all. That's one area where Ron Wolf was a far better "total" GM than Ted is. He got that. He gave the media enough information to maintain relationships. Ted doesn't. He laughs right at them.

If he acquires talent sufficient to win a Super Bowl, and does, he can probably continue to stick his fingers in the media's eye, but if he doesn't?... Well, I'd suspect that this vitriole will continue until the media has sufficiently tarred and feathered him, and run him out of town. Really, when it gets right down to it, isn't that "stance" with the media pretty stupid?

The really sad part is that Ted is a great evaluator of talent. His relationship with the media doesn't have to be this way. Not at all. The media should be in a position right now where they love him. You got the occasional negative article about Wolf, but far more of them backed some crazy decision he made. Today, every crazy decision is on full display. It's backwards.

Justin, when you finish bowing at the feet of the master, could you find ONE thing in that article that is reasonable and well thought out? I'd really like to see what you come up with.

One of the problems with articles, such as this one, is that if you put in even one stupid comment, the entire piece is looked at with skepticism. The entire basis of this article seems to rely on the idea that Thompson made this move as a way of making the Packers an elite team. That is ridiculous, which should be fairly obvious. Therefore, after the first paragraph, I have the feeling that the author is a fool. The rest of the article does nothing to dismiss this notion.

My interpretation of this 'story' is that the author despises Thompson for some reason and will use every piece of evidence to reach this conclusion. That is extremely poor journalism.

Humorously, as you say "Cynicism is easy, real thoughtful probing analysis isn't." describes this journalism to a tee. If there is anything 'thoughful', let alone 'probing analysis', I can't seem to find it. The writing is just a collection of slanted comments that would merit a "D" for even a first year journalism major.

[RashanGary]

And it's strange, when we get a Tramon Williams, Donald Lee, John Jolly (late pick), Ryan Grant, John Kuhn, Spencer Havner ho-hum type of move, the Ted haters cut the jokes, but some of these guys pan out. SB rosters year after year are loaded with these types of signings, even at starting positions.

Strange to make a joke of it. Seems like the guy has no clue about that aspect of the NFL. Whether the article is objective or not is really the last of the concerns. Like Cheesner said, it's the pure idiocy from the get-go and then throughout that ruins it.

[Scott Campbell]

The media will not run Ted Thompson out of town. Articles such as these are sometimes interesting to read and discuss, but are generally not persuasive, particularly when the generally fly in the face of the bottom-line results on the field. People will latch onto and emphasize that which is consistent with what they already perceive and mostly ignore or bash that which isn't.

Not winning will influence people's perceptions, and will be what runs Ted Thompson out of town if it occurs to a great enough extent before he retires or otherwise quits first.

Not to mention, if you conducted a poll of Packer fans on the job of Ted Thompson (and we've done it here in the past), nobody thinks like Retailguy. Well, almost nobody.

I disagree with you on this. There are a lot of people that hate Ted, and for a variety of reasons. The second half of the season quieted most of them, but there still out there just waiting for the next misstep.

[Fritz]

I find it interesting that Thompson's critics often point to Ron Wolf's relationship to the media as an example of one that should be modeled.

Yet Ron Wolf manipulated the media -and rather well. Like most or maybe all GM's, he misled them about which players he liked. He expressed his disappointment after the Denver SB loss with the infamous "fart in the wind" comment - yet how is that a better answer than saying, like Thompson has before, that a loss is disappointing?

Because Wolf gladly lied to the media - and I stress here that I wouldn't expect him to give away who the Packers wanted and all that - that makes him a darling of the media, I guess.

Wolf has also used the media to burnish his own image, post-career. He's said that the Reynolds pick was Sherman's choice, but Wolf's name was still on the door.

I suppose if you're in the media and you like being bullshitted regularly, then Ron Wolf would be a great guy to interview.

I'm not saying Ron Wolf is bad or evil. I just don't think that Thompson needs to be a b.s.er in order to be respected in Green Bay, by media or fans.

[Scott Campbell]

Ted's no quote factory - I'll give you that.

[retailguy]

I find it interesting that Thompson's critics often point to Ron Wolf's relationship to the media as an example of one that should be modeled.

Yet Ron Wolf manipulated the media -and rather well. Like most or maybe all GM's, he misled them about which players he liked. He expressed his disappointment after the Denver SB loss with the infamous "fart in the wind" comment - yet how is that a better answer than saying, like Thompson has before, that a loss is disappointing?

Because Wolf gladly lied to the media - and I stress here that I wouldn't expect him to give away who the Packers wanted and all that - that makes him a darling of the media, I guess.

Wolf has also used the media to burnish his own image, post-career. He's said that the Reynolds pick was Sherman's choice, but Wolf's name was still on the door.

I suppose if you're in the media and you like being bullshitted regularly, then Ron Wolf would be a great guy to interview.

I'm not saying Ron Wolf is bad or evil. I just don't think that Thompson needs to be a b.s.er in order to be respected in Green Bay, by media or fans.

Fritz, I think you partially missed my point. Wolf didn't always lie to the media. He didn't always refuse to give information. Did he mislead? Sure. But he gave good interviews too. He gave the journalists something to write about besides "no comment".

He did build relationships with them, and yes, he knew how to use them. But, occasionally he fed them accurate information too. It was give and take.

For the record, I didn't say that Ted should "model himself after Wolf", I said that Wolf better understood the media, it's needs, and how it works. He used that to his advantage and did so in a manner that benefited him, the team, AND the media.

It isn't that way anymore. And I believe that's to the teams detriment, and to a certain extent, Ted's too.

[vince]

Here's a recent interview where Ted was pretty talkative about how they approach the combine, Ryan Pickett, the evolution of the tight end position, the offensive line, and more.

Feb. 26: Sirius NFL Radio with Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt

The reporter gave him proper respect as an NFL GM and actually asked probing and appropriate rather than offensive questions that didn't elicit defensive or dismissive one-word responses from Ted. Imagine that. Ted's not the most colorful guy, granted, but his responses to the press are as much a product of the interviewer in most cases as the interviewee.

[Lurker64]

I think the old school style of GM where half of the statements out of your mouth are plausible lies intended to mislead others has gone out of style simply because it's now significantly more difficult to avoid being called on your misleading statements and half-truths in the modern era of a 24 hour sports news cycle and the internet.

You don't see a lot of other notable GMs giving much to the media in terms of juicy information. Your Scott Pioli's, Ozzie Newsomes Bill Parcells,, and Bill Polians are pretty tight lipped too. I think the key difference is that the modern Green Bay sports media industry pretty much "grew up"with Ron Wolf as his tenure coincided with the return of the Packers to prominence, and thus come to expect his style to be the norm. It's not, and it's certainly far from the norm now.

Thompson is actually a cut above guys like Pioli/Belichick when it comes to dealing with the media. Thompson is a tremendously honest person and he doesn't want to lie to the media, however he doesn't want to give any information that would hurt his team or his ability to do his job. So unlike a Belichick or a Pioli he will deal, somewhat amicably from his perspective, with the media until he's put in a position where his alternatives are "tip his hand" or "clam up" in which case he'll always choose the latter.

Eventually (and this may take a while), the media will get used to the way Ted does business, as the guy who succeeds Ted, and the guy who succeeds the guy who succeeds Ted won't be any more forthcoming with company secrets.

[retailguy]

We'll have to agree to disagree lurker. The more things change, the more they stay the same....

[Fritz]

The mystery to me is that apparently the media preferred being misled and used by the supposedly amicable Wolf to being treated honestly by Thompson.

[RashanGary]

Nice find on that interview, Vince. I didn't realize that was out there. Sounds like he was really high on Clay. That's interesting. Said he considered him with the 9th pick (WOW).

And you're right, Vince, the way that interviewer talked to Ted, he really opened up there, was really personable and almost chatty. I think he's got a good relationship with Gil Brandt, so maybe that helps.

[CaliforniaCheez]

Atari Bigby stumbled around on the practice squad and then moved up. Several examples of players not drafted have been coached up.

Many of these guys just need some good coaching because of lack of experience or coming from small schools or the level of competition is higher at the NFL.

The other thing is Ted likes to see guys earn their roster spots. He does not seem to like players that feel entitled and not work. Younger players work harder to get the big contract. Ted like them young and hungry.

The experience of Ahman Green in Houston is typical. Many free agents get their big contract before retiting. Daniel Snyder has spent the fans money this way many times.

Ted when he has been in free agency has spent wisely. Pickett's contract was about equal to Flanagans when he left the Packers. He will pay when he needs to pay as with Clifton and Woodson.


Writers have not much to write about in a Ted Thompson offseason. Especialy without NFL Europe games to watch the prospects. What they ought to do is fluff pieces on say the Packers receptionists, funny stories from the ticket sales people, a photo gallery of the grounds crew working, Follow the the football game video guy around for a day and discuss how much film the Packers are watching on prospects(without too much detail).

If they wanted better stuff they could do some investigative reporting on the plumbing at Lambeau and their waste water system. How they avoid frozen pipe bursts etc.

These reporters are rather lazy and want to be handed a story instead of going out and getting one.