RIP Ted Thompson

[George Cumby]

Man, bring it home for Ted.

Thinking about him looking down and smiling and nodding as 12 hoists the Lombardi makes me smile.

[Vincenzo]

That's real sad. He indeed looked really unwell. We joked about it here but deep down I figured something was seriously wrong.

Being a big softy I’ve grieved Ted Thompson’s passing all week, I was surprised at how much it affected me.
It must have been all those press conferences, each and every time he spoke I listened so intently for his 12 years as our GM.

[call_me_ishmael]

I am having a tough time with this one too. Never met the guy obviously, but it is just sad. Too young. He seemed like a genuinely good person who was beloved by all of his peers, friends, coworkers, etc. He represented GB with class and dignity.

[th87]

With Ted Thompson its simple. As far as a “Football Guy” he was an amazing talent evaluator. He consistently built a core of talent through the draft. The idea was to develop this talent in house with the “Green Bay Packer Culture” and get the most out of these players and then lock them up long term on team friendly deals before their rookie deals expired. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t but he didn’t waver and that’s for sure.

In the 2010ish days he was just amazing with the ability to rely on the draft with a few select FA moves and he built a masterpiece but as many have posted we got snake bit with devastating career ending injuries to Nick Collins and J Finley along with Raji retiring early. Even Desmond Bishop tearing his hamstring was a tough break. Then Sam Shields and concussions. The list goes on. The attrition was coming at a faster rate then Thompson could “Draft And Develop” and that’s where the frustration set in with fans and the inability to fill holes immediately using free agency. We became a “light roster” with a generational talented QB that carried the franchise for a few years. Thompson however was able to rebuild the roster acquiring Julius Peppers and making some good moves in the draft having the team ready to make another big run in 2014 and Mike McCarthy completely blew it and choked it away in the NFC Champ Game so I don’t put that on Thompson.

I believe that loss just fried the whole circuit board and the front office and the coaching never really fully recovered!!!!

Not much longer from that point Thompson’s health issues started to become visible. Nobody really knew what was going on and we all know what happened pretty much from there.

So here we are now. @ Lambeau NFC Champ Game with Yet another reason to win. This is a must win for the Green Bay Packer Organization. A loss would be absolutely devastating!!!!

These are my sentiments too.

[George Cumby]

I am having a tough time with this one too. Never met the guy obviously, but it is just sad. Too young. He seemed like a genuinely good person who was beloved by all of his peers, friends, coworkers, etc. He represented GB with class and dignity.

These qualities are so rare in the public arena, we were lucky to have him.

[Fosco33]

Cool billboard from Pack

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1353016213828325383?s=20

[Vincenzo]

My wife said you should never speak ILL of the dead, but my best friend says that’s total Bull shit. He said last night that Thompson was completely inept.
I now regret grinding TT so much over the years and I can’t bring myself to start thinking about his mistakes. We use to call him Ted “Sweatshirt” Thompson or Ted “Tightwad” Thompson.

[Fritz]

People who are highly critical of Thompson are flat-out spoiled. Completely inept? Come on. Dude kept the Ron Wolf momentum going for another ten years. I think his biggest mistake, besides missing on some first rounders, was letting MM have so much rope. THen again, you gonna fire a guy who got to the NFC championship game in the 2016 season in 2017? It would be tough, only easier in hindsight. And the 2015 draft was terrible. Sure, those things are true. But the guy also ended up consistently putting together teams that not only made the playoffs but got to championship games a few times. And if you want to say it's only because of Rodgers, then guess who drafted Rodgers when it was the toughest thing he could've done? That took cajones.

And if you live in Detroit, like I do, then you know "inept" is Matt Millen, or Bob Quinn firing a 9 - 7 coach because it "wasn't good enough" and then hiring a guy t coach who couldn't even sniff 9 - 7 in a wet dream. So fuck all y'all who think Ted was "inept."

[wootah]

Being a big softy I’ve grieved Ted Thompson’s passing all week, I was surprised at how much it affected me.
It must have been all those press conferences, each and every time he spoke I listened so intently for his 12 years as our GM.

Same here. Maybe I'm just getting old & it confronts me with my own mortality, but it took me by surprise. When I heard the reactions from Tauscher & Wilde I was really moved... I was a big fan of Ted, the white wizzard. Sipping that water bottle during each confrontational question, always quietly trying to do what's best for the team. Very sad week to be a Packer.

[Fosco33]

Good thread here (from 2006)

http://packerrats.com/showthread.php?1534-ALL-YOU-EVER-NEEDED-To-Know-About-Ted-Thompson

[call_me_ishmael]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Klinck/status/1352432263791861761

Tugs are the heart strings.

[RashanGary]

As cruel as the reporters were for those years, I'm surprised