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I just finished Listening to a nearly 1/2 hour interview with Ted Thompson on Sirius NFL Radio.
This was by far the most candid interview TT has ever done.
Here is a breakdown of the conversation he had with Adam Shine and Soloman Wilcox.
About he draft:
"If you told me we would come out of the draft with the players we did at the spots we did I would have been extremely happy prior to the draft. Now we actually got them, we're all really excited about these players. These are all tough guys who are very smart football players. That was our vision for this draft."
About trading down:
"We all thought this was a really deep draft and if the opportunity presented itself we would consider it. We were all set to take a player at 36 in the second. The phone was ringing alot. Denver called while we were on the clock at 36 so we knew we were getting 37 also. So I thought 2 good 2nds and 2 good thirds in addition to what we already had was a great deal for us so we pulled the trigger on about 5 trades in 2 and a half minutes so I have my staff to thank for that, working very hard."
About the 5th pick in the draft and Vernon Davis:
TT: "I think Mike Nolan and the 49ers got a great player in Vernon Davis."
SW:"How much discussion was there about taking him there at the 5 spot?"
TT:"Not much. I decided about three weeks prior to the draft that Hawk was our guy. I just didn't want to take any chances with that pick. We had to suffer through a 4-12 season to be in that position and I thought this was our guy. Our concern was whether or not he would be there at #5. A lot of teams were interested in him, but the way the draft developed fortunately he was there. We're real real excited about that one."
About some of the other first day picks:
"Colledge is a big brusier and very smart guy. He's projecting at OT but we think we can also move him inside to G if we want to. Really tough guy. Spitz is a really smart football guy also. He is going to start out at G. Jennings is going to be really good we believe. I'll never forget when I worked here with Jon GRuden. He always said the key thing about receivers in the west coast offense is YAC and Jennings can certainly do that. He can also make an impact on special teams. Hodge is a great player. Him and Greenway were the leaders of that Iowa defense. I don't think he ever left the field. Kirk Ferentz raved to us about the guy and his locker room presense. He's a legitimate knock you down guy. In the early 90's we used to take a QB on the second day every year and many of them are still in this league. Martin has all the ingredients to be really good in this league."
On the recoveriing RBs:
"We believe Ahman might be ready for training camp. You guys know what kind of a injury rehab guy Ahman is so he's right on track, but it was serious injury so we'll see. Same with Najeh."
On Favre holding the team hostage and making statements about his disatisfaction with offseason moves:
"He wasn't holding me hostage. We went about things same as we would have. It made for some anxious moments around here but he's back and we're glad to have him back. How does that affect Aaron's developement, Rodgers is going to be with the first offense a lot of the time. We'll dial back Favre's reps since he's a little older. One of the big reasons Mike McCarthy is here is because of his ability to coach young QBs. Rodgers s going to get plenty of snaps."
"I was in constant contact with Favr ethroughout the offseason. Thos ecomments didn't offend me or this orgnization. I'm a grown man and I've told BRett this is a big boys league and you aren't going to hurt my feelings."
On the division:
"Obviously you start by looking at the champions, Lovie smith and the bears. We play them in the opener and everyone around here is really looking forward to that game. I'm not going to go through each team and break them down for you but as far as our chances I think people are dumping dirt on us too early. Almost to a man last year people didn't have a good year. The veterans are going to need to get better. I need to do a better job. And the young guys need to contribute. We'll be a better team."
This was by far the most candid interview TT has ever done.
Here is a breakdown of the conversation he had with Adam Shine and Soloman Wilcox.
About he draft:
"If you told me we would come out of the draft with the players we did at the spots we did I would have been extremely happy prior to the draft. Now we actually got them, we're all really excited about these players. These are all tough guys who are very smart football players. That was our vision for this draft."
About trading down:
"We all thought this was a really deep draft and if the opportunity presented itself we would consider it. We were all set to take a player at 36 in the second. The phone was ringing alot. Denver called while we were on the clock at 36 so we knew we were getting 37 also. So I thought 2 good 2nds and 2 good thirds in addition to what we already had was a great deal for us so we pulled the trigger on about 5 trades in 2 and a half minutes so I have my staff to thank for that, working very hard."
About the 5th pick in the draft and Vernon Davis:
TT: "I think Mike Nolan and the 49ers got a great player in Vernon Davis."
SW:"How much discussion was there about taking him there at the 5 spot?"
TT:"Not much. I decided about three weeks prior to the draft that Hawk was our guy. I just didn't want to take any chances with that pick. We had to suffer through a 4-12 season to be in that position and I thought this was our guy. Our concern was whether or not he would be there at #5. A lot of teams were interested in him, but the way the draft developed fortunately he was there. We're real real excited about that one."
About some of the other first day picks:
"Colledge is a big brusier and very smart guy. He's projecting at OT but we think we can also move him inside to G if we want to. Really tough guy. Spitz is a really smart football guy also. He is going to start out at G. Jennings is going to be really good we believe. I'll never forget when I worked here with Jon GRuden. He always said the key thing about receivers in the west coast offense is YAC and Jennings can certainly do that. He can also make an impact on special teams. Hodge is a great player. Him and Greenway were the leaders of that Iowa defense. I don't think he ever left the field. Kirk Ferentz raved to us about the guy and his locker room presense. He's a legitimate knock you down guy. In the early 90's we used to take a QB on the second day every year and many of them are still in this league. Martin has all the ingredients to be really good in this league."
On the recoveriing RBs:
"We believe Ahman might be ready for training camp. You guys know what kind of a injury rehab guy Ahman is so he's right on track, but it was serious injury so we'll see. Same with Najeh."
On Favre holding the team hostage and making statements about his disatisfaction with offseason moves:
"He wasn't holding me hostage. We went about things same as we would have. It made for some anxious moments around here but he's back and we're glad to have him back. How does that affect Aaron's developement, Rodgers is going to be with the first offense a lot of the time. We'll dial back Favre's reps since he's a little older. One of the big reasons Mike McCarthy is here is because of his ability to coach young QBs. Rodgers s going to get plenty of snaps."
"I was in constant contact with Favr ethroughout the offseason. Thos ecomments didn't offend me or this orgnization. I'm a grown man and I've told BRett this is a big boys league and you aren't going to hurt my feelings."
On the division:
"Obviously you start by looking at the champions, Lovie smith and the bears. We play them in the opener and everyone around here is really looking forward to that game. I'm not going to go through each team and break them down for you but as far as our chances I think people are dumping dirt on us too early. Almost to a man last year people didn't have a good year. The veterans are going to need to get better. I need to do a better job. And the young guys need to contribute. We'll be a better team."
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