Ted Thompson has passed away

[YoHoChecko]

RIP, Ted. I hope they have time to put together a nice tribute to him before the game.

The best tribute would be video clips of him talking wryly for 15-20 minutes and by the time it's over you realize he somehow hasn't said anything revealing or of consequence at all.

Not very motivating, but perfectly capturing him.

[GJPackerBacker]

What Paco said.

Every NFL exec has his ups and downs, Thompson was no exception, but he did far more things right than wrong.

Thank you, Ted, for being true to who you were, bleeding green and gold, and for the many successful Packer seasons you helped provide!

This is how I feel about TT - well said.

RIP TT.

[Bogey]

Upon being inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2019, Ted Thompson said: “I’m not one of those people. I’m just a scout.”

I think I've shared this story on here before. Ted attended our church, so my wife and I got to know him just a little bit, but like everyone else at church, we respected his space and didn't talk to him a lot. He always sat in the same chair in the back row; people would pass by and say hello to him but no one would bend his ear for any length of time about the Packers.

Anyway, at one point we had a young man from Indiana staying with us while he attended a gap-year program at our church. As it happened, one of his first Sundays with us had the Colts in town, so he wore a Colts jersey when he rode with us to church. My wife was telling him about Ted and said she'd introduce him to Ted. So she finds Ted in his usual spot and introduces Ted to the young man, who apparently wasn't listening very well in the car. "So what is it you do with the Packers," he asks Ted. "I'm a scout," says Ted. The woman standing next to Ted says, "No, he's the general manager of the Packers." Ted just smiles. "I'm a scout," he says.

The last few times we saw him at church, he wasn't looking well. Then he was gone to Texas. Now he's gone to be with Vince and Bart and Reggie and the rest.

[German_Panzer]

I liked TT because - Bogey's story confirms it - he seemed to be a truly humble person. I remember when he talked about choosing MM mostly because of his character. That impressed me because modern business theory advises differently. I also agreed with him to build almost 100% thru draft and not FA. He was class all around and I hope one day he gets a street in GB named after him (if it not happened already).

RIP Ted.

[williewasgreat]

Beyond what he did for the Packers, I will miss Ted's humility. It's one characteristic that there is not enough of in football anymore. His emphasis on people's character is something I really appreciate. May he rest in peace.

[TheSkeptic]

Too bad he will not get to see the Lombardi trophy home again. But he had to know it was likely and he had a big part in that.

[salmar80]

I think TT found a very happy place for himself with the Packers. With us, he was in his element, got to focus on his mission to build a successful long-term program. Fans tend to think in terms of one season at a time, that was checkers to TT's multiyear chess. I can't imagine him GMing under a meddling owner, anyone who would pressure or overrule his scouting-based decisions, like force signing overpriced UFAs to sell tickets.

[Pckfn23]

I am not someone who gets emotionally invested in people I don't personally know. So, when people die that I follow from afar, I can't say I have an emotional reaction of more than "That's sad," or "The world lost a good _____." This one took me by surprise though. I never knew how emotionally I invested was in Thompson. Maybe it had to do with having to defend him so much, for so many years. Most likely because he was truly a good person without any real skeletons in the closet and he was a true diehard for my team. The piece that McCarthy wrote really hit me, especially that last line. "Slow down, my friend."

[BF004]

I am not someone who gets emotionally invested in people I don't personally know. So, when people die that I follow from afar, I can't say I have an emotional reaction of more than "That's sad," or "The world lost a good _____." This one took me by surprise though. I never knew how emotionally I invested I was in Thompson. Maybe it had to do having to defend him so much for so many years. Most likely because he was truly a good person without any real skeletons in the closet and he was a true diehard for my team. The piece that McCarthy wrote really hit me, especially that last line. "Slow down, my friend."

Yes, I embarrassingly got a little teary eyed a few times yesterday, and again now as typing this.

That McCarthy write-up was very good. Well done coach.

[TheGreenMan]

[mention]Bogey[/mention] that's awesome.

[TheGreenMan]

I liked TT because - Bogey's story confirms it - he seemed to be a truly humble person. I remember when he talked about choosing MM mostly because of his character. That impressed me because modern business theory advises differently. I also agreed with him to build almost 100% thru draft and not FA. He was class all around and I hope one day he gets a street in GB named after him (if it not happened already).

RIP Ted.

And he was given a little of crap for choosing McCarthy too. I remember many, many posters back in the day were none too happy about the head coach choosing. Too be honest, I'm not so sure I was too. Ted knew exactly what he was doing.

[go pak go]

I liked TT because - Bogey's story confirms it - he seemed to be a truly humble person. I remember when he talked about choosing MM mostly because of his character. That impressed me because modern business theory advises differently. I also agreed with him to build almost 100% thru draft and not FA. He was class all around and I hope one day he gets a street in GB named after him (if it not happened already).

RIP Ted.

And he was given a little of crap for choosing McCarthy too. I remember many, many posters back in the day were none too happy about the head coach choosing. Too be honest, I'm not so sure I was too. Ted knew exactly what he was doing.

Yup. People wanted Brad Childress or Sean Peyton. Mac was a great hire and great Packer.

[TheGreenMan]

I am not someone who gets emotionally invested in people I don't personally know. So, when people die that I follow from afar, I can't say I have an emotional reaction of more than "That's sad," or "The world lost a good _____." This one took me by surprise though. I never knew how emotionally I invested I was in Thompson. Maybe it had to do having to defend him so much for so many years. Most likely because he was truly a good person without any real skeletons in the closet and he was a true diehard for my team. The piece that McCarthy wrote really hit me, especially that last line. "Slow down, my friend."

Yes, I embarrassingly got a little teary eyed a few times yesterday, and again now as typing this.

That McCarthy write-up was very good. Well done coach.

I typically don't get too invested into people I don't know either, but I feel differently about Ted passing. Maybe [mention]Pckfn23[/mention] has it right, you feel this way because you've had his back, defended him over the years. He was such a large part of this organization, and to an extent this forum. Thompson was talked about day in and day out for the last decade on here. How many others can you say the same thing about, outside of Rodgers and McCarthy?

Wilde and McCarthy's statement definitely got me a little choked up too.

[salmar80]

I remember one year, when PFF still had advanced stats available for all, I did a deep analysis on like 50+ UFAs at the Packers' need positions. Spent hours and hours on it. Around midway through, I remember thinking "what am I DOING!? We have TT!"

Sure enough, we signed zero of those guys, I laughed and went

[wallyuwl]

Very sad.

I've told this story before. In 2015 I saw him in the tunnel getting into his Escalade while I was on a stadium tour. He clearly had Parkinsons. Not surprised we didn't know how ill he got. That is pretty young, I wonder if any of it is because of him playing football in the era he did and mostly on the high-impact collisions of special teams.

[RingoCStarrQB]

Ted Thompson and Henry Aaron pass away the same week as the NFC championship game on Sunday in Green Bay. Hammerin' Hank is in the Wisconsin Hall of Fame. RIP #44.

[KS Cheesehead]

RIP, Ted. I hope they have time to put together a nice tribute to him before the game.

The best tribute would be video clips of him talking wryly for 15-20 minutes and by the time it's over you realize he somehow hasn't said anything revealing or of consequence at all.

Not very motivating, but perfectly capturing him.

I would laugh too at all the times the reporters would ask him about players in the upcoming draft. Classic Ted. I also remember a story about how they had the players fitted for ring size prior to SB XLV. Ted's response to it was something along the lines of "well we would have needed the ring size for the NFC Champions ring anyway...."

[Labrev]

I was a TT fan for quite a while. Sherman had been so bad at GM'ing that I was willing to give a "proper" GM the benefit-of-the-doubt early. I had mixed feelings on the Rodgers pick, but Nick Collins had a good rookie year, and at that time, a 2nd-round pick immediately contributing and looking that good was like a revelation. Of course, now we have all come to expect that due in no small part to him spoiling us with lots of good early and mid-round picks.

He even found some gems late/UDFA, and now we even develop high-hopes for those fringe back-of-roster guys, haha!

In the later years of his tenure, I started to feel like we needed to move on and change our approach (namely, to get a bit more aggressive in free agency), yet even several of the players he brought aboard in those final years: Adams, Clark, Bakhtiari, Jones, etc. -- even in his "down" years, he made some of his best picks.

One of the things I liked most about TT was that, in a position where it's all too easy to do make hasty, panicked decisions, the guy just had the courage of his conviction that his guiding beliefs and philosophies would win the day, and rarely if ever made that egregious draft day "reach" or handed out a stupid overpriced contract for that elusive player that puts their team "over the top." There are certainly valid criticisms to make of the downside of this virtue that he at times was too slow-moving, could have been a bit more flexible, and it bit us in the ass a bit. I would agree, but overall, I think his approach was a wise one.

In retrospect, it was exactly the sort of leadership we needed to manage the transition to Favre's successor (and all the pandemonium that came with it).

"Let the draft come to you." I'm sure every GM believes this, but in the heat of the moment, classic case of "easier said than done." TT truly did this every year, though, and I quite admired that.

[RingoCStarrQB]

Just picked up TT's official PSA/DNA certified autograph on eBay. Happy to have it for my collection once it arrives in the mail.

Didn't really realize that under TT's watch as GM the Packers made the playoffs 9 times in 13 years. Besides Aaron Rodgers, Clay, Bulaga-Bakh-Linsley-Sitton-Lang, Jordy, BJ, Nick Collins, Davante, Jamaal Williams, Jermichael, Daniels, the list goes on and on. But let's not forget the biggest Packers free agent signing since Reggie White --> Charles Woodson #21 in a Packers uniform.

What is the Lambeau Field facade? Is that outside or inside, or what? Packers said they'll put TT's name on the Lambeau Field facade? Is this a new thing or what? If so.......might as well put Jack Vainisi's name on it as well. Call it the Scout Wall of Fame maybe.

GO PACK GO!!

[go pak go]

What is the Lambeau Field facade? Is that outside or inside, or what? Packers said they'll put TT's name on the Lambeau Field facade? Is this a new thing or what? If so.......might as well put Jack Vainisi's name on it as well. Call it the Scout Wall of Fame maybe.

My guess is the facade is the green ring of honor around Lambeau below the suites that has all the names in Yellow.

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