#583 Packers Unscripted: Celebrating a legacy

So and there are reports out there of some potential coaching changes on the staff and whatnot, but we are going to hold off on that discussion until we do hear from the head coach and possibly from general manager Brian Guda Kunst as well, So we will table that discussion for now. And it's probably a good thing because there is one significant topic that we have not yet discussed west Um, mostly due to timing of our shows

and the NFC Championship game. But about a week ago, general manager, former general manager Ted Thompson passed away at the age of sixty eight, and uh, you talk about a man who left a whale of a legacy at twelve sixty five Lombardi Avenue, a legacy that was still being felt with the team and the players that he acquired. Um, it's uh. It was certainly a sad time to hear about his passing, but but also a lot of a lot of really fun discussion and celebration of of what

was really an iconic figure in this franchise's history. Yeah, and icon of figure Mike that I also don't think ever really got enough credit or enough to do for everything that he's added to the organization too, to all the winning that has come after it, and the fact that there's only four Lombardi Trophies down there in the players lobby, and Ted Thompson in his work as the Packers g um during those first five years, helped put that trophy there. He made the biggest decision, I feel

in pro sports history. I don't know if any other general manager, I'd be interested in having a debate with people about any general manager that had to make a more difficult decision than what Ted did in the summer of two thousand eight, where you have not only just a future Hall of Famer, not just a three time m VP quarterback, but a guy that really was the face of the Packers resurgence in the nineties and you have to make the decision to move forward with your

draft pick with a guy that you took that raised eyebrows three years earlier. It was the ultimate wager. And it wasn't just a wager of his job, right. It wasn't just that Ted Thompson said, Okay, this is the guy I'm going with and whatever happens happens. He would have went down in infamy among Packer fans if that

move didn't work out the way it did. The stakes were so high for Ted and he put it all on red and read is how it came up on the table for Aaron Rodgers to not only follow a Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, but then become arguably the best player to ever play the position in the National Football League, the most talented, the smartest, you know, soon to be three time m v P. Ted had to make a really tough call. And as I said, and I tweeted it, and I mentioned this in some

of our insider in boxes. Not once Mike in the ten years that followed did Ted ever go before a microphone, did he ever say hey, good call. On my part, he was all about the team. He was all about the organization, and he made a decision Mike that set up the organization for twelve years of success. That is

what has followed. Yeah. Absolutely. I think the phrase that I had used in Insider Inbox put it in the headline, was that he personified stewardship, and uh he really felt that his his duty as general manager the Green Bay Packers was to be a steward of the franchise, not only of the roster and the football team, but really of the organization as a whole, of the position that he held to uh, as you had written about, to continue the prestige of being the general manager of the

Green Bay Packers and all the responsibility that goes along

with that. And I think I think the um, you know, we lots of lots of past comments that that you know, you and I were digging out from people that that knew him so well, and I think one of the one of the best ones was from John Schneider, who worked under Ted as a personnel executive here with the Packers and then of course has gone on for several years to be the general manager and built, you know, helped build his own Super Bowl team with the Seattle Seahawks.

But He always talked about Ted as both doing it the right way, it also doing it his own way. And um, we heard a lot about you know, integrity and character and everything that was part of the man of Ted Thompson in terms of always doing things the right way. Um, never any flaws or blemishes in that regard, but also but also doing it his own way. He he he felt he made decisions that were in the best interests of the Green Bay Packers. It wasn't about

trying to be the smartest guy in the room. It wasn't about trying to um, you know, trying to to bolster his own reputation or legacy in any way. It was always about what was best for the team. And that's what everybody respected about him. Does every single move work out the way you wanted to know? But his motivations could never be questioned in terms of in terms of the rationale behind his decisions. And I think that's

what everyone respected the most about him. Yeah, And then we live in a day and age, Mike now where especially people from my generation and in those beneath me, it's all about look at what I do, Uh, give me credit for this. I need to feel vindicated for anything, not even if you had any skin in the game. If you're just making you know, content or whatever, hey like me, retweet me, love me. And Ted never asked for any of that, And that's what I've always respected

he was. He was the last of the dying breed in that way. And once more, another thing that I just I feel like I I touched on this in the Packers pregame show before the game against the Buccaneers. One thing that always gets lost with Ted is people

talk about he didn't sign enough free agents. But and I said this to James Jones, and I meant this, Mike, you show me from two thousand and five to two thousand and seventeen, how many instances there were of a Packers player who earned his contract with the team, played well, and the Packers at some point because of clerical issues or whatnot, they had to release them because it just it wasn't gonna work out with the cap the way

that Ted lead in how he kept a balanced budget. Now, a lot of the credit to goes to russ Ball for being able to negotiate these deals and get everything working. But if Truman Williams signed a five year contract, with the Green Bay Packers. He knew he was going to get that five year contract if he played well. Ryan Pickett, all these guys, Jordy Nelson, they took care of their own. It's one thing to sign him. It's one thing to put out that press release and everybody's really happy about it.

You have a press conference and it's it's a joyous occasion. But if the bill comes due in a couple of years and you can't afford it, no one ever really talks about the fact that that's actually a human being there that is going to have to go find new work and it's gonna have to find a way to get the rest of that money. That never happened with Ted. If a guy earned the contract and he played well on the contract, he saw the end of that contract.

Clay Matthews. The list goes on and on, and I think he needs to get some more credit for that. He did sign some free agents, Ryan Pickett, Charles Woodson, who's going to probably be in the Hall of Fame here in a week, Julius Peppers. There was a list there. But they also did such a good job of drafting guys in taking care of those players needs to get a little bit more credit for that. In my opinion, yeah,

I would. I would certainly agree any personal memories that you have, just a personal story that you want to share, any interaction with Ted that comes to mind. I have one that a story I've told before an insider inbox, So I will tell it again, but I will let you go first. There's a few I I joked about this an inbox too. I wasn't in that circle of trust. John Snyder always likes to talk about the circle of trust.

So we're in the circle of trust here, right. I was never in that with Ted, but I got to cover him at the Press Gazette, and I got to cover him here for two and a half years with the Green Bay Packers, and uh, the couple of things that the one story I really always appreciate is if you if you ever interviewed Ted in the building times out of ninety six, he always had a cup of

coffee on him. And I remember sitting down with him in sixteen, uh for what was gonna be the game or the yearbook story on him and Mike, and he comes and he gets ready to do interview, and he's like, hold on one second. I gotta get coffee, and he left and it was like ten minutes past and he comes back with the coffee, and you know, he'd see him in the hallway, always filling up and stuff like that. Always very nice. There was another time too, where we

were on the road. I said this story and inbox. We were on the road and it was myself, Duke Bober and Ryan Hartwick. We're all going into an elevator and this just shows you Ted's really really, really dry sense of humor, a very dark humor that he had. And he's on the phone with somebody, and Duke, myself and Ryan in a line, not all together, but in a line one after another, got into the elevator and as each of us came in, Ted goes, Hi, Hi, Hi, And you can tell we're like, oh, hey, Ted, how's

it going. You can tell whoever was on the phone with was like Ted, what what because they didn't break up the conversation. He just said it. You could tell the person was like, Ted, what's going on? And he goes, I was just saying hi. And it's just that was Ted Thompson. He just he just he had such a unique sense of humor and and also I mean, just a really interesting philosophy. You know, the last interview I

ever did with him, Mike, it was in seventeen. It was up in the fourth floor which is now Brian Gudkin's office, the g MS office, and Ted. I walked in and Ted had everything all laid out, He had his luggage all set, he was wearing a blazer, and he was about to go out scouting again right after the interview was done, and I recited this quote on Twitter. I think I might have put in an inbox two

and you already touched on it. But he had such an insightful moment there when he was talking about the run that they had been on to that point again just coming off the NFC Championship game again, and he's said, we are here for just such a short time, and it's important to realize that this is a special place and we are stewards of it, and when our time is up, our time is up, and there's never gonna be another one like Ted Thompson. Yeah, he was. He

was a hell of a human being. Yeah. Well, I arrived here at Packers dot Com in two thousand and six, basically one year into Ted Thompson's tenure as the general manager, and for about the first I would say five to six seven, I'm not sure exactly how many years that I was here on road trips, I happened to be the one who would sit next to Ted Thompson in the press box, which always led to some interesting moments because I would just keep you know, when things were

going bad, I would just keep my head in my computer. I wasn't going to engage in conversation or anything like that. As you know, Ted publicly could be very stoic and emotionless, and he would, you know, always always try to stay calm. Well. One of the games that I happened to be sitting next to Ted Thompson in the press box was Super Bowl forty five at it down in uh in Arlington, Texas. And I will never forget this. I will take this

with me forever. Um where that press but the press box is sort of above around the corner of the one end zone, the end zone actually to the right. As you're watching Super Bowl forty five or any games from Dallas on television, that was the end zone where Ben Roethlisberger went back to pass and got his arm hit by Howard Green when he was trying to go deep down the sideline right, and so we had a

very good view of what was going on. And as soon as Roethlisberger's arm was hit and that ball started to flutter into the air down the field, Ted actually started to stand up in his you know, from his seat in the press box, and he was saying, that's our ball, that's our ball, as Nick Collins was swooping

over to intercept it. And then, as you know, Collins weaves his way through and actually gets a touchdown and gets a pick six right down in front of us, and and and then you know, Ted, knowing that there's decorum in the press box, obviously he was he was restraining himself quite well. But then as he went to sit back down, I put out my fist like this, and he sat down and gave me a little fist bump, and you know, I'll just I'll never forget that. And

obviously the Packers end up winning that game. By the fourth quarter, Ted Thompson was gone, not sitting next to me anymore because he had to be ready to go down on the field for the trophy celebration and all that. If the Packers were going to hang on and win, which they did. But um, but you don't see you don't see Ted Thompson break any sort of decorum publicly at all. And for that brief moment when that ball

was in the air towards Nick Collins, he did. But yet he gathered himself and uh and he and I shared a little fist bump there on on an iconic play and Packers history. So I will always, um, I will always certainly remember that. I want to throw some questions at you, though, just to have a little fun here in celebrating his legacy. We all know Aaron Rodgers was his best draft pick. Charles Woodson was his best free agent signing. There's no debating you know, any of that.

So we won't go down that road. But I want to ask you a couple of things. One, we saw Ted Thompson select a heck of a lot of really really good football players in the second round of the NFL Draft, So I want to ask you who do you think was his best second round draft? Jordy Nelson. And I love this story that Brian Goodkin said when he was talking to the media about Ted last week, because everybody always talks about that first round deal, about

all the Packers. Rogers has never thrown any first round picks before. Mercedes Lewis is the only first round pick that's ever caught a touchdown. Whatever that bs is. Good Coins had such an interesting story and some of you might have already heard it, but I'm gonna recite it if you have it, where Ted would bury players he really liked on the draft board. You think Ted Thompson played things close to the vest with the media. He did it with his own scouts. There were a few

guys he really liked. He wouldn't let on with the scouts because he didn't want that getting out to an agent getting out whoever. And it was funny. Goodkins recited a story where that was the first player that he was able to peg that Ted really liked that He didn't maybe have him where he would think you'd have him on a draft board because he mentioned how you know, they were sitting in a meeting together and he's like, man, this guy is really good. This can this can you know?

Kansas State guys really good? And Ted was just poker face the entire time. So not only this tells you Ted Thompson the GM just what kind of guy this guy was? Not only was he gonna draft Jordy Nelson, it could have probably got him in the first round, Ted decides to trade back and get him in the second round. So the reason I liked that story one, Jordy Nelson was a fantastic player and ended up having a big, poor, big part in their Super Bowl championship

in two thousand ten. But he also was the first round pick that no one wants to give the Packers credit for because Ted Thompson would have taken him, but he moved back, got the extra draft equity in the second round of the two thousand eight draft, and then was able to still get the player that he wanted. So for that reason, I'm gonna say, Jordy Nelson, Yeah, trading back six spots if I remember right, from thirty to thirty six to get to get Jordy Nelson near

the top of the second round. With you picking Nelson, you left me with a tough call because now I don't know, um there there are so many to choose from here, as we all know, but it's really hard for me to decide between Nick Collins and Davante Adams and expectually, I probably should have taken one of the two.

But I wanted to say that Nelson, No, you needed to tell the Nelson story and that's okay, and and and to say that, you know, and not to take anything away from Greg Jennings being a second round pick back in two thousand and six as well, but finding Nick Collins at Bethune Cookman, um, you know, small school, historically black college, um. And uh, you know, I mean at the time that Nick Collins was drafted, everybody's like,

who is this guy? You know? And I actually tried to press Ted on that once when I had a one on one interview with him for a yearbook story similar to the you know what you were describing before when you were going to sit down in his office and he and he was like, oh, everybody everybody knew who Nick Collins was. We didn't find we didn't find anybody special there. And it's it's like, well, I'm I'm not so sure talk about that too. I mean, it was that was Ted's guy. I mean, he he he,

he pegged Nick Collins and he got him. He got him in the second round. And a couple of years ago I probably would have for sure, said Nick Collins over Davante Adams if I had to rank them. But now with where Davantae Adams is in his career, second round pick in and uh, you know, looking like he

he uh, he could go down. He could end up surpassing He's already surpassed many Packers players in terms of what he's done in the postseason, and he's going to just continue to climb the ranks of of a long list of great all time Packers wide receivers. So it's a tough call for me to pick between those two, and it probably is. If you talk about pound for pound value of the draft choice, it probably is Devonte because he got him. I think at what fifty three.

I think in the two thousand four NFL Draft, if you look at the picks around him, there were some there were a lot of misses at the receiver position. Uh and Ted Thompson the Packers personnel department, they found Davante Adams. Here was a guy who you know, he came out of Fresno State, had a prolific run, but

was still really young. He was an early entrant into the draft and as it turned out, has become a five tool player at the receiver position literally can do it all and has been the gift that keeps giving for the Packers offense. Yeah, and and Collins. You know, unfortunately we all know about the neck injury that cut his sure cut his career short. Excuse me, and uh,

you know you'll you'll always wonder. I'll always wonder if Nick Collins was potentially headed to a to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career, if he hadn't had to retire as as soon as he did. Alright, my next question, I have two more best value pick and we'll define value pick in this instance as what would be in the modern day draft construction as a third day draft pick. And I know who you're gonna say, but I'm gonna let you go first. It's the greatest value pick arguably

in modern NFL history. David Boxer. Uh, this is something, Mike, where a couple of things to this. One, you find a franchise left tackle, you find a five time All Pro in the fourth round, hundred and ninth overall or whatever it was, you already had yourself a pretty good day at the office. But two, there were so many tackles that were taken that year. There were so many offensive linemen that were taking that year. Um you think of Luke Jokel was the second overall pick in the

thirteen draft. Eric Fisher has gone on to have a fine career with Kansas City, But David Botr and also Tarin Armstead are the two best in my opinion, out of that draft, and they were taken in the third and fourth round. It just shows you with all the assets that people put into the left tackle position, the blind side block in your quarterback. The Packers went and found a guy they really liked, a guy that some scouts thought might end up being a center in the

National Football League. Didn't think he was big enough. Oh and then and then, by the way, Bo has to play that position from Jump Street, he has to come in, he looks like he's gonna end up being the starting right tackle. And then in that same family Family Knight scrimmage where he finally gets into the starting lineup, well, now he's over at left tackle in the weeks that follow. Because Brian Belogitor is a c L a remarkable value

pick in my opinion. I mean, it obviously has to be Aaron Rodgers for his best pick ever, but when you factor in that he was taken in the fourth round and the fact that he probably is headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame if he keeps on this trajectory. David Bakti is right there as far as number two or number three, Yeah, no question about it. And to continue the discussion and to pick somebody else again,

I'm still deciding between two. There. There's there's an argument for staying on the offensive line and saying that Josh sit In, a fourth round pick out of Central Florida who went on to multiple Pro Bowl and All Pro honors at the guard position, was a whale of a value pick in the fourth round, and there's no denying that. But to change positions a little bit, I'm gonna go with his sixth one of his sixth round picks in

two thousand seven and say kicker Mason Crosby. And there are a number of reasons to say this, not only because Mason Crosby has gone on to set franchise scoring records that he's putting up in the stratosphere that you know, for a franchise that's been around for a hundred plus years now, and he's setting scoring records that nobody's ever

going to touch. But also because we see in the draft so often west the kickers get drafted with much higher picks, second round, third round, fourth round picks, and they don't work out. And you watch how these teams around the league go through these kicker carousels, you know, every every year, every other year, they're changing kickers and trying to find the guy exactly, trying to find the guy they can rely on to, you know, to make that forty yard field goal in the fourth quarter or

whatever the situation is. Ted Thompson found that guy in the sixth round in two thousand seven. And other than you know, one legitimate competition for his job when he was coming off of one rough year, Mason Crosby has unequivocally been the guy around here. And uh and to make a pick like that in the sixth round of the draft, which is which you know, the general fan base looks at us, you know, the afterthoughts of the draft. Um, that to me would be probably the number two value

pick in this discussion, behind David Bakr. Alright, it's not just if I can say this too, it's not even just the value pick. You're absolutely right about that six round investment. Fantastic return on investment. But it's also the fact that in two thousand twenty, even now that Ted has gone uh with no longer with us, Mason Crosby that that's that's a load off the shoulder of Matt Lafleur. It's it makes Aaron Rodgers in these players on the sideline.

They're confident that this guy is going to go in there and make this kick. And I have to say this, I mean, Mason has played you mentioned two thousand and seven. Since that day, two consecutive regular season games played, has not missed a start, has been durable, has been reliable, and with the absence of one bad season in one down game, has been one of the most reliable kickers

in the National Football League during that time. Absolutely a fantastic pick that continues to be something that really helps the Packers to this day. Alright, one more to throw at you. And this is kind of a stream question because you can define it in some different ways. So I'll let you define out how you wanted, But the question is best under the radar acquisition, and what I mean by under the radar is when the guy arrived in the Packers locker room. However, he arrived in Green Bay,

nobody gave it a second thought, nobody knew who he was. No, it wasn't something that would make any sort of a headline on from the transaction wire or whatever. So what do you think best under the wire under the radar acquisition. There's a couple of good picks here. I think Ryan Grant is probably the right choice. Just with them, they needed a running back. This guy ends up being a great acquisition for them. Also, I want to say, what was that a sixth round pick that they traded for him?

Um and then goes on to be a player that helps them win a Super Bowl and and had multiple thousand yards seasons. So Ryan Grants probably the right answer. But I want to use this question to point out one other player on the modern team that I think sometimes we don't think about this with Ted Thompson, but they were some contracts in some in some paperwork that

came across Ted's desk during his final month. Is GM three of those moves extending day Davante Adams, extending Corey Linsley in signing a former quarterback turned receiver that then became a tight end Robert Tounyan to the practice squad on December four, two thousand seventeen, one of Ted's final transactions. And I know there's a lot that goes into that scouting process and determining that, you know what, this is the guy we want to bring in and give him

a shot. There's ten twelve spots, let's see what he has. But that move, Mike has been something that has really helped solve a position that has been in flux for seven years for green Bay, finding a playmaking, touchdown catching, all around producing tight end. Robert Tonyan has become that guy. And Ted Thompson was one that was one of the last things he put his John Hancock on was that piece of paper saying all right, let's give this kid a shot. And it's something that's really helping him to

this day. Yeah, I've got a few that I want to mention here in this category. I actually already mentioned one that being Howard Green from from two thousand and ten. That would what that's what you would would categorize as a as a short term under the radar acquisition um. But to mention some other long term guys, you know, in two thousand six, plucking Termon Williams off of the practice squad of the Houston Texans and bringing him to Green Bay. Nobody, I mean Louisiana Tech. He's on undrafted

on Houston's practice squad. Nobody knows who this guy is. And of course we all know the long term career that Tremont Williams had for the Packers. And then in two thousand and seven, two waiver wire claims that Ted Thompson made and the Packers were a little bit higher in the waiver claim order early in two thousand seven because in two thousand six they'd only gone eight and eight, right, so they have a chance that John's watching right now, Yes,

John con being one of them. Um had earned a Super Bowl ring as a practice squad member of the Pittsburgh Steelers in two thousand five, and in two thousand seven he's on the waiver wire and Ted Thompson brings him in. He goes on to multiple Pro Bowl, All Pro honors of his own as a fullback, becomes a cult hero, the name chanting and everything in lambeau Field.

Love it all. I love everything about John Kuhn's career and the guy that Aaron Rodgers often said when he was playing with him, not only were they very good friends, but said, if there's anybody who knows this offense as well as I do from an XS and O standpoint, it's John kun and the other one I will mention to it doesn't rank quite as high as someone like

Terronto Williams or John Kuhn. But in two thousand seven there was a waiver Actually this might have been two thousand six now that I think about it, um, but Jared Bush was claimed waivers in in two thousand and six. Now, Jared Bush had his ups and downs on defense when he was forced into action in the secondary and one up, but he became a special teams stalwart and a standout for a number of years in that phase for the Packers.

And then you know what, when he was pushed into action in Super Bowl forty five, the guy gets an interception of Ben Roethlisberger to help the Packers win that Super Bowl in the Ted Thompson era, So those are those are the under the radar things that happened that build successful championship franchises. And I just wanted to touch on a few of those as well before we sign off.

One thing I got to mention too. I think you're seeing the value of a Jared Bush in this particular era of football, especially a guy that was consistent a good gunner on special teams, did a lot of real good things there. But also with six defensive backpackages becoming prevalent, you need guys like that that can come in and know every position. I remember talking to to Joe Wit him mentioning back in the day that Jared, if they needed to him, he could play dime linebacker. He understood

the calls there. There's a huge value to that. And also just to close on this and that never being too proud to bring a player back. Uh, Matt Flynn came back in thirteen, the Packers don't have one of their biggest moments of the Aaron Rodgers era him making that past the Randall Cobb. As you know, John Coon blocks Julius Peppers if they don't bring in Matt Flynn midseason, and he ends up helping them win a couple of games and tie another one. Uh. That was critical to

the season. So there were so many small moves along the way that the little tiny things that a GM needs to do that Ted and his staff were always so good at doing. Yeah, absolutely well, I've enjoyed this discussions. I hope you have to and certainly uh our thoughts and prayers with Ted Thompson's family and friends. Um, but but a life to be celebrated. Certainly, with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.

Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team moving forward in the off season on Packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.