Why can't I bring myself to like Ted Thompson?

I mean, the man built the Pack to a 13-3 record and the NFC championship game last season....but I still don't really like him. Weird.

I think a lot of it is that he just doesn't give in to the popular move. I can't and won't argue with his results, but there are a lot of instances where he made moves that I just didn't agree with. And while I conceed to his football superiority, I'm not willing to conceed that some of the moves I would have prefered might have been just as good for the Packers. We/I will just never know.

Taken as a whole and looking at the final results....obviously I think TT has been good for the Pack. Taken individually, there are a lot of moves I didn't like at the time.

Here is a look at the major moves I can think of at this time.

MOVE/ + or - (IMO)

Not signing either Rivera or Wahle -
Drafting Rodgers -
Bringing in Picket and Woodson +
Firing Sherman Neutral---I think he deserved to be fired, but he had very little to work with that year.
Hiring McCarthy - at the time, but definately a + now
Drafting Hawk +
Drafting Harrel - since day 1
Not signing many free agents last offseason -
Only signing Chillar this offseason -
Fixing the cap +
Not using the cap -
Not wanting Favre back -


I really do want the Packers to be good. And Thompson has gotten them there.....but he has done it in an unpopular way. Like I said, its weird. I appreciate all he has done for the Pack. I appreciate where they are going into this season (minus the Favre circus). But all said and done, I still don't trust him. JMO......as usual, I hope every move I disagree with works out for the Pack....but this is just where I am.

I think we should just be friends.

Geez...way to be generous...

What about signing Barnett...
Picking up Bigby...
Letting Misseswell go
Cutting ties with Darla
Drafting the other starters
Trading for Grant
Picking up extra picks
Making WR into a strength
Trying to improve the coverage teams

those just off my head...

Drafting Rodgers -

quote:

Originally posted by The Artist fka TD:
Geez...way to be generous...

What about signing Barnett...
Picking up Bigby...
Letting Misseswell go
Cutting ties with Darla
Drafting the other starters
Trading for Grant
Picking up extra picks
Making WR into a strength
Trying to improve the coverage teams

those just off my head...

Believe me, I know about these moves and they fall into the category of very good moves that helped to get the team to the positive position they were in last year and seem to be this year. Most of those moves where not what I would call major moves when they occurred. Bigby, Grant and the wideouts are great moves, but no-one saw them as major moves when they occurred. Longwell and Sharper were not necessarily Ted's moves.

Actually your reply supports the idea of my post. Thompson has made the Packers better....I know that...and the moves you listed are all intricate parts of that success. Yet, I still can't honestly say I like the guy. In looking for a reason...I came up with the fact that his major moves, more often than not, go against my insticts or wants. That is all I am saying.

Was this really necessary?

Yes.

quote:

Originally posted by Smedley:
Drafting Rodgers -

I really was against spending a 1st round pick on a playoff caliber team on a player who no-one wanted to play for at least 3 years. JMO at the time.

I guess I don't understand your point? If you're constantly wrong and he's constantly right, shouldn't that be a sign that you need to change your theories about what should be done? It sounds like your theories fit with what Dan Snyder likes to do and that way of thinking hasn't won him anything. Thompson's method has produced a roster loaded with talent, an extremely manageable salary cap, an NFC North title, and an NFCC appearance...in 3 years. What more does the guy have to do to gain your trust?

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherpackerfan:
MOVE/ + or - (IMO)

[QUOTE]Not signing either Rivera or Wahle -

Rivera was signed for way to much, Whale would have been nice, but not worth the money. The - comes from not picking good (adequate) replacements. My biggest concern with Ted is his ability to judge offensive lineman

quote:

Drafting Rodgers -

This was a good move at this point in the draft. The current QB had already started to contemplate retirement. Preparations needed to be made.

quote:

Bringing in Picket and Woodson +

Big plus, and I thought Woodson was a mistake at the time.

quote:

Firing Sherman Neutral---I think he deserved to be fired, but he had very little to work with that year.

Little to work with was his own doing. Not a terrible coach, but a terrible GM. Shermy needed to go.

quote:

Hiring McCarthy - at the time, but definitely a + now

Wasn't sure who would have been better. I don't think I was on the Bates bandwagon at the time.

quote:

Drafting Hawk +

This one was easy.

quote:

Drafting Harrel - since day 1

Sure doesn't look good now. I wonder what the success rate for good GM's is on first round picks. We know Ted picks well from the second round on, but you need to hit heavy with the first round picks more often than not.

quote:

Not signing many free agents last offseason -

This I can deal with. Fans like shiny things to much.

quote:

Only signing Chillar this offseason -

This move, plus extending Pop confuses me.

quote:

Fixing the cap +

This is worth like 6 bonus points and two gold stars.

quote:

Not using the cap -

You mean using it to resign your own guys?

quote:

Not wanting Favre back -

Not an accurate way of framing it. Had Favre not retired, this statement would not have been made. Had Brett got on the plan before the draft, this statement would not be made.

Think of the consternation if Ted had not made preparations for Brett's retirement and had instead banked on Brett unretiring?

The mark of good GM's and coaches is the ability to make due with what they have, the test of Ted and MM will be adjusting to having Brett in camp (not much different than having to adjust to an injury at a major position.) I think we have the leadership in place to make due just fine.

quote:

Originally posted by Henry:
Was this really necessary?

That's free range ass hole, isn't it, Henry?

The funny thing is, I think I do trust him. And, obviously, I know nothing about building a football team. It's just that after all he has done for the Pack....I can honestly say, my gut instinct is not to like him. And believe it or not...here or at other sites there appear to be a lot of other folks who feel that way also.

I'm just doing a little intraspection to try and figure out why I feel this way about him.

I've narrowed it down to either this theory or his beady little eyes.

quote:

Originally posted by lambeausouth:

quote:

Originally posted by Henry:
Was this really necessary?

That's free range ass hole, isn't it, Henry?

SEE! I'm attacking myself. Nobody is safe.

The Grant trade alone made last offseason a very good one for TT.

No way you can ignore that and say "Not signing many free agents last offseason -"

Just who was out there at a reasonable price?

You're just a diehard Shermanite is all. Go pull for the Aggies you Communist!

quote:

Originally posted by Henry:
SEE! I'm attacking myself. Nobody is safe.

take it to PM....

with yourself...

and you..

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherpackerfan:
The funny thing is, I think I do trust him. And, obviously, I know nothing about building a football team. It's just that after all he has done for the Pack....I can honestly say, my gut instinct is not to like him. And believe it or not...here or at other sites there appear to be a lot of other folks who feel that way also.

I'm just doing a little intraspection to try and figure out why I feel this way about him.

I've narrowed it down to either this theory or his beady little eyes.

He does have beady eyes, I'll give you that.

quote:

Originally posted by FreeSafety:
The Grant trade alone made last offseason a very good one for TT.

No way you can ignore that and say "Not signing many free agents last offseason -"

Just who was out there at a reasonable price?

Grant was a great move...but at the time it seemed like nothing more than trying to add depth behind Morency and Jackson.

And don't go and get logical on me about there not being any reasonably priced FA available.....my gut instinct isn't smart enough to be rational....

any tool that lives his live spending all his money on fancy dodads and maxing out his creditcards on flashy, shiney new flavor of the day crap, hates TT.
any tool that buys on impulse, listens to other unimformed tools advice on what to buy, hates TT.
any tool that can't seperate emotion from business decisions hates TT.
anyone who thinks they could have done as good, or thinks there was a better GM candidate out there at the time who was better, is a tool.
anyone who can't see that TT has BUILT a YOUNG, STRONG,CONTENDER,is a tool.
The worst trait of a these tools is they are WORLD CLASS WHINNERS.

Randy Moss was the only one that comes to mind.

And TT did make a bid on Moss, but we already had a ton of WR tallent...no reason for him to overpay for a possible timebomb in Moss.

I may be a tool. But, I am not an impulse buyer or a whiner.

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherpackerfan:
I may be a tool. But, I am not an impulse buyer or a whiner.

Well we're all tools, as long as ya ain't a impulse buyer or a whinner you'll have a nice life.

4-12, -
8-8, =
13-3, +

I may have a reason NOT to like TT if he fails to have Lord Favre traded by tomorrow...and I don't care to who!

Some of the dislike of TT comes from WHEN he became a general manager, specifically who he followed. Sherman was and is a seemingly likeable man, who really did seem to care about his players, and as them as people. This, to me, is exactly why he was a terrible GM. He could not separate his feelings for the person, the one who struggles and has injuries and general life issues, with the need to put the best team out there. He was kind of like a teddy bear, and the players knew it, and the media and fans followed along. In walks TT, a businessman, who is certainly quieter, more evasive (on purpose, I feel), even slightly mysterious (perhaps not on purpose), and he's an effective manager of a team. If TT would've followed another GM just like himself, personality-wise, which really is the norm--Sherman was a strange GM--I don't think people would have such a prolonged aversion to him. I have liked his style of management since day one, which is not to pat myself on the back, but to explain myself. I have never been able to figure out where the continuing sense of TT Dislike/Hatred comes from, because it's very nasty at times, personal. Like people just don't like him as a person, not as a GM.

I think it's just a matter of time before the Packers win the Superbowl--I am convinced of that--and it would not surprise me if they win a couple with the way that TT has built this team, and just how he rewards his own players when they've produced, and how he seems very sensitive to the emotional atmosphere in the locker-room. His logic seems very clear to me, and it seems very fair as well.

He may always seem unapproachable and icy to some, but I really think he's a great leader and great manager, and his evasiveness in press conferences is just hilarious to watch. This is what you want in a GM. You want a salesman, someone who knows when to keep his mouth shut and when to open it. Because all the other GMs are salesmen as well, and they're looking for hints and deals in the present and down the line. He could out-hustle Ron Wolf any day of the year. And he's much better on the financial side than Wolf was. He just doesn't have the Superbowl win yet, but that is coming, and when it does perhaps then Packers fans will finally understand how lucky they are.