Let me just say this, lending out a PS3 = insurmountable amounts of free time on your hands. You’d think the way I’ve been working on KDA lately, that it has become my full time job. Someday? Doubtful. Right Now? Ha.  Maybe my google adsense will kick in more than $0.01/month someday. It has become clear to me that although I enjoy writing about other things. I can’t go one day without mentioning the Packers. “But Danno, how can you write about the Packers now? They have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, and the draft is still months away?” A few things, a) The Packers rival the quote about males and sex… “We think about it every 6 seconds”. I can only assume that every Wisconsinite feels the same way about the green and gold. b) I’ve been meaning to get an article on this particular subject about the Packers for a while now, but never had the time nor ambition. Again, lending out the PS3, possibly the best thing that’s ever happened to this site. Finally c) Although every Wisconsinite may feel this way about thier Packers, many fans take the Packers much like their politics… Lots of bark, no bite. One subject in particular would be on why Packer nation insists on hating on Ted Thompson. I’m here to once again play devils advocate and help throw some sense into you knuckleheads. Because I’m sick of comparing angry Ted Thompson haters to red-neck hicks that sleep with their cousins.

Dollars and cents.

When taking over for Mike Sherman as GM in 2006 the Packers were over the salary cap. Some of TT’s first decisions was to trim the balance. What we as fans saw was a new guy getting rid of three fan favorites, Marco Rivera, Mike Wahle and Darren Sharper. What we failed to see is the breathing room that opened up in the cap because of it. Thompson also would then proceed to go after more affordable draft picks and lesser known names that held talent, but not by any means glamorous. We started to see players like Samkon Gado, Donald Lee, and Javon Walker come in, which in retrospect now, all aided in paying off for the team as temporary help. (Lee still with the team) Unfortunately, during the transition years the Pack would finish 4-12. The combination of this poor transition wouldn’t help Thompson win any support from the fans, but behind the scenes the fat was being trimmed and the transition would soon take place.

Let me say this before I go any further… its ok to hate TT. He has made some poor decisions in the past, present and probably will in the future. That out of the way, you can NOT hate TT for dumping out Favre, while at the same time cheering for Green Bay’s golden boy, Aaron Rodgers. The reason you are angry has suddenly become the same reason you tune into Fox every Sunday at Noon and put up with Kenny, Moose, and Gooses, sub-par commentating. Remember, Thompson is the reason that the Green Bay Packers have Aaron Rodgers. Yes he may have gotten rid of the immaculate Favre, but at the same time, he didn’t leave the team hanging without a great contingency. Rodgers has been a savior to a team that faced possibly the worse PR crisis in the history of the Packers as the whole Favre circus came crashing down. Despite all that A-Rod pulls off back to back 4,000 yard seasons, 58 TD’s, and a average QB rating of 98.5. He was a dark horse candidate for this years MVP ballots.

Forever known as the man who shunned the legend.

The soul sour taste in every Packer fans mouth and probably the thing that I will hear the most from readers is “well Favres still in the Playoffs”. To that I have to say this… who cares. Is Favre your current QB? Is he the one that is throwing TD passes to fan favorites Jennings and Driver? Is he the one that tucks you in at night? The answer to all of these is no… unless one of Brett’s daughters is reading this. Bringing this back to Thompson, after the divorce went sour, TT made safety measures to make sure Favre didn’t end up playing for the Vikings, Bears, or Lions, but there is only so much he could do. It is simply out of Thompsons hands after the agreement with the Jets had been made and the transition to the Vikings by that point should have little to do with Thompson. Sure, the separation between the Pack and Favre should not of been that sour, but how many ways can you tell a 3 time MVP you want to move forward without pissing the guy off? Ted stuck with the right man in Aaron Rodgers; saint, savior, fantasy stat whore. Drafting him was and probably will be one of his most shining moments. This brings me to my next point… the draft.

Draft room genius.

I think when people think of Ted Thompson drafts, people will more so bring up the word “fail” more than “success”… For this I blame Justin Harrell. A questionable first round pick in 2007 is to put it nicely. The man was on the IR before his name was even called. A horrible pick and I will agree with you until the end. Ted fucked up. Now I ask you this, out of the five draft years that Ted has drafted for the Packers, try and count on just one hand 5 more epic fails. I won’t say just a flop because not every player is still on the team, you cut some, you trade some, you lose some to injury… these are typical franchise moves. Just name 5 other picks that you would consider just utterly illogical screw ups.  Personally, I can only think of one, and that’s Brenno Giacomini. He eats up cap room, and doesn’t play a game. He’s no better than a common thief.  NOW… name 5 players that he drafted that are stand out solid picks. I’ll do you one better and name you ten.  Aaron Rodgers, Nick Collins, Brady Poppinga, AJ Hawk, BJ Raji, Clay Matthews, Johnny Jolly, Jermichael Finley, TJ Lang and Jordy Nelson. Before you counter me by saying well, “so and so wasn’t THAT impressive” I’ll throw you Brandon Jackson, Mason Crosby, and Brad Jones for safe measures. The point is, Ted can draft. Not only can he draft, he can see talent on other teams… point and case number one, Charles Woodson.

Given a second chance.

Scouts said he was washed up, and coaches said he was a cancer. Charles Woodson never fully developed into the Heismann playmaker that he once was. But Ted Thompson and his staff saw through those things and sought out to grab up the cornerback. Green Bay would have luck on their side, when no other team in the NFL even wanting to talk to Woodson, so Green Bay being the only viable option, was finally talked into signing a 7 year, $52 million dollar deal. Having a difficult time adjusting, Woodson was far from being excited to sign with a team where the price of his Denali was larger than the town’s population.  With age came wisdom and much to the dismay of things, being in a town with little night life, and not much to do elsewhere, also meant staying out of trouble.  This lead to boredom and boredom slowly turning into productive study times. The once “cancer” that would sometimes go days without ever opening his playbook is now a leader on and off the field and spends more time than any other defensive player looking at film. Woodson was rewarded with his superb play this season by winning the Defensive Player of the Year award, the first time a defensive back has won the award since Deion Sanders. Yeah, next time you are sending your praises or talking about one of his pick-6’s with your friends, give a little thanks to Ted.

Bright Future.

Thompson has now taken his teams to the playoffs four times in the past 10 years, a feat only a few other GM’s can probably say. The top selling Packer jerseys are Aaron Rodgers, Charles Woodson, Greg Jennings and Clay Matthews… all products of the Thompson cerebrum. TT needs to be credited to much of the Packers success and rise back to glory, and to those who think that the world came to an end after the Cardinals beat the Pack in the heartbreaking OT loss, don’t worry… They’ll definitely be back, with TT leading the way.