“In Ted We Trust.”
This phrase has become part of every Packers fan’s lingo.
Posters have been made in it’s honor:
Even T shirts have been made promoting this belief:
It is a great phrase, perfectly capturing what every Packers fan should do at all times-trust the person in charge of football operations to make the best decisions regarding football operations.
But there are times that trusting Ted Thompson is very difficult to do.
Case in point: this off season.
Think about some of the personnel decisions Thompson has made following the loss to the 49ers in the playoffs this past January.
He retained Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers after a downright embarassing defensive performance in the playoffs, the third defensive meltdown in four seasons under Capers.
Thompson retained Mason Crosby following a disasterous 2012 campaign. Oh sure,he brought in competition in the form of Giorgio Tavecchio (zero NFL games) and kept him around for most of the offseason. He also brought in Zach Ramirez, just for S’s and G’s when it seemed that neither Crosby nor Tavecchio wanted the job. And when all was said and done, Crosby was still the Packers kicker-but Thompson felt it was still necessary to bring in Harvard “Kickalicious” Rugland for a workout.
The Packers have released not one (Graham Harrell), not two (Vince Young), but three (BJ Coleman) quarterbacks in the past month, a complete failure on Thompson’s part to find a quality backup for Aaron Rodgers. Settling on 33 year old Seneca Wallace as Rodgers backup isn’t much better than the other three, considering he was out of football during 2012.
Matthew Mulligan, signed to replace the departed Tom Crabtree as the primary blocking TE, failed to make the Packers roster.
There are massive question marks along the offensive line. Having a relatively unproven right tackle in Don Barclay would be enough to make fans worry. But having rookie David Bakhtiari protecting Rodgers’ blind side because of the loss of Bryan Bulaga should scare Packers fans to death. Having Marshall Newhouse, Lane Taylor, and Greg Van Roten serving as backups should not instill a warm, fuzzy feeling in anyone either.
Is there a Safety on the roster who can play opposite Morgan Burnett?
What about a kick returner?
A punt returner?
All these question marks-it’s madness!!!
AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
But then again…
Somehow, year after year, Ted Thompson assembles a roster which puts the Packers in contention for a deep playoff run. And as we all learned in 2010, anything can happen once you are in the playoffs.
Trying to get inside the head of Ted is a fruitless exercise. Trying to do so will just result in headaches caused by the head scratching and facepalming that is all part of having Thompson as the Packers’ GM. It isn’t always pretty, but somehow it always works.
Sometimes it is very difficult to trust Ted Thompson. Occasionally trust turns into four letter words coming from the mouths of the Packer faithful because of his decisions. But more often than not, trusting him results in cheers from the stands as the Packers advance to another highly successful season.
Here’s hoping 2013 results in another highly successful season, despite an off season full of question marks.
In Ted We Trust
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John Rehor is a writer at PackersTalk.com.
He can also be heard as one of the Co-Hosts of Cheesehead Radio. ---------------------
10 responses to “Sometimes It Is Very Difficult to Trust Ted Thompson”
You make some good points. And yet…I can’t help but feel like we slip a little bit personnel-wise every year.
Ted’s methodology (and ability to draft fairly well to above average) certainly seems to guarantee a solid team year in and year out; we will never be worse than a second-tier squad. But his methodology and complete avoidance of FA or trades simply doesn’t account for waves of injuries. We lose good players to injuries, and replace them with UDFAs and lower draft picks, Then while these guys learn on the job every year, other solid vets leave via FA or are cut.
Drafting at the bottom of each round just can’t keep up with this attrition. I’ll be pretty shocked (but happy) if we won another SB, to be honest.
And yes: I am happy that we generally seem to be in a position to win more games than we lose every year. Not disputing that.
Losing so called role players is part of the problem of being a draft and develop team. The key players will be there-Rodgers, Matthews, Raji (?), Williams-but other players are deemed expendable. And they are replaced via the draft and the whole process starts again.
It’s Thompson’s way. Frustrating at times, and remarkable at others.
It’s hard to appreciate how spoiled we are as fans.
I call Ted “Gandalf the Green”.
21 years as a contender and counting…………..
*spoiled
We’re fucked
Only you can be so direct and to the point. And I sure hope you’re wrong
Reasons I don’t trust Ted for much other than managing the Cap.
1.) Mason Crosby
2.) Offensive Line STILL HORRIBLE
3.) Campen (O-Line Coach)
4.) Capers
5.) Only 4 choices out of 10 remain on the team from the 2011 draft and only one (Cobb) is worth a damn. Not to impressive for a draft and develop team and a GM who refuses to sign a FA.
6.) Strength and Conditioning Coaches still have a job.
7.) No Safety opposite Burnett still and it’s been since week 2 of the 2011 season.
8.) I’m tired of typing, you get the idea.
OK, so if you had a say so, how would you fix all of the issues you pointed out?
We can analyze TT all you want. The bottom line, he’s on the hot seat, if not for the fact that ARod fell in his lap in the 2005 draft. This team would be in shambles if not for that lucky break.
He most definitely got lucky having a player like Rodgers fall in the draft for Thompson to snatch up, but there is no way he is on the hot seat. He’s not getting fired anytime soon.