Green Bay Packers honor Ted Thompson

One of Ted Thompson’s former classmates, Danny Harp, once told of a time where Thompson proclaimed he would be the general manager of the Green Bay Packers or the New York Yankees when he grew up.

“We all laughed, and he looked at us like, ‘I’m not kidding,’” Harp recalled.

Thompson had the last laugh as he fulfilled that proclamation more than 20 years after he graduated from Atlanta High School in 1971.

Thompson, who passed away Jan. 20, 2021, was the Packers’ general manager for 13 years and was a part of the Packers’ front office for 28 years altogether.

Under his tenure as GM, the team went 125-82-1 in regular-season play and made the playoffs nine times, including a franchise-best eight straight seasons from 2009 through 2016.

Green Bay was 10-8 in postseason play during that time, reaching four NFC Championship Games (2007, 2010, 2014, 2016).

In his first six years, Thompson drafted nine players who would make at least one Pro Bowl roster.

In 2010 the Packers won Super Bowl XLV — led by Aaron Rodgers, who was Thompson’s first-ever selection as Packers’ general manager.

Thompson was voted Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year in 2007 and in 2018 the Packers announced that Thompson would be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

With that honor Thompson joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Ron Wolf as only the second person inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame exclusively as a general manager. Vince Lombardi was inducted as a head coach and general manager.

Before him, the only men to guide Green Bay to a Super Bowl title were named Lombardi and Wolf.

Thompson retired in 2019 after a successful career in which his draft picks helped change both the Seahawks and Packers organizations.

On Sept. 20, during halftime of the Packers’ Monday night game against the Detroit Lions, Green Bay honored Thompson by unveiling his name on the façade of the stadium in the northeast corner.

The players also sported “TT” decals on their helmets in honor of the late Thompson.

With his family in attendance, the Packers honored Thompson in a most memorable way.

Thompson’s journey to his dream began in Atlanta and is still seen in the form of what he accomplished while here.