Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Western hot Coitz. Were coming to
Speaker 1: you from socially distant locations at lambeau Field, and we
Speaker 1: thought we were going to focus this show on Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur's season ending news conference, but at the time we
Speaker 1: are taping this on Thursday morning, that has not yet occurred.
Speaker 1: So and there are reports out there of some potential
Speaker 1: coaching changes on the staff and whatnot, but we are
Speaker 1: going to hold off on that discussion until we do
Speaker 1: hear from the head coach and possibly from general manager
Speaker 1: Brian Guda Kunst as well, So we will table that
Speaker 1: discussion for now. And it's probably a good thing because
Speaker 1: there is one significant topic that we have not yet
Speaker 1: discussed west Um, mostly due to timing of our shows
Speaker 1: and the NFC Championship game. But about a week ago,
Speaker 1: general manager, former general manager Ted Thompson passed away at
Speaker 1: the age of sixty eight, and uh, you talk about
Speaker 1: a man who left a whale of a legacy at
Speaker 1: twelve sixty five Lombardi Avenue, a legacy that was still
Speaker 1: being felt with the team and the players that he acquired. Um,
Speaker 1: it's uh. It was certainly a sad time to hear
Speaker 1: about his passing, but but also a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of really fun discussion and celebration of of what
Speaker 1: was really an iconic figure in this franchise's history. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and icon of figure Mike that I also don't think
Speaker 1: ever really got enough credit or enough to do for
Speaker 1: everything that he's added to the organization too, to all
Speaker 1: the winning that has come after it, and the fact
Speaker 1: that there's only four Lombardi Trophies down there in the
Speaker 1: players lobby, and Ted Thompson in his work as the
Speaker 1: Packers g um during those first five years, helped put
Speaker 1: that trophy there. He made the biggest decision, I feel
Speaker 1: in pro sports history. I don't know if any other
Speaker 1: general manager, I'd be interested in having a debate with
Speaker 1: people about any general manager that had to make a
Speaker 1: more difficult decision than what Ted did in the summer
Speaker 1: of two thousand eight, where you have not only just
Speaker 1: a future Hall of Famer, not just a three time
Speaker 1: m VP quarterback, but a guy that really was the
Speaker 1: face of the Packers resurgence in the nineties and you
Speaker 1: have to make the decision to move forward with your
Speaker 1: draft pick with a guy that you took that raised
Speaker 1: eyebrows three years earlier. It was the ultimate wager. And
Speaker 1: it wasn't just a wager of his job, right. It
Speaker 1: wasn't just that Ted Thompson said, Okay, this is the
Speaker 1: guy I'm going with and whatever happens happens. He would
Speaker 1: have went down in infamy among Packer fans if that
Speaker 1: move didn't work out the way it did. The stakes
Speaker 1: were so high for Ted and he put it all
Speaker 1: on red and read is how it came up on
Speaker 1: the table for Aaron Rodgers to not only follow a
Speaker 1: Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, but then become arguably
Speaker 1: the best player to ever play the position in the
Speaker 1: National Football League, the most talented, the smartest, you know,
Speaker 1: soon to be three time m v P. Ted had
Speaker 1: to make a really tough call. And as I said,
Speaker 1: and I tweeted it, and I mentioned this in some
Speaker 1: of our insider in boxes. Not once Mike in the
Speaker 1: ten years that followed did Ted ever go before a microphone,
Speaker 1: did he ever say hey, good call. On my part,
Speaker 1: he was all about the team. He was all about
Speaker 1: the organization, and he made a decision Mike that set
Speaker 1: up the organization for twelve years of success. That is
Speaker 1: what has followed. Yeah. Absolutely. I think the phrase that
Speaker 1: I had used in Insider Inbox put it in the headline,
Speaker 1: was that he personified stewardship, and uh he really felt
Speaker 1: that his his duty as general manager the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers was to be a steward of the franchise, not
Speaker 1: only of the roster and the football team, but really
Speaker 1: of the organization as a whole, of the position that
Speaker 1: he held to uh, as you had written about, to
Speaker 1: continue the prestige of being the general manager of the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers and all the responsibility that goes along
Speaker 1: with that. And I think I think the um, you know,
Speaker 1: we lots of lots of past comments that that you know,
Speaker 1: you and I were digging out from people that that
Speaker 1: knew him so well, and I think one of the
Speaker 1: one of the best ones was from John Schneider, who
Speaker 1: worked under Ted as a personnel executive here with the
Speaker 1: Packers and then of course has gone on for several
Speaker 1: years to be the general manager and built, you know,
Speaker 1: helped build his own Super Bowl team with the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 1: But He always talked about Ted as both doing it
Speaker 1: the right way, it also doing it his own way.
Speaker 1: And um, we heard a lot about you know, integrity
Speaker 1: and character and everything that was part of the man
Speaker 1: of Ted Thompson in terms of always doing things the
Speaker 1: right way. Um, never any flaws or blemishes in that regard,
Speaker 1: but also but also doing it his own way. He
Speaker 1: he he felt he made decisions that were in the
Speaker 1: best interests of the Green Bay Packers. It wasn't about
Speaker 1: trying to be the smartest guy in the room. It
Speaker 1: wasn't about trying to um, you know, trying to to
Speaker 1: bolster his own reputation or legacy in any way. It
Speaker 1: was always about what was best for the team. And
Speaker 1: that's what everybody respected about him. Does every single move
Speaker 1: work out the way you wanted to know? But his
Speaker 1: motivations could never be questioned in terms of in terms
Speaker 1: of the rationale behind his decisions. And I think that's
Speaker 1: what everyone respected the most about him. Yeah, And then
Speaker 1: we live in a day and age, Mike now where
Speaker 1: especially people from my generation and in those beneath me,
Speaker 1: it's all about look at what I do, Uh, give
Speaker 1: me credit for this. I need to feel vindicated for anything,
Speaker 1: not even if you had any skin in the game.
Speaker 1: If you're just making you know, content or whatever, hey
Speaker 1: like me, retweet me, love me. And Ted never asked
Speaker 1: for any of that, And that's what I've always respected
Speaker 1: he was. He was the last of the dying breed
Speaker 1: in that way. And once more, another thing that I
Speaker 1: just I feel like I I touched on this in
Speaker 1: the Packers pregame show before the game against the Buccaneers.
Speaker 1: One thing that always gets lost with Ted is people
Speaker 1: talk about he didn't sign enough free agents. But and
Speaker 1: I said this to James Jones, and I meant this, Mike,
Speaker 1: you show me from two thousand and five to two
Speaker 1: thousand and seventeen, how many instances there were of a
Speaker 1: Packers player who earned his contract with the team, played well,
Speaker 1: and the Packers at some point because of clerical issues
Speaker 1: or whatnot, they had to release them because it just
Speaker 1: it wasn't gonna work out with the cap the way
Speaker 1: that Ted lead in how he kept a balanced budget. Now,
Speaker 1: a lot of the credit to goes to russ Ball
Speaker 1: for being able to negotiate these deals and get everything working.
Speaker 1: But if Truman Williams signed a five year contract, with
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. He knew he was going to
Speaker 1: get that five year contract if he played well. Ryan Pickett,
Speaker 1: all these guys, Jordy Nelson, they took care of their own.
Speaker 1: It's one thing to sign him. It's one thing to
Speaker 1: put out that press release and everybody's really happy about it.
Speaker 1: You have a press conference and it's it's a joyous occasion.
Speaker 1: But if the bill comes due in a couple of
Speaker 1: years and you can't afford it, no one ever really
Speaker 1: talks about the fact that that's actually a human being
Speaker 1: there that is going to have to go find new
Speaker 1: work and it's gonna have to find a way to
Speaker 1: get the rest of that money. That never happened with Ted.
Speaker 1: If a guy earned the contract and he played well
Speaker 1: on the contract, he saw the end of that contract.
Speaker 1: Clay Matthews. The list goes on and on, and I
Speaker 1: think he needs to get some more credit for that.
Speaker 1: He did sign some free agents, Ryan Pickett, Charles Woodson,
Speaker 1: who's going to probably be in the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: here in a week, Julius Peppers. There was a list there.
Speaker 1: But they also did such a good job of drafting
Speaker 1: guys in taking care of those players needs to get
Speaker 1: a little bit more credit for that. In my opinion, yeah,
Speaker 1: I would. I would certainly agree any personal memories that
Speaker 1: you have, just a personal story that you want to share,
Speaker 1: any interaction with Ted that comes to mind. I have
Speaker 1: one that a story I've told before an insider inbox,
Speaker 1: So I will tell it again, but I will let
Speaker 1: you go first. There's a few I I joked about
Speaker 1: this an inbox too. I wasn't in that circle of trust.
Speaker 1: John Snyder always likes to talk about the circle of trust.
Speaker 1: So we're in the circle of trust here, right. I
Speaker 1: was never in that with Ted, but I got to
Speaker 1: cover him at the Press Gazette, and I got to
Speaker 1: cover him here for two and a half years with
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers, and uh, the couple of things
Speaker 1: that the one story I really always appreciate is if
Speaker 1: you if you ever interviewed Ted in the building times
Speaker 1: out of ninety six, he always had a cup of
Speaker 1: coffee on him. And I remember sitting down with him
Speaker 1: in sixteen, uh for what was gonna be the game
Speaker 1: or the yearbook story on him and Mike, and he
Speaker 1: comes and he gets ready to do interview, and he's like,
Speaker 1: hold on one second. I gotta get coffee, and he
Speaker 1: left and it was like ten minutes past and he
Speaker 1: comes back with the coffee, and you know, he'd see
Speaker 1: him in the hallway, always filling up and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Always very nice. There was another time too, where we
Speaker 1: were on the road. I said this story and inbox.
Speaker 1: We were on the road and it was myself, Duke
Speaker 1: Bober and Ryan Hartwick. We're all going into an elevator
Speaker 1: and this just shows you Ted's really really, really dry
Speaker 1: sense of humor, a very dark humor that he had.
Speaker 1: And he's on the phone with somebody, and Duke, myself
Speaker 1: and Ryan in a line, not all together, but in
Speaker 1: a line one after another, got into the elevator and
Speaker 1: as each of us came in, Ted goes, Hi, Hi, Hi,
Speaker 1: And you can tell we're like, oh, hey, Ted, how's
Speaker 1: it going. You can tell whoever was on the phone
Speaker 1: with was like Ted, what what because they didn't break
Speaker 1: up the conversation. He just said it. You could tell
Speaker 1: the person was like, Ted, what's going on? And he goes,
Speaker 1: I was just saying hi. And it's just that was
Speaker 1: Ted Thompson. He just he just he had such a
Speaker 1: unique sense of humor and and also I mean, just
Speaker 1: a really interesting philosophy. You know, the last interview I
Speaker 1: ever did with him, Mike, it was in seventeen. It
Speaker 1: was up in the fourth floor which is now Brian
Speaker 1: Gudkin's office, the g MS office, and Ted. I walked
Speaker 1: in and Ted had everything all laid out, He had
Speaker 1: his luggage all set, he was wearing a blazer, and
Speaker 1: he was about to go out scouting again right after
Speaker 1: the interview was done, and I recited this quote on Twitter.
Speaker 1: I think I might have put in an inbox two
Speaker 1: and you already touched on it. But he had such
Speaker 1: an insightful moment there when he was talking about the
Speaker 1: run that they had been on to that point again
Speaker 1: just coming off the NFC Championship game again, and he's said,
Speaker 1: we are here for just such a short time, and
Speaker 1: it's important to realize that this is a special place
Speaker 1: and we are stewards of it, and when our time
Speaker 1: is up, our time is up, and there's never gonna
Speaker 1: be another one like Ted Thompson. Yeah, he was. He
Speaker 1: was a hell of a human being. Yeah. Well, I
Speaker 1: arrived here at Packers dot Com in two thousand and six,
Speaker 1: basically one year into Ted Thompson's tenure as the general manager,
Speaker 1: and for about the first I would say five to
Speaker 1: six seven, I'm not sure exactly how many years that
Speaker 1: I was here on road trips, I happened to be
Speaker 1: the one who would sit next to Ted Thompson in
Speaker 1: the press box, which always led to some interesting moments
Speaker 1: because I would just keep you know, when things were
Speaker 1: going bad, I would just keep my head in my computer.
Speaker 1: I wasn't going to engage in conversation or anything like that.
Speaker 1: As you know, Ted publicly could be very stoic and emotionless,
Speaker 1: and he would, you know, always always try to stay calm. Well.
Speaker 1: One of the games that I happened to be sitting
Speaker 1: next to Ted Thompson in the press box was Super
Speaker 1: Bowl forty five at it down in uh in Arlington, Texas.
Speaker 1: And I will never forget this. I will take this
Speaker 1: with me forever. Um where that press but the press
Speaker 1: box is sort of above around the corner of the
Speaker 1: one end zone, the end zone actually to the right.
Speaker 1: As you're watching Super Bowl forty five or any games
Speaker 1: from Dallas on television, that was the end zone where
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger went back to pass and got his arm
Speaker 1: hit by Howard Green when he was trying to go
Speaker 1: deep down the sideline right, and so we had a
Speaker 1: very good view of what was going on. And as
Speaker 1: soon as Roethlisberger's arm was hit and that ball started
Speaker 1: to flutter into the air down the field, Ted actually
Speaker 1: started to stand up in his you know, from his
Speaker 1: seat in the press box, and he was saying, that's
Speaker 1: our ball, that's our ball, as Nick Collins was swooping
Speaker 1: over to intercept it. And then, as you know, Collins
Speaker 1: weaves his way through and actually gets a touchdown and
Speaker 1: gets a pick six right down in front of us,
Speaker 1: and and and then you know, Ted, knowing that there's
Speaker 1: decorum in the press box, obviously he was he was
Speaker 1: restraining himself quite well. But then as he went to
Speaker 1: sit back down, I put out my fist like this,
Speaker 1: and he sat down and gave me a little fist bump,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'll just I'll never forget that. And
Speaker 1: obviously the Packers end up winning that game. By the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, Ted Thompson was gone, not sitting next to
Speaker 1: me anymore because he had to be ready to go
Speaker 1: down on the field for the trophy celebration and all that.
Speaker 1: If the Packers were going to hang on and win,
Speaker 1: which they did. But um, but you don't see you
Speaker 1: don't see Ted Thompson break any sort of decorum publicly
Speaker 1: at all. And for that brief moment when that ball
Speaker 1: was in the air towards Nick Collins, he did. But
Speaker 1: yet he gathered himself and uh and he and I
Speaker 1: shared a little fist bump there on on an iconic
Speaker 1: play and Packers history. So I will always, um, I
Speaker 1: will always certainly remember that. I want to throw some
Speaker 1: questions at you, though, just to have a little fun
Speaker 1: here in celebrating his legacy. We all know Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: was his best draft pick. Charles Woodson was his best
Speaker 1: free agent signing. There's no debating you know, any of that.
Speaker 1: So we won't go down that road. But I want
Speaker 1: to ask you a couple of things. One, we saw
Speaker 1: Ted Thompson select a heck of a lot of really
Speaker 1: really good football players in the second round of the
Speaker 1: NFL Draft, So I want to ask you who do
Speaker 1: you think was his best second round draft? Jordy Nelson.
Speaker 1: And I love this story that Brian Goodkin said when
Speaker 1: he was talking to the media about Ted last week,
Speaker 1: because everybody always talks about that first round deal, about
Speaker 1: all the Packers. Rogers has never thrown any first round
Speaker 1: picks before. Mercedes Lewis is the only first round pick
Speaker 1: that's ever caught a touchdown. Whatever that bs is. Good
Speaker 1: Coins had such an interesting story and some of you
Speaker 1: might have already heard it, but I'm gonna recite it
Speaker 1: if you have it, where Ted would bury players he
Speaker 1: really liked on the draft board. You think Ted Thompson
Speaker 1: played things close to the vest with the media. He
Speaker 1: did it with his own scouts. There were a few
Speaker 1: guys he really liked. He wouldn't let on with the
Speaker 1: scouts because he didn't want that getting out to an
Speaker 1: agent getting out whoever. And it was funny. Goodkins recited
Speaker 1: a story where that was the first player that he
Speaker 1: was able to peg that Ted really liked that He
Speaker 1: didn't maybe have him where he would think you'd have
Speaker 1: him on a draft board because he mentioned how you know,
Speaker 1: they were sitting in a meeting together and he's like, man,
Speaker 1: this guy is really good. This can this can you know?
Speaker 1: Kansas State guys really good? And Ted was just poker
Speaker 1: face the entire time. So not only this tells you
Speaker 1: Ted Thompson the GM just what kind of guy this
Speaker 1: guy was? Not only was he gonna draft Jordy Nelson,
Speaker 1: it could have probably got him in the first round,
Speaker 1: Ted decides to trade back and get him in the
Speaker 1: second round. So the reason I liked that story one,
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson was a fantastic player and ended up having
Speaker 1: a big, poor, big part in their Super Bowl championship
Speaker 1: in two thousand ten. But he also was the first
Speaker 1: round pick that no one wants to give the Packers
Speaker 1: credit for because Ted Thompson would have taken him, but
Speaker 1: he moved back, got the extra draft equity in the
Speaker 1: second round of the two thousand eight draft, and then
Speaker 1: was able to still get the player that he wanted.
Speaker 1: So for that reason, I'm gonna say, Jordy Nelson, Yeah,
Speaker 1: trading back six spots if I remember right, from thirty
Speaker 1: to thirty six to get to get Jordy Nelson near
Speaker 1: the top of the second round. With you picking Nelson,
Speaker 1: you left me with a tough call because now I
Speaker 1: don't know, um there there are so many to choose
Speaker 1: from here, as we all know, but it's really hard
Speaker 1: for me to decide between Nick Collins and Davante Adams
Speaker 1: and expectually, I probably should have taken one of the two.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to say that Nelson, No, you needed
Speaker 1: to tell the Nelson story and that's okay, and and
Speaker 1: and to say that, you know, and not to take
Speaker 1: anything away from Greg Jennings being a second round pick
Speaker 1: back in two thousand and six as well, but finding
Speaker 1: Nick Collins at Bethune Cookman, um, you know, small school,
Speaker 1: historically black college, um. And uh, you know, I mean
Speaker 1: at the time that Nick Collins was drafted, everybody's like,
Speaker 1: who is this guy? You know? And I actually tried
Speaker 1: to press Ted on that once when I had a
Speaker 1: one on one interview with him for a yearbook story
Speaker 1: similar to the you know what you were describing before
Speaker 1: when you were going to sit down in his office
Speaker 1: and he and he was like, oh, everybody everybody knew
Speaker 1: who Nick Collins was. We didn't find we didn't find
Speaker 1: anybody special there. And it's it's like, well, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: not so sure talk about that too. I mean, it
Speaker 1: was that was Ted's guy. I mean, he he he,
Speaker 1: he pegged Nick Collins and he got him. He got
Speaker 1: him in the second round. And a couple of years
Speaker 1: ago I probably would have for sure, said Nick Collins
Speaker 1: over Davante Adams if I had to rank them. But
Speaker 1: now with where Davantae Adams is in his career, second
Speaker 1: round pick in and uh, you know, looking like he
Speaker 1: he uh, he could go down. He could end up
Speaker 1: surpassing He's already surpassed many Packers players in terms of
Speaker 1: what he's done in the postseason, and he's going to
Speaker 1: just continue to climb the ranks of of a long
Speaker 1: list of great all time Packers wide receivers. So it's
Speaker 1: a tough call for me to pick between those two,
Speaker 1: and it probably is. If you talk about pound for
Speaker 1: pound value of the draft choice, it probably is Devonte
Speaker 1: because he got him. I think at what fifty three.
Speaker 1: I think in the two thousand four NFL Draft, if
Speaker 1: you look at the picks around him, there were some
Speaker 1: there were a lot of misses at the receiver position.
Speaker 1: Uh and Ted Thompson the Packers personnel department, they found
Speaker 1: Davante Adams. Here was a guy who you know, he
Speaker 1: came out of Fresno State, had a prolific run, but
Speaker 1: was still really young. He was an early entrant into
Speaker 1: the draft and as it turned out, has become a
Speaker 1: five tool player at the receiver position literally can do
Speaker 1: it all and has been the gift that keeps giving
Speaker 1: for the Packers offense. Yeah, and and Collins. You know,
Speaker 1: unfortunately we all know about the neck injury that cut
Speaker 1: his sure cut his career short. Excuse me, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know you'll you'll always wonder. I'll always wonder if
Speaker 1: Nick Collins was potentially headed to a to a Pro
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame career, if he hadn't had to
Speaker 1: retire as as soon as he did. Alright, my next question,
Speaker 1: I have two more best value pick and we'll define
Speaker 1: value pick in this instance as what would be in
Speaker 1: the modern day draft construction as a third day draft pick.
Speaker 1: And I know who you're gonna say, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: let you go first. It's the greatest value pick arguably
Speaker 1: in modern NFL history. David Boxer. Uh, this is something, Mike,
Speaker 1: where a couple of things to this. One, you find
Speaker 1: a franchise left tackle, you find a five time All
Speaker 1: Pro in the fourth round, hundred and ninth overall or
Speaker 1: whatever it was, you already had yourself a pretty good
Speaker 1: day at the office. But two, there were so many
Speaker 1: tackles that were taken that year. There were so many
Speaker 1: offensive linemen that were taking that year. Um you think
Speaker 1: of Luke Jokel was the second overall pick in the
Speaker 1: thirteen draft. Eric Fisher has gone on to have a
Speaker 1: fine career with Kansas City, But David Botr and also
Speaker 1: Tarin Armstead are the two best in my opinion, out
Speaker 1: of that draft, and they were taken in the third
Speaker 1: and fourth round. It just shows you with all the
Speaker 1: assets that people put into the left tackle position, the
Speaker 1: blind side block in your quarterback. The Packers went and
Speaker 1: found a guy they really liked, a guy that some
Speaker 1: scouts thought might end up being a center in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. Didn't think he was big enough. Oh
Speaker 1: and then and then, by the way, Bo has to
Speaker 1: play that position from Jump Street, he has to come in,
Speaker 1: he looks like he's gonna end up being the starting
Speaker 1: right tackle. And then in that same family Family Knight
Speaker 1: scrimmage where he finally gets into the starting lineup, well,
Speaker 1: now he's over at left tackle in the weeks that follow.
Speaker 1: Because Brian Belogitor is a c L a remarkable value
Speaker 1: pick in my opinion. I mean, it obviously has to
Speaker 1: be Aaron Rodgers for his best pick ever, but when
Speaker 1: you factor in that he was taken in the fourth
Speaker 1: round and the fact that he probably is headed to
Speaker 1: the Pro Football Hall of Fame if he keeps on
Speaker 1: this trajectory. David Bakti is right there as far as
Speaker 1: number two or number three, Yeah, no question about it.
Speaker 1: And to continue the discussion and to pick somebody else again,
Speaker 1: I'm still deciding between two. There. There's there's an argument
Speaker 1: for staying on the offensive line and saying that Josh
Speaker 1: sit In, a fourth round pick out of Central Florida
Speaker 1: who went on to multiple Pro Bowl and All Pro
Speaker 1: honors at the guard position, was a whale of a
Speaker 1: value pick in the fourth round, and there's no denying that.
Speaker 1: But to change positions a little bit, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with his sixth one of his sixth round picks in
Speaker 1: two thousand seven and say kicker Mason Crosby. And there
Speaker 1: are a number of reasons to say this, not only
Speaker 1: because Mason Crosby has gone on to set franchise scoring
Speaker 1: records that he's putting up in the stratosphere that you know,
Speaker 1: for a franchise that's been around for a hundred plus
Speaker 1: years now, and he's setting scoring records that nobody's ever
Speaker 1: going to touch. But also because we see in the
Speaker 1: draft so often west the kickers get drafted with much
Speaker 1: higher picks, second round, third round, fourth round picks, and
Speaker 1: they don't work out. And you watch how these teams
Speaker 1: around the league go through these kicker carousels, you know,
Speaker 1: every every year, every other year, they're changing kickers and
Speaker 1: trying to find the guy exactly, trying to find the
Speaker 1: guy they can rely on to, you know, to make
Speaker 1: that forty yard field goal in the fourth quarter or
Speaker 1: whatever the situation is. Ted Thompson found that guy in
Speaker 1: the sixth round in two thousand seven. And other than
Speaker 1: you know, one legitimate competition for his job when he
Speaker 1: was coming off of one rough year, Mason Crosby has
Speaker 1: unequivocally been the guy around here. And uh and to
Speaker 1: make a pick like that in the sixth round of
Speaker 1: the draft, which is which you know, the general fan
Speaker 1: base looks at us, you know, the afterthoughts of the draft. Um,
Speaker 1: that to me would be probably the number two value
Speaker 1: pick in this discussion, behind David Bakr. Alright, it's not
Speaker 1: just if I can say this too, it's not even
Speaker 1: just the value pick. You're absolutely right about that six
Speaker 1: round investment. Fantastic return on investment. But it's also the
Speaker 1: fact that in two thousand twenty, even now that Ted
Speaker 1: has gone uh with no longer with us, Mason Crosby
Speaker 1: that that's that's a load off the shoulder of Matt Lafleur.
Speaker 1: It's it makes Aaron Rodgers in these players on the sideline.
Speaker 1: They're confident that this guy is going to go in
Speaker 1: there and make this kick. And I have to say this,
Speaker 1: I mean, Mason has played you mentioned two thousand and seven.
Speaker 1: Since that day, two consecutive regular season games played, has
Speaker 1: not missed a start, has been durable, has been reliable,
Speaker 1: and with the absence of one bad season in one
Speaker 1: down game, has been one of the most reliable kickers
Speaker 1: in the National Football League during that time. Absolutely a
Speaker 1: fantastic pick that continues to be something that really helps
Speaker 1: the Packers to this day. Alright, one more to throw
Speaker 1: at you. And this is kind of a stream question
Speaker 1: because you can define it in some different ways. So
Speaker 1: I'll let you define out how you wanted, But the
Speaker 1: question is best under the radar acquisition, and what I
Speaker 1: mean by under the radar is when the guy arrived
Speaker 1: in the Packers locker room. However, he arrived in Green Bay,
Speaker 1: nobody gave it a second thought, nobody knew who he was. No,
Speaker 1: it wasn't something that would make any sort of a
Speaker 1: headline on from the transaction wire or whatever. So what
Speaker 1: do you think best under the wire under the radar acquisition.
Speaker 1: There's a couple of good picks here. I think Ryan
Speaker 1: Grant is probably the right choice. Just with them, they
Speaker 1: needed a running back. This guy ends up being a
Speaker 1: great acquisition for them. Also, I want to say, what
Speaker 1: was that a sixth round pick that they traded for him?
Speaker 1: Um and then goes on to be a player that
Speaker 1: helps them win a Super Bowl and and had multiple
Speaker 1: thousand yards seasons. So Ryan Grants probably the right answer.
Speaker 1: But I want to use this question to point out
Speaker 1: one other player on the modern team that I think
Speaker 1: sometimes we don't think about this with Ted Thompson, but
Speaker 1: they were some contracts in some in some paperwork that
Speaker 1: came across Ted's desk during his final month. Is GM
Speaker 1: three of those moves extending day Davante Adams, extending Corey
Speaker 1: Linsley in signing a former quarterback turned receiver that then
Speaker 1: became a tight end Robert Tounyan to the practice squad
Speaker 1: on December four, two thousand seventeen, one of Ted's final transactions.
Speaker 1: And I know there's a lot that goes into that
Speaker 1: scouting process and determining that, you know what, this is
Speaker 1: the guy we want to bring in and give him
Speaker 1: a shot. There's ten twelve spots, let's see what he has.
Speaker 1: But that move, Mike has been something that has really
Speaker 1: helped solve a position that has been in flux for
Speaker 1: seven years for green Bay, finding a playmaking, touchdown catching,
Speaker 1: all around producing tight end. Robert Tonyan has become that guy.
Speaker 1: And Ted Thompson was one that was one of the
Speaker 1: last things he put his John Hancock on was that
Speaker 1: piece of paper saying all right, let's give this kid
Speaker 1: a shot. And it's something that's really helping him to
Speaker 1: this day. Yeah, I've got a few that I want
Speaker 1: to mention here in this category. I actually already mentioned
Speaker 1: one that being Howard Green from from two thousand and ten.
Speaker 1: That would what that's what you would would categorize as
Speaker 1: a as a short term under the radar acquisition um.
Speaker 1: But to mention some other long term guys, you know,
Speaker 1: in two thousand six, plucking Termon Williams off of the
Speaker 1: practice squad of the Houston Texans and bringing him to
Speaker 1: Green Bay. Nobody, I mean Louisiana Tech. He's on undrafted
Speaker 1: on Houston's practice squad. Nobody knows who this guy is.
Speaker 1: And of course we all know the long term career
Speaker 1: that Tremont Williams had for the Packers. And then in
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, two waiver wire claims that Ted
Speaker 1: Thompson made and the Packers were a little bit higher
Speaker 1: in the waiver claim order early in two thousand seven
Speaker 1: because in two thousand six they'd only gone eight and eight, right,
Speaker 1: so they have a chance that John's watching right now, Yes,
Speaker 1: John con being one of them. Um had earned a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl ring as a practice squad member of the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers in two thousand five, and in two thousand
Speaker 1: seven he's on the waiver wire and Ted Thompson brings
Speaker 1: him in. He goes on to multiple Pro Bowl, All
Speaker 1: Pro honors of his own as a fullback, becomes a
Speaker 1: cult hero, the name chanting and everything in lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: Love it all. I love everything about John Kuhn's career
Speaker 1: and the guy that Aaron Rodgers often said when he
Speaker 1: was playing with him, not only were they very good friends,
Speaker 1: but said, if there's anybody who knows this offense as
Speaker 1: well as I do from an XS and O standpoint,
Speaker 1: it's John kun and the other one I will mention
Speaker 1: to it doesn't rank quite as high as someone like
Speaker 1: Terronto Williams or John Kuhn. But in two thousand seven
Speaker 1: there was a waiver Actually this might have been two
Speaker 1: thousand six now that I think about it, um, but
Speaker 1: Jared Bush was claimed waivers in in two thousand and six. Now,
Speaker 1: Jared Bush had his ups and downs on defense when
Speaker 1: he was forced into action in the secondary and one up,
Speaker 1: but he became a special teams stalwart and a standout
Speaker 1: for a number of years in that phase for the Packers.
Speaker 1: And then you know what, when he was pushed into
Speaker 1: action in Super Bowl forty five, the guy gets an
Speaker 1: interception of Ben Roethlisberger to help the Packers win that
Speaker 1: Super Bowl in the Ted Thompson era, So those are
Speaker 1: those are the under the radar things that happened that
Speaker 1: build successful championship franchises. And I just wanted to touch
Speaker 1: on a few of those as well before we sign off.
Speaker 1: One thing I got to mention too. I think you're
Speaker 1: seeing the value of a Jared Bush in this particular
Speaker 1: era of football, especially a guy that was consistent a
Speaker 1: good gunner on special teams, did a lot of real
Speaker 1: good things there. But also with six defensive backpackages becoming prevalent,
Speaker 1: you need guys like that that can come in and
Speaker 1: know every position. I remember talking to to Joe Wit
Speaker 1: him mentioning back in the day that Jared, if they
Speaker 1: needed to him, he could play dime linebacker. He understood
Speaker 1: the calls there. There's a huge value to that. And
Speaker 1: also just to close on this and that never being
Speaker 1: too proud to bring a player back. Uh, Matt Flynn
Speaker 1: came back in thirteen, the Packers don't have one of
Speaker 1: their biggest moments of the Aaron Rodgers era him making
Speaker 1: that past the Randall Cobb. As you know, John Coon
Speaker 1: blocks Julius Peppers if they don't bring in Matt Flynn midseason,
Speaker 1: and he ends up helping them win a couple of
Speaker 1: games and tie another one. Uh. That was critical to
Speaker 1: the season. So there were so many small moves along
Speaker 1: the way that the little tiny things that a GM
Speaker 1: needs to do that Ted and his staff were always
Speaker 1: so good at doing. Yeah, absolutely well, I've enjoyed this discussions.
Speaker 1: I hope you have to and certainly uh our thoughts
Speaker 1: and prayers with Ted Thompson's family and friends. Um, but
Speaker 1: but a life to be celebrated. Certainly, with that, we'll
Speaker 1: call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team moving forward in the off season on Packers dot com.
Speaker 1: For West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.