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Green Bay Packers: Ted Thompson deserves to be in Hall of Fame

By Dan Kasper

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This summer, Green Bay Packers fans will get to see their former general manager, Ron Wolf, enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Years from now, they will also get the opportunity to see their current general manager, Ted Thompson, follow suit and enter the Hall of Fame, just like his mentor.

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Ron Wolf no doubt deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The highlight on his career resume is what he did to help resurrect the Packers franchise.

Between him, Bob Harlan, and Mike Holmgren, along with players like Reggie White and Brett Favre, they laid the foundation to bringing the Packers franchise back to its current elite status as one of the best franchises in all of sports.

Ron Wolf’s whole life has been football. He spent time with the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the New York Jets. He had a great eye for evaluating talent and future Hall of Famers. We have all heard the Brett Favre story, where he offered a first-round pick for Favre, who was a second-round draft pick and was third on the depth chart in Atlanta.

However, there was a little known scout that Ron Wolf hired when he got to Green Bay by the name of Ted Thompson. Little did anyone know at the time, but Thompson would soon follow in his mentor’s steps in resurrecting a franchise and bringing it back to its glory days.

Thanks to the contributor category that the Pro Football Hall of Fame has created, Ron Wolf was able to get elected in and rightfully so. But when Thompson’s career is over, we should be talking about his potential and deserving candidacy.

Currently, after 10 seasons with the Packers, Thompson has compiled a 98-61-1 record in the regular season with a 7-6 postseason record and a Super Bowl XLV championship. To compare, in Wolf’s nine seasons with the Packers, he compiled a 92-52 record, 14-9 in the playoffs, trips to Super Bowl XXXI and XXXII with a victory in Super Bowl XXXI.

Fairly similar, except Wolf had a little bit better postseason record.

Like Wolf, Thompson helped resurrect a struggling franchise. Thompson didn’t inherit a mess like Wolf did, but the Packers were no doubt on the downslide when Thompson arrived. After two years, Thompson had already torn down, rebuilt the team, and had them in the NFC Championship.

Perhaps more impressive, he was able to do what his mentor Wolf did and find a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Thompson is widely considered to be one of the top general managers in the game. His draft and development philosophy with the Packers has proven to work. But that’s where Thompson’s trademark lies. His uncanny ability to scout players, especially in the later rounds, and turn them into starting caliber players and Pro Bowl players is off the charts.

Take away the Aaron Rodgers pick, which, let’s be honest, had some luck attached to it, and Thompson has still impressed with his picks. Notable selections on Thompson’s record outside of Rodgers include Nick Collins, Greg Jennings, Josh Sitton, Clay Matthews, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Mike Daniels, and Eddie Lacy, just to name a few.

Not only does Thompson draft well, but he sees talent in rookie free agents; Sam Shields and Tramon Williams obviously being the highlights. Thompson has an uncanny eye for football talent that makes him one of the best talent evaluators in the game.

This is why Thompson, when his career is all said and done, deserves to be recognized as a possible selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s proven that teams don’t need to spend big and unwisely in free agency to build a winning team. He’s proven he’s a top of the line NFL talent evaluator. He’s proven to be a winner and he’s brought back a franchise to its elite status.

Wolf’s work with the Packers was the main argument for putting him into the hall and no one can argue against it. But when it comes to Thompson, both of those men have similar numbers and have done similar things while in Green Bay. Since Wolf will now be going into the hall, it’s not out of the question to say Thompson deserves to be in as well.

If the Packers can win one more Super Bowl with Thompson still in charge, the Hall of Fame should start to create his bust for the hall. As John Madden has always said, he believes the busts talk to each other in there. Count me as one who would love to hear him and his mentor Ron Wolf share stories of their teams when they ran the show.

Wolf and Thompson are not only the two best general managers in Packers history, they are two of the best general managers in football history.

Now, a fun question for Packers fans to debate: Who is the best general manager between the two? You can’t go wrong with either one of those guys.

Next: Top 10 Packers Not In The Hall Of Fame

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