Well, lo and behold! He speaks!
Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson granted an extremely rare, non-mandated interview to ESPN this week. What did Big Ted have to say?
Not much of note, as usual. However, the one part of the interview we did find interesting was this.
Thompson defended himself for not defending coach Mike McCarthy.
As you’re recall, there was a time when the Packers were 4-6. People were calling for McCarthy’s head. They were also calling for Thompson’s head. We were calling for president Mark Murphy’s head.
In fact, all of this was going on before the Packers even got to 4-6. It wasn’t a one-week phenomenon.
What did Thompson do?
Nothing.
When he could have come out and given a vote of confidence to his coach, he sat silent. That prompted the famous, “I’m a highly successful football coach” statement from McCarthy.
Thompson wasn’t saying anything, McCarthy had to defend himself.
What does Big Ted say now?
“Why interject something that’s not in the minds of anybody in the building?” Thompson said. “It’s somewhere out there in Neverland, where somebody’s dreamed up something down in the basement of their mom’s house.”
Well, the answer is pretty obvious, Ted. Silence only exacerbates the situation because it makes it look like you don’t support your coach.
I mean, a 7-year-old probably understands that.
But then we’ve known Ted probably isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer for a while. He did go on to suggest McCarthy wouldn’t have been fired regardless of what happened this season.
When he was asked if McCarthy’s job status would be based on a single season, he replied as follows.
“No, we’ve been at this for a while. This is not our first rodeo.”
That would suggest that as long as Thompson is the GM, McCarthy will be the coach.
And if the Packers happen to go 6-10 next year, a change would probably have to come in the form of Thompson and McCarthy both getting canned.
Not that that will happen. Another Super Bowl title and both guys have probably bought themselves as long as they want in Green Bay.
Monty, TT is obviously a lot sharper than you. He meant he wasn’t defending something that the oblivious media was making up. He even through in a dig about writing out of mommy’ basement. Get a clue dude!!!
Another Superbowl title… Isn’t that what we are looking for? I wouldn’t mind to be like Denver, provided we have a trophy under our belts. You know Denver, right? Tear it up one year, out of the playoffs the next one, but very happy with their Lombardi.
Since 2011 Denver has been to 10 playoff games.
2 Super Bowls
1 Super Bowl win
Since 2011, Green Bay has been to 10 playoff games
0 Super Bowls
0 Super Bowl wins
So, Neverland is anywhere outside the Packer property lines, i’m guessing from this.
Hey Ted…Can you say anything more demeaning and dismissive towards the Packer fans? The ones providing you with the millions of dollars you’ve received?
You may give Ted credit for being interviewed, But under the scope of intelligence, does you do this interview if the Packers didn’t make the Playoffs?
Does he do this without the exceptional play of Rodgers?
My contention of this is…..it’s easy to come out after 8 wins pre NFCCG.
It takes a man to come out during the hard times.
I have no use for his obvious disrespect towards Packer fans.
The day he leaves, will never be a day too soon.
I seriously can’t stand this man.
Keep guard of that 10 million Ted , you wouldn’t want that spent on football talent…….asshole.
Well it confirms what I have said about MM status no matter what happened. I can only hope what I said about TT also occurs. He steps down after this season and turns over control to someone else.
“When you’re on a losing streak, especially in my job, you have your own little personal misery all the time because — it’s not that the team was underachieving or anything — that’s just the way it is in the NFL,” Thompson said.
So Ted, you saw nothing, that the defense was underachieving (or anything)?
These are the kinds of opinions this team pays you millions for?
So, in Ted’s world, the Patriots are the anomaly and everyone else is parity? That man is literally out of touch with reality.
I always thought General Managers get to where they are at because they are expert evaluators.
Like i said before, it’s a shame we have such a weak President, who can’t tell Ted when it’s time to say when.
Not to fear, we got McCarthy. He can cover a lot of shortcomings. We are so lucky! Am I doing this right? When’s McCarthy get his Coach of the Year award again?
Just because i’m on the subject of upper management…..
Mark Murphy is on record saying making the playoffs is the team’s goal.
Mike McCarthy is on record saying the team goal is getting to, and winning, the Super Bowl.
Am i the only one who thinks, at the very least, these two should be on the same page?
I mean…this makes me question, whether these two even speak to each other.
Where to start? I will just make this quick. If TT “The Frugal GM” actually said that basement comment; it just quantifies my disdain for this charlatan and his insipid ramblings. If he is that obtuse that he believe his own hyperbole while ignoring game time coaching and lack of talent from his choices year in and year out while all the time dissing any dissenters who speak out against his obvious flaws; it is time for a change.
Am I glad that he got Jared Cook? Hell yes! But it is the myriad of other missed opportunities, allowing sub par coaching, missing on so many top draft picks annually and on and on and on . . .
He definitely waited long enough to pick Cook up. I bet he was hoping another team would sign him so TT could save that cap money for a rainy day, or maybe he thinks he gets to keep whatever is leftover when he retires.
He got Cook ( i believe) because there was a lot of pressure for him to sign a free agent, so he signed a cheap one. Not sure he would have signed him, without the media hounding him about it.
But it proves one thing. It proves that you build a better team being pro-active, verses being rigid and absent. It’s a shame he didn’t realized that earlier.