There’s no waiting period for the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame like there is for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That’s probably a good thing for Ted Thompson. If he had to wait five years, he would no doubt be completely senile.
Thompson will instead get inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2019. What makes this rare is Thompson technically still works for the team as an advisor, although not in any active capacity that we can tell. The Hall has also moved up their schedule for Big Ted. Traditionally, the Hall holds their induction ceremony in July. For Big Ted, they’ve moved it up to May 4.
It’s no secret we have never been a fan of Big Ted, but yes, this was inevitable. Thompson belongs in the Packers Hall of Fame if for no other reason than he drafted Aaron Rodgers. He also did some other good things.
Thompson signed Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett. He drafted Clay Matthews. He was pretty good in the second round and mid rounds of the draft, getting players like Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, T.J. Lang, Josh Sitton, David Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones and Blake Martinez.
Thompson really began to misfire in the last three years of his time as general manager of the Packers, though. The only player remaining from his 2015 draft class is linebacker Jake Ryan and he’s on injured reserve.
Last year, Thompson was visibly deteriorating mentally. So it’s obvious team president Mark Murphy kept him around a little too long. About three years too long, based on that dud of a 2015 draft.
It’s nothing personal against Big Ted. We just hated his stupid draft-and-develop philosophy and stockpiling of compensatory draft picks over signing free agents. Even his own free agents. Two of his biggest mistakes in free agency were letting Casey Hayward and Micah Hyde walk without even making an offer.
But constructing a Super Bowl roster buys you a lot of goodwill and plenty of room for error. Thompson did do that. Should have and could have been more than one Super Bowl, but you know the story.
Lastly, if you’re wondering how Big Ted is doing these days, it still looks like he’s having trouble putting a sentence together. Like we said when the Packers sent him out for press conferences last year, it’s pretty sad.