Ted Thompson, who as a longtime executive of the Green Bay Packers helped revive one of football’s most enduring dynasties, died on Wednesday at his home in Atlanta, Texas. His death was announced by the Packers. The team did not specify the cause of death. Thompson spent eight years in the Packers’ personnel department in the 1990s, when the team rose from its two-decade slumber to regain its swagger with Brett Favre at quarterback and captured a Super Bowl title in the 1996 season. Thompson — who eschewed signing free agents, preferring to stockpile draft picks and to take the best player still available in the draft regardless of his position — said he was surprised that Rodgers hadn’t been picked earlier on the first night of the 2005 draft.

Source: New York Times January 24, 2021 00:56 UTC