Ted Thompson was a familiar name when I first learned about the old #51 for the Oilers. But when I looked up his stats, they were not exactly overwhelming. With a bit more research, I learned that after his playing career was over, he became a very well respected, long time executive for the Green Bay Packers. That is for sure where I heard his name.
But first of course I do want to mention Thompson's playing days with the Oilers.
A bit hard to tell in this picture, but Thompson wore #51 for the Oilers!
Ted played linebacker for the Oilers for ten seasons from 1975-1984. He was not exactly a superstar for the Oilers, but he was a useful player as a backup linebacker, valuable on special teams, and was also an emergency kicker. Pretty interesting playing career.
But that decade as an Oiler would prove to be really the first chapter of his football life. As I mentioned already, Thompson would later join the Packers in the 90's as an executive, including being the team's GM from 2005-2017. Interestingly, for five years in the middle of Thompson's quarter-century tenure with the Packers, he spent five years as an executive with the Seahawks and helped turn that franchise around before rejoining the Packers in 2005.
With the Packers, Thompson is a 2x Super Bowl Champion and a 2x NFL Executive of the Year! He's also in the Packers Hall of Fame.
Unfortunately, Thompson passed away in 2021.
What an interesting football guy to learn about!
Titans-Browns Game!! Pretty competitive one for sure. The Browns are a tricky squad to face sometimes.
