Green Bay Packers: The new-old concept in character

Have you noticed? What, you say?

Have you noticed Ted Thompson [(Talent Scout, Head Scout, General Manager, and Chief Human Resource Player Personnel Officer), or as Ted himself puts it, “I am a scout.”

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports photograph

The thing about “have you noticed” goes along with the last week or so, in NFL  headlines. The point being, a few excellent players have been ejected from the NFL.

And what about Ted Thompson veterans, draftees or free agents he’s hand=-picked? Of those that are active today for Green Bay, some might have made news, but not for big-time off-the-field behavior problems.

We know that has something to do about how Ted Thompson makes his personnel choices.

These are times when it seems like one team after the other has someone involved in anger management failures that involve police and prosecutors, judges and juries.

Most stem from an abuse, or even an injury. Most of all, it revolves around money and a ton of it, of the three or four we’ll describe below.

During only less than two week’s time, we’ve seen headline news for Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Greg Hardy; all on front page sports sections from Kennebunkport, Maine to San Diego, Calif.

The exempt list is something new, seldom heard – and do not let the word “exempt” fool you. It really means executed, as in bumped off, eliminated, or hanged.

Think of how you’d feel losing a half-billion dollars. Executed fits that definition. Added to the three stars mentioned above, we have running back Jonathan Dwyer placing an Arizona Cardinal on the list of domestic abusers who play for an NFL team.

Not only are these men off the team, their dream income goes down the drain. We are at a point where the NFL and its teams double up on a violator, who then must go through the legal system on top of being torn apart by the game of football.

Not that I’d stand to defend anyone who KO’s his wife in an elevator then drags her out like a side of beef. Hitting your own young son with a tree branch? What to hit him with when he grows bigger and taller than dad?

Who hasn’t heard of Adrian Peterson? The facts in this news is money saved by the teams. The least heard of in the Midwestern U.S., Greg Hardy stands to lose $770,000 per week. Peterson will lose out on most of the $997 million/10-year contract, plus the ill news has seen three major sports advertisements cancel out on Peterson, including Nike. Round it off, and we get far beyond $1 billion!

Green Bay Packers wide receiver

(87) runs after catching a pass for an 80-yard touchdown score in the third quarter against the New York Jets at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Some have claimed the Vikings management finally figured that Peterson can’t save a dying team, and they need the money scheduled to pay Peterson, so they used the legal charges as an excuse to get their finances in order.

There is one excuse some may have: They were brought up with corporal punishment, and are doing as their father did.

And so, they do to their own child as their father has done to them, as a child. I would have to counter such a thing, having gone through such disciplines – you can come to an understanding that it was used not to injure, but because he cared.

Even with that, it’s one’s own duty to realize the effect any act has.

As an adult – super-star or taxi cab driver – keep dad’s methods in mind, then realize how to control things differently.

The question remains, how is it other teams, such as the Ted Thompson’s Green Bay Packers, that are seldom having such a difficult time off the field?

Ted Thompson seems to get characters with higher values, like Eddie Lacy as much as possible. Over his post-player career, Thompson has been close to the draft as any team official for the past 15 years. His 5 year trip to Seattle, and the return to Green Bay to take on the GM position were meant to keep Ted for good.

Of Thompson drafts in Seattle, nine were on the 2013 Super Bowl team as starters. He considers himself a “scout” first, and team general manager second. This humble man, though not vocal, drives his point home to team members.

Ted Thompson is responsible for taking the Ron Wolf style he studied so diligently, and working it well. The Packers home is a place where they mark the spot Bart Starr followed Jerry Kramer into the end zone nearly 40 years ago.

The mark of excellence, as it were, is what this Packers team so desperately needed in the years between the Vince Lombardi era and the new era of championships that began in the mid-1990s.

Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Julius Peppers breaks up a pass intended for New York Jets running back Chris Johnson during the second half of last Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 31-24. Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports photograph

Mike Holmgren became coach, picked by Wolf  to help acquire the talent to which Packers fans have become accustomed. Their new team grew into a contender. Ted Thompson followed his apostle, Ron Wolf. His mentoring led Thompson to incorporate his own brand.

Today, the start of the 1992 season marked a total of 354 games. Of those games, 223 were won and 130 lost, with one tie. This streak has a percentage of .632 – one of the big winners in the NFL during those years.

These winning Packers years are standing tall with Ted Thompson. This character spoken so often, comes in several forms. It starts from the person Ted Thompson is, to the character of those with which Ted wants to surround himself.

In the end, they are one in the same, on one team, for one purpose: Winning.

Ted doesn’t have players in the news for after-hours serious trouble with the law very often, or domestic problems turned to violence, very often. Guns, drugs, drunkeness? Who would want that in a pro football player? Not too many.

Let’s hope this team can continue to hold a fine record, remember who they are, and most importantly, what it means to be a Green Bay Packer.

It means success at all costs, to make things happen, to make things right, on and off the field.