Who's The Better General Manager?

[GreenBayGal]

Another "off-season, running out of things to talk about" thread.
Between Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson, who do you think better developed a Championship Team?

My vote will go for TT. During the onset of the BF drama, I was infuriated thinking, "WTW is TT doing? He is deliberately kicking BF out of GB for A-Rod." Now looking back I think, "Ahhh...TT is deliberately kicking BF our of GB for A-Rod." Maybe somewhat exaggerated but, my point is that TT had the insight & knew Rodgers would be our man, over his ever-retiring counter part.
Wolf on the other hand did see a talent in BF (which was very true) however, it was only by a fluke injury of Magic Man that BF moved to the forefront. If not for the said injury, who knows how the future of GB would have played out.
So TT gets the nod from me for seeing the talent, aquiring it and capitalizing on it, in spite of all the surrounding criticism.
IMO

 

[PackersRS]

My vote also goes for TT.
This team has a much bigger window of opportunity than the 96' team.

But it has to grasp that opportunity in order for TT to surpass Wolf. Wolf is IMHO a HoF GM. TT isn't, so far.

 

[neilfii]

No doubt Ron Wolf is a great GM and a potential HoFer, but I believe TT has done a better job building and creating a team that has the potential to dominate and to dominate for quite some time to come. Whether the team performs or not may have some influence, but even if the team does not become a dynasty I think TT has done a better job so far and continues to do so. Just my opinion.

 

[Kitten]

I went with T.T., although Wolf was a great GM in his time. Wolf was indeed capable of building a Superbowl team, but I think it was more of a one shot deal while T.T. is building a dynasty that is capable of producing multiple Superbowl wins within the span of a decade. T.T. seems to have an instinctive, almost innate sense of spotting talent and he is not afraid to go for what he wants. He also doesn't seem to fear controversy or be afraid of criticism and what people think of his actions. I think that is what sets him apart.

 

[weeds]

I hate these comparison threads...I always end up showing my age. :big_boss:

All things considered, Thompson learned the ropes from Wolf ... sooooooooooooooooo..... not only did Ted NOT have to learn how to be a GM/VP/Player personnel guy on the fly, from scratch...he also was able to witness Wolf's mistakes and not repeat them (of course, there may be a Ray Rhodes somewhere in the future). I'm an unabashed fan of Ron Wolf. Simple reason being that Wolf came into a complete and utter cesspool and turned it around from the ground up.

Not taking a thing in the world away from Ted Thompson - because I KNEW he was going to fix the terminal Shermanitis (the GM, not the man...he is a good man) that so affected Lambeau.

And now, for the showing my age part...anyone who sat in those stands or watched the Pack on TV, or was just a casual fan in the 70's and 80's will know what I'm saying when I mention that the Pack absolutely stunk up the joint back then. It was painful to watch week-in-and-week-out. We were the fans that kept hitting ourselves over the head with a hammer because it felt so good when we stopped.

I'm thinking that this type of comparison if fun, but futile. I'd go with Wolf if someone was holding a gun to my head making me choose...but Thompson has already won as many Super Bowls as Wolf so you can't make a wrong choice here.

 

[ivo610]

too early to tell. Its unfair to judge their careers as TT just won his first title. If we were judging what wolf did to get to his first title and what TT had to do, then I would say wolf. But if TT puts together a dynasty then it has to be TT. Still, too early to say.

Go Pack

 

[GreenBayGal]

I hate these comparison threads...I always end up showing my age. :big_boss:

All things considered, Thompson learned the ropes from Wolf ... sooooooooooooooooo..... not only did Ted NOT have to learn how to be a GM/VP/Player personnel guy on the fly, from scratch...he also was able to witness Wolf's mistakes and not repeat them (of course, there may be a Ray Rhodes somewhere in the future). I'm an unabashed fan of Ron Wolf. Simple reason being that Wolf came into a complete and utter cesspool and turned it around from the ground up.

Not taking a thing in the world away from Ted Thompson - because I KNEW he was going to fix the terminal Shermanitis (the GM, not the man...he is a good man) that so affected Lambeau.

And now, for the showing my age part...anyone who sat in those stands or watched the Pack on TV, or was just a casual fan in the 70's and 80's will know what I'm saying when I mention that the Pack absolutely stunk up the joint back then. It was painful to watch week-in-and-week-out. We were the fans that kept hitting ourselves over the head with a hammer because it felt so good when we stopped.

I'm thinking that this type of comparison if fun, but futile. I'd go with Wolf if someone was holding a gun to my head making me choose...but Thompson has already won as many Super Bowls as Wolf so you can't make a wrong choice here.

I saw those games and, yes, it was frustrating. The Lynn ****ey, Scott Hunter, Ray Rhodes, Dandy Don Devine eras. Absolutely no passing game. The repeated series was, "up the middle, up the middle, up the middle, punt!" But they were still my team as I'm sure they were yours. :happy0005:We are real fans.

I respect your allegience to Wolf, you make some very valid points. In regards to this thread, as stated in the beginning, It's just something to talk about during the off-season. Something relatively mindless that doesn't involve politics or religion & hopefully doesn't raise a big stink between members.
As for age...you have only one year on me. :wink2:

 

[TJV]

I agree with ivo610 - it's too early to tell. I too witnessed the "dark ages" between Lombardi and Harlan/Wolf/Holmgren and there's no doubt Wolf had a much higher mountain to clime than Thompson. In hindsight of course we can say Thompson has a much better chance of avoiding the “fart in the wind” label Wolf himself used because we know Wolf’s results.

GreenBayGal,

Wolf give up a first rounder for Favre – no way he was going to sit on the bench. He has said he thought Favre was not just the best QB but the best player in the 1991 draft. He reportedly told Harlan and the executive committee Favre was their QB of the future – no doubt in part to justify giving up a first rounder for a second round pick the previous season who was the Falcon’s #4 QB and Glanville’s “circus act” at the time.

“The Lynn ****ey… era” and “Absolutely no passing game”? No, there was a lot to criticize about the Packers while ****ey was the Packers’ QB (no running game, bad defense) but “no passing game” isn’t one of them. In ’83 he threw for 4,458 yards, still the Packers’ record for a season.

 

[Jess]

Wolfy. Between trading a high draft pick for a QB nobody'd ever heard of and having him become one of the best in NFL history and landing one of the most important free agent signings in league history with Reggie White, Wolf had a remarkable run.

That's not to diminish what Thompson has done.

 

[SpartaChris]

I picked Thompson. Hard to argue with a guy who took two separate teams to respective Super Bowls like Ted did with Seattle and now us. Ironically both played the Steelers, making him 1-1. Go figure.

 

[greenandgold]

The best general Manager for the Packers is Jerry Angelo. As long as he is in charge in Chicago we should be OK. :chisux:

 

[VersusTheMoose]

Wolf because he had the better championship team and went to two SBs. TT is on his way though, and he has the most guts out of the two.

 

[ivo610]

I think TT will be around a few more years than Wolf was but not by much.

 

[Bensalama21]

I picked TT because when the football world was looking at him and the team, he went with a decision nobody liked and stuck with it. He sacrificed his job to make room for another HOF QB.

 

[AmishMafia]

I would say TT. He has done more than Wolf did at this point of their careers. Wolf was with Tampa for a bunch of years and had a few successful years, but mostly they stunk. Not sure how much say he had in Oakland.

TT has built a team that is a potential powerhouse. I would not be surprised if we don't have 2 or 3 more trophies before Rodgers retires.

 

[weeds]

We said the same thing with the other guy at QB.

Then, there were the wishful thinking folks who were also talking "dynasty" back then .... yeah... we've been down this road before. I wish you guys would stop taunting the football gods with that "D" talk...you're going to bring the 'wrath of the thing' down on us. Now, go outside, spin three times, curse and spit. You do NOT want the 'wrath of the thing' comin' down guys. :icon_razz:

 

[FrankRizzo]

Talk of Dynasty is exciting, but ridiculous.
Here's why: LUCK

Too much luck is required for a team to win a Super Bowl.

Just think about what we needed to win this Super Bowl. Injuries aside. We already know that the Eagles kicker Akers had a bad day in the Wildcard round. Had he had his normal day, they'd have beaten us and Rodgers would be sitting here right now having never won a playoff game still. Think about that.... don't dismiss or ignore it because that what-if is true. Now thank God Akers did have his worst game of the past 4 years.

Also, it took 3 turnovers from the Steelers for us to escape that game with the title. And most people really expected Big Ben to drive them down the field and beat us (including you, and including Greg Jennings).

Injuries? Sure we had a ton of them, way too many.
But Rodgers, Matthews, Woodson, Jennings, and Tramon are the most important 5 guys to our team functioning, and they didn't miss much time. And we saw what happened (in Detroit) and in Washington & vs Miami when we didn't have either Matthews or Rodgers. Missing Jennings would really dent our offense, and we saw the difference vs Pittsburgh in our defense with Woodson in there, and without him.

So we need a lot of things to go right for a dynasty to occur, and I would never expect so much luck. The best team doesn't win the Super Bowl every time.

 

[PackersRS]

Also, it took 3 turnovers from the Steelers for us to escape that game with the title. And most people really expected Big Ben to drive them down the field and beat us (including you, and including Greg Jennings).

THAT is a blalant lie!

We were outplaying them by MILES. It was 21-3 at one point.

In reality, it took 3 game-ending injuries to key players (one being the most important player on our D, Charles Woodson) for them to even come close to our level. Before both Woodson and Shields were lost, they were unable to generate ANYTHING on offense, we were completely dominating them.

Don't put a negative spin to prove a point. I agree that it took some sort of luck to win a championship, it always does, but as has been argued on a thread you yourself created, and has been agreed by the majority, we had much more bad luck than good luck last year. And specially in the SB, it was bad luck that kept the game close, not the other way aroud.

 

[Texpackerfan]

I said TT and here's why.
RW greatest contribution was getting Favre, White and Holmgren. A parallel could be made with TT: Rodgers, Matthews and MM.

However, I feel that TT's team is built to last with depth as for many years as opposed to just using the starters. Perhaps it's an oversimplification, but they have been one of the youngest team for the past few years and I see TT as someone who is not just trying to win NOW but later. I'm sure RW had the same mindset, but I just TT"s team with more players that meets that definition.

 

[greenandgold]

Perhaps it's a fact that one of the youngest teams in the NFL has just won a Superbowl that tilts me in TT's direction.

 

[LAG]

TT worked for Wolf in GB through the nineties and was a student. Ron Wolf's son now works for TT.

Wolf brought in free agents in addition to draft picks and won a SB. TT won a SB mainly through the draft. Both are masters. I didn't vote for this reason, I cannot pick one over the other.

Screw BF.

 

[PackersRS]

TT worked for Wolf in GB through the nineties and was a student. Ron Wolf's son now works for TT.

Wolf brought in free agents in addition to draft picks and won a SB. TT won a SB mainly through the draft. Both are masters. I didn't vote for this reason, I cannot pick one over the other.

Screw BF.

Lol at the Screw BF neatly placed at the end of the message.

 

[Kitten]

TT worked for Wolf in GB through the nineties and was a student. Ron Wolf's son now works for TT.

Wolf brought in free agents in addition to draft picks and won a SB. TT won a SB mainly through the draft. Both are masters. I didn't vote for this reason, I cannot pick one over the other.

Screw BF.

OK, you win!!! Good post!

Screw BF. < Love that!

 

[gbpowner]

I chose TT but was surprised to see that RW is not the majority choice.

I agree that the team building philosophy is different between the two (draft vs free agency). I just focused on the SB years. I wondered how the 1996 team would have looked had Dorsey Levens been lost game 1? How things would have looked if Mark Chumura, Earl Dotson, George Koonce, Wayne Simmons and Eugene Robinson had been lost for the majority of the season? Or if Brett Favre, Sean Jones and Reggie White had had significant time out with injury? I know the 1996 team also had major problems with injuries at WR and the OL was not stable; but the 2010 team had enormous injury issues yet the backups/street free agents kept playing at the same or a better level. A huge tribute to TT for building a solid team through out and not just at the starting positions.