Read on Twitter
I was fortunate to be able to spend some time around Ted Thompson about 12 years ago. We were on the golf course and he was in the group behind us. He was playing with Bob Harlan and a couple others. It was a slow round so we got to chat on pretty much every tee box.
We knew when we started that Ted was behind us. We figured he’d keep his distance from us but thought it was cool. We get to the 2nd hole and Ted and Bob pull their carts up right behind ours.
We were standing on the box trying to be cool and not gush over the fact that the GM and CEO of the Packers were within an earshot. Ted and Bob both get out of their carts and walk over to us. I’d seen Ted a hundred times on TV and had my preconceived opinions of who he was.
“Deer in the headlights”, and “monotone, not much of a people person”, was what I thought he was. Ted was walking towards us. My dad and I were wearing Packers hats. We knew we couldn’t be total fanboys and had to be cool.
Ted walked up to us. I was shocked by his athletic build. We made small talk about the weather, the course conditions, and anything we could think of that wasn’t Packer related.
Ted was 100% the opposite of what you saw on TV. He was talkative. He was chatty. He was funny. He was a dude, like us. He was smart as hell and incredibly well-spoken. He chewed Grizzly. We shared a dip together.
As the day went on, we talked on almost every tee box. Bob was so incredibly down to earth. He wanted to know more about us than we did of him. He loved the La Crosse area, where we are from. He raved about the beautiful scenery we have on our side of the state.
Bob wanted to know more about the local scene and things to do here, since he was a somewhat frequent visitor to the coulee region.
With each hole, we got more comfortable with Ted and Bob. We started talking football. Ted loved the game. He loved everything about it. Bob was equally as affectionate about the game and the NFL.
I played baseball my whole life- little league, legion, high school, and college. Bob and Ted were incredibly interested in baseball and how the game is played. I dont know if that was to divert the conversation from football, but they were genuinely interested in me and the game
They both knew a lot about baseball. We talked about the Brewers. We talked about competing. We talked about how sports were an incredibly influential piece of our lives.
After that day, my perception of Ted had changed. He was a dude. He was a real person like the rest of us. He was funny. He was personable. He was witty. It was an incredible experience. #WinItForTed @AndrewBrandt @AaronNagler @coreybehnke @mattramage
