In his perfect world, Packers general manager Ted Thompson would remain as close to anonymous as possible. But every now and again -- barely above the league's minimum requirements -- he speaks to a reporter or a group of assembled media. The peek behind the curtain is always worth the time.
In an interview with ESPN.com, Thompson said that this season, which started at 4-6 before eight consecutive wins and a trip to the conference title game, was particularly trying but also particularly memorable.
"When you're on a losing streak, especially in my job, you have your own little personal misery all the time because -- it's not that the team was underachieving or anything -- that's just the way it is in the NFL," Thompson said. "For the team to recover and do what they've done is an astronomical feat, in my opinion."
Before this "astronomical" feat, though, Thompson was staring down a much different landscape. While rumors about his own future persist, especially now that Green Bay has retained top lieutenants Brian Gutekunst and Eliot Wolf (NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport also mentioned the potential for Chiefs general manager John Dorsey to return from Kansas City and take over), Thompson also heard endless speculation surrounding head coach Mike McCarthy.
Why didn't he quiet the noise down at the time?
"Why interject something that's not in the minds of anybody in the building?" Thompson said. "It's somewhere out there in Neverland, where somebody's dreamed up something down in the basement of their mom's house."
Such is the life of a Packers GM when the team is rolling. No matter how dark it may have gotten, the Packer Mystique has returned. And with it, so have the staples of their organizational strength: Stability, longevity and a calm nature amid the unexpected.
