Thompson, Franchise at a Cross-Roads: Part 1 of 2

So how do you run a Hall of Famer out of town?

Well you can start by riding the team of one of his closer friends, and backup quarterback Doug Pederson.

Next you could do the same with two of his best protectors and men who keep him upright.

You could then assemble a team lacking any depth, in one in serious trouble if injuries should occur.

Perhaps you could remain silent during a much heated hold out by your second best player, and insist to remain silent even when your superstar quarterback interjects himself in the debate and subsequently takes heat.

But the last straw, fire his companion, man he trusts, man he respects, and head coach.

While Ted Thompson has verbally stressed he wants Brett Favre to return to Green Bay for a sixteenth season, the moves he has made would suggest otherwise.

Thompson knows there is no way he can tell Brett Favre he would rather him retire than comeback and survive in the state. So he's communicating it to him non-verbally. It is Thompson's plan to rebuild, and rebuilding ususally doesn't involve a veteran quarterback when you have a talented first round pick on the bench. Nor does it include paying that quarterback over $10 million when you may not even be a competitive team.

So Thompson puts up the facade, doing everything he can to tell Brett Favre he wants him back, but then making moves that would suggest the complete opposite.

I don't think anyone privy to the financial situation this team was in would blame him for not retaining either Rivera or Whale. It simply could not be done. The real head scratcher was the addition of lifetime injury-prone under-performing guard/tackle Adrian Klemm. And Klemm didn't come so inexpensive.

In fairness to Thompson, he did a lot of good things in his first year as GM. For starters he took the team from "cap hell" to good shape in just one offseason.

He released high priced, and overrated veteran saftey Darren Sharper and replaced him with a very good looking Nick Collins.

He appeared to have found two very good young players in the draft in Terrance Murphy and Brady Poppinga, that was before injuries ended their seasons.

Samkon Gado was a nice looking pickup, and looks like he may be a very good backup or even starter in this league. And Donald Lee looked like a capable tight end in spots.

I was really indifferent on Thompson's first season under the helm. I thought he did both some good and some bad, but I thought the good out-weighed the bad. That was until the morning of January 2.

On January 2, I was awaken to a phone call. I woke up and checked the voice mail left by a fellow college and friend. Upon hearing the news left on my phone, I instantly felt cheated and lied to.

"Hey JG, Sherman's gone. Thompson's holding a press conference at 10:30 to announce the firing."

And with that, the Mike Sherman era ended. Interestingly enough, the same day the Barry Alvarez era was over.