Former Packers executive tells story about how Ted Thompson fell in love with Aaron Rodgers

How did a team that had Brett Favre would want to draft a quarterback in the first round? Were they ready to take the inherent criticisms after doing that? The Green Bay Packers did it in 2005, and maybe Ted Thompson was the only man who would have the demeanor to do so without a clear blueprint of how that would work out.

On Adam Schefter’s podcast, former Packers executive Eliot Wolf talked about how Thompson fell in love with Aaron Rodgers before taking him with the 24th overall pick. Eliot, who’s the son of former Packers GM Ron Wolf, was then Green Bay’s pro personnel assistant — now, he is the New England Patriots' director of scouting and de facto general manager.

“What I remember about that selection is more the week leading up to it,” Wolf recalls. “It was Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers, and one of them was gonna go one to San Francisco. And then we started to hear rumors that week that none of these teams in between needed a quarterback, whoever it is might slide. Of course, everyone expected the 49ers to select Alex Smith, which they did.”

Wolf talked about Thompson’s experience scouting Rodgers.

“I just remember going into the draft room, the draft was still on Saturday and Sunday, it was either Thursday or Friday. Ted Thompson was in there watching every game of Cal's offense,” Wolf said. “I pop in to do whatever I gotta do work wise, I look up at the screen, you can tell he wanted to be alone and you knew who he was watching. He came out of there and, smile on his face, that Ted Thompson half-smile on his face, and I might have figured that we were gonna pick Aaron Rodgers if he was there. It really worked out for the Green Bay Packers and for him.”

In fact, the choice worked out pretty well for the Packers. Aaron Rodgers stayed three seasons as Brett Favre’s backup, but took over to be one of the best quarterbacks of all time.

The plan was so effective that Brian Gutekunst replicated it in 2020, selecting Jordan Love in the first round.

Rivalry

Now, Eliot Wolf and Aaron Rodgers are in the same division, but for different teams. While the quarterback was traded to the New York Jets last offseason, the executive was hired by the Patriots in 2020 — first, as a consultant, then promoted to director of scouting. In addition to being a de facto GM since Bill Belichick parted ways with the organization, Wolf is a candidate for the full-time job.

“I've had a good relationship with Aaron, even though he's a division enemy right now,” Wolf added. “His first year was my second year in the NFL, so we came up together. He was a backup for three years, just wanting to get on the field. And that's how I felt as a scout, wanting to do more. He's obviously taken the most out of his opportunities. We look forward to kicking his ass this year.”