GREEN BAY — In addition to their other draft week responsibilities — late film sessions, or trade talks with other teams, or finalizing draft-night logistics with prospects — the members of the Green Bay Packers’ scouting staff used to play an annual game in the final days leading up to the NFL draft.
The game didn’t have a formal name, but they all loved to play it — including now-Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst — and loved the challenge of it.
The objective? Find Ted Thompson’s “guys.”
“He would bury guys on the draft board that he really, really liked,” Gutekunst recalled shortly after the 68-year-old Thompson, who ran 13 drafts in Green Bay and built the 2010 team’s Super Bowl XLV-winning roster, passed away in January.