Being GM means having to say goodbye 

It’s the worst day of the year for Packers General Manager Ted Thompson.

“I literally get physically ill every year. I get a crick in my neck or a cold. It’s a draining thing. Everybody suffers,” Thompson said of a day to which he refuses to refer as cutdown day because he won’t use the word “cut” to describe something that’s so devastating to so many young players.

Once upon a time, Thompson was one of those players. Much of a 10-year career with the Houston Oilers was spent as a special teams player living on the cut line, ah, make that the release line. He knows the anxiety. He feels the pain of the players to whom he now has to break the news that the season will continue without them.

“Being a player, I was always sort of on the cusp. I had a lot of friends that would not make it and I would still be there. I think it’s important to understand the anxiety of all the players,” he said.

“It’s hard for coaches, too. It’s a hard thing to say goodbye to guys who’ve worked their tails off. I think it’s important for the Packers to treat the guys who come here to make this team in a first-class manner. We try to do it coming in and going out.”

Two days removed from the worst day of his year, Thompson, a secretive man who generally resists sharing with the media much about himself or the team he runs, wanted to reassure Packers fans that this most recent roster reduction was done with all sensitivity for the young men that were released.