Seattle, the Seahawks advanced to the playoffs twice. In 2005, following Thompson's departure to the Packers, the Seahawks had one of their best success in team history, reaching the Super Bowl. Many of the players on Seattle's Super Bowl team were acquired under Thompson's direction, including HB Shaun Alexander, WR Darrell Jackson, OG Steve Hutchinson, CB Marcus Trufant, K Josh Brown and OT Sean Locklear. In an interview with Mike Holmgren in 2009, Holmgren noted that "Once Ted Thompson came on board and we settled down a little bit, we started making good decisions." Green Bay Packers (general manager) 2005 Thompson replaced Mike Sherman as general manager of the Packers in 2005. When Thompson was hired the Packers were over the salary cap for the upcoming 2005 season. Some of Thompson's first decisions included declining to re-sign starting guard Marco Rivera and releasing starting guard Mike Wahle and starting safety Darren Sharper, three key components of the team's three-time NFC North division championship team. Thompson's first draft netted a quarterback in first round pick Aaron Rodgers, as well as defensive starters in safety Nick Collins and linebacker Brady Poppinga. The drafting of Rodgers was especially notable in that he had been expected to be selected much earlier in the draft but wound up falling to the late first round. In free agency following the draft, Thompson signed low-priced players, picking up guards Matt O'Dwyer and Adrian Klemm to make up for the losses of Wahle and Rivera. However, O'Dwyer was cut during training camp, and Klemm was benched towards the end of the season. Thompson acquired several free agents during the season that proved more successful, including running back Samkon Gado, tight end Donald Lee and wide receiver Rod Gardner. Still, the team struggled to overcome injuries at numerous offensive skill positions, most notably season-ending injuries to #1 running back Ahman Green, #2 RB Najeh Davenport and #1 wide receiver Javon Walker, and Green Bay finished the season with a 4–12 record, the worst record for the franchise since 1991. 2006 Thompson's first action during the 2006 offseason was the firing of head coach Mike Sherman, stating "This was more thinking in terms of where we are and where we need to get to." Sherman was replaced on January 12, 2006, by Mike McCarthy, who came to the Packers after previously serving in the role of offensive coordinator for both