John Thompson (American football executive)

Thompson was born on May 19, 1927, in Washington, and grew up in South Bend, Washington. In high school, he was valedictorian of his class. Thompson attended the University of Washington, but left before receiving a degree.[1]

Thompson later returned to the University of Washington, serving several years as their sports information director. He left after their win in the 1961 Rose Bowl over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.[2]

From 1961 to 1970, Thompson served as the publicity director and assistant general manager of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).[2][1]

In 1971, Thompson was named assistant to the president of the National Football Conference (NFC), who at the time was George Halas.[1][2] After a few months in that position, he moved to the NFL management council in November 1971.[1][2] He served as the director of the management council, the collective bargaining agent of the NFL, from 1971 to 1975.[1][2]

In March 1975, Thompson was named the general manager for the new Seattle NFL franchise, which began play in 1976.[1][2] Wellington Mara, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and owner of the New York Giants, said "Seattle could not have made a better choice. He has experienced success at every level of professional football. When my opinion was asked by the Seattle people, he was my only choice."[2] Among the first tasks of Thompson was to pick the name of the team and colors.[1] He decided to hold a fan vote to decide the name.[1] The "Seahawks" had the most votes out of 20,365 entries with 1,741 different names.[1] Thompson later oversaw the hiring of Jack Patera as head coach on January 3, 1976.[1]

In his first season as general manager, the Seahawks compiled a record of 2–12.[3] They went 5–9 in the following year, which was at the time the best record for a expansion team in their second season.[1] The 1978 Seahawks were 9–7, at the time the best record for a third-year expansion franchise.[1] For this, Thompson was named NFL Executive of the Year by Sporting News and Jack Patera was named Coach of the Year.[4][1] Seattle went 9–7 again in 1979, but declined in the following years, going 4–12 in 1980 and 6–10 in 1981, leading to the firing of both Thompson and Patera mid-season in 1982.[1][3][5]

Thompson was never again a member of an NFL team but did have a stint with the Sports and Events Council of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce before announcing his retirement.[1]

He was a fan of the Seattle Seahawks. Thompson died on May 24, 2022, five days after his 95th birthday.[1]