Ottens began at the Cats in 2005 after seven seasons as a ruck/forward with Richmond.
The high-profile recruit was brought in mainly to solve the Cats' woes in front of goal but was slow to get going in the blue and white hoops.
He was widely criticised and Thompson was peppered with questions about his form at an after-match press conference when he famously urged "all of you" in the media to get off Ottens' back.
History shows that Ottens went on to be a triple premiership player at Geelong before retiring on Monday.
While Thompson is now entrenched as an assistant coach at Essendon, Ottens took time to thank his former coach for standing by him.
"It's been a bit of a roller-coaster. My first year I wasn't performing as well as I would have liked," Ottens said at Monday's press conference.
"The support the club showed me in that time, Bomber particularly [was fantastic] and it was something that I probably never thanked him enough for. I'd probably like to take this opportunity to thank him, not just for that one show of support but he played a huge part in my career in the five years he coached me and along with Brendan McCartney and Ken Hinkley, they were special."
Ottens had been weighing up whether to continue his career but had a moment of clarity in a recent car ride with fiancé Sarah.
"I spoke to Scotty [coach Chris Scott] the week before last and genuinely still considered the idea of playing on. I told him on that day I didn't want to commit to something I wasn't wholly committed to," he said.
"I didn't think that would be the right thing to do by a footy club that stuck by me the whole time.
"Sarah and I were in the car and I said 'I think I want to give it away.' Once I'd admitted it to myself, it was something I was happy to commit to after that."
With his impending nuptials taking up most of his thoughts for the time being, Ottens said he had no firm plans for life after football.
"I'll take a bit of time up until Christmas and enjoy a bit of time away from not having footy in my head all the time, which is something I've had for my whole career," he said.
"I'll take the time to enjoy life a little bit, relax and I'd like to stay involved with the club and hopefully spend a bit of time with some younger guys I've put a bit of work into over the last couple of years."
