Kenbrell Thompkins (born July 29, 1988) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

from 2011 to 2012. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and was also a member of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Early years

A native of the Liberty City neighborhood of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Thompkins attended

Miami Northwestern High School Miami Northwestern Senior High School is a public four-year high school located in Miami, Florida, United States History Academics Northwestern has long been known for its academic challenges; however, the school has shown an unprecedented ...

. A classmate of NFL cornerback Anthony Gaitor, Thompkins started for Northwestern, but was academically ineligible to play as a sophomore and was later expelled for violating school policy. He was allowed to re-enroll prior to his junior football season, only to be expelled again later in the year. After spending his junior year at an alternative school, he re-enrolled at Northwestern for the third time prior to his senior year and finished his high school football career. Not long after the season concluded, Thompkins was expelled for the third time, after being arrested on armed robbery charges.

College career

Thompkins briefly attended

Palomar College Palomar College is a public community college in San Diego County, California. The main campus is in San Marcos and three centers and four education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. The largest of these by student p ...

San Marcos, California San Marcos ( ; Spanish for " St. Mark") is a city in the North County region of San Diego County, California. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,833. It is the site of California State University San Marcos. The city is bordere ...

in 2008 before transferring to

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

to play football. At El Camino College, Thompkins recorded two 1,000-yard seasons in a row, being named a team captain as a sophomore. Following his sophomore campaign, Thompkins signed with the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

in order to play under then-coach

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

; following Kiffin's departure to become head coach of the

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac-12 Con ...

team, Thompkins transferred to the University of Oklahoma Sooners, but did not play at either university, as Oklahoma has a strict policy against admitting students with a history of legal troubles. Instead, Thompkins transferred to the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

, where he played for two seasons from 2011 to 2012. As a junior in 2011, Thompkins caught 44 passes for 536 yards (12.2 yards per reception) and two touchdowns. As a senior in 2012, he recorded 34 receptions for 541 yards (15.9) and two touchdowns.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Thompkins signed with the

as an

on May 3, 2013. In his preseason debut, Thompkins registered 4 receptions for 23 yards with the first-team offense against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

. In the third game of the season, Thompkins caught the first two touchdown passes of his career to help the Patriots win the game 23–3 against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. In Week 6's matchup against the undefeated

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, Thompkins caught the game-winning touchdown on a 2nd down play with 5 seconds remaining in the game. Thompkins was released by the Patriots on October 4, 2014.

Oakland Raiders

Thompkins was claimed off waivers by the

two days after his release from the Patriots, on October 6, 2014. He caught 15 passes in 12 games for 209 yards with Oakland and was cut by Oakland on September 1, 2015.

New England Patriots (second stint)

The Patriots re-signed Thompkins to their practice squad on September 6, 2015. He was released from the practice squad on September 30, 2015.

New York Jets

On October 2, 2015, the

signed Thompkins to their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 20, 2015, after

Quincy Enunwa Onochie Quincy Enunwa (born May 31, 1992) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Nebraska, and he was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Early years Enunwa attended Ra ...

was suspended. On September 3, 2016, Thompkins was released by the Jets as part of their final roster cuts. On August 16, 2017, Thompkins re-signed with the Jets. On September 2, 2017, Thompkins was released by the Jets.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On May 22, 2018, the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) announced they had signed Thompkins to a contract. He was shifted to the team's

practice roster In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on June 28, then promoted back to the active roster on July 26. He was placed on the suspended list on May 19, 2019, then released on July 11.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Thompkins is the cousin of wide receiver

Antonio Brown Antonio Tavaris Brown Sr. (born July 10, 1988), nicknamed "AB", is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent, and an American rapper. Raised in Liberty City, Miami, Brown attended Miami Norland High School. He played college fo ...

and also has a younger brother Kendal Thompkins who played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. Thompkins was charged by the U.S. federal government with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft on March 26, 2021, after prosecutors alleged that he stole $300,000 in unemployment benefits from the

state of California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He pled guilty to these charges in October 2021. In January 2022, he was sentenced to 25 months in prison and was required to return $132,980.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bearcats biographyNew England Patriots biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompkins, Kenbrell 1988 births Living people American football wide receivers Cincinnati Bearcats football players New England Patriots players Oakland Raiders players New York Jets players Palomar Comets football players Players of American football from Miami El Camino College alumni Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian football wide receivers American players of Canadian football Miami Northwestern Senior High School alumni Players of Canadian football from Miami