Kendal Thompson (born May 14, 1992) is an

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 who is currently a free agent. He played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

before transitioning to wide receiver in preparation for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He is the son of Charles Thompson, a famous

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

quarterback.

High school career

As a standout at

Southmoore High School Southmoore High School is an American four-year public high school located in the southern part of Moore, Oklahoma. Southmoore High School opened in the 2008–2009 academic year. The school is headed by one head principal, and 4 class princip ...

, Thompson was an

Elite 11 The Elite 11 is a quarterback competition for high school quarterbacks across the United States. Elite 11 was founded in 1999 by Andy Bark and continues to be run by his company, Student Sports Inc, hosted at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaver ...

finalist and also earned

all-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors. He competed in the

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January 5, ...

. After graduating high school early in December 2010, he enrolled at the

in January 2011.

College career

Oklahoma

Thompson was redshirted in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and did not play in any games in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. As a redshirt sophomore in

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 ...

, Thompson was slated to compete against redshirt junior

Blake Bell Blake M. Bell (born August 7, 1991) is an American football tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college footba ...

and redshirt freshman

Trevor Knight Trevor A. Knight (born October 3, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Oklahoma and Texas A&M. After leading Oklahoma to an 8–5 record in the 2014 season, he lost the starting job in an open quarter ...

for the starting quarterback job. Thompson was forced to drop out of the quarterback derby after suffering a broken right foot during the first practice of fall camp. He was able to return during the 2013 season and made two appearances as a backup quarterback, including one during the

Bedlam Series The Bedlam Series is the name given to the Oklahoma–Oklahoma State rivalry. It refers to the athletics rivalry between Oklahoma State University Cowboys and Cowgirls and the University of Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 Conference. Both school ...

against #6 ranked

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

. On January 21, 2014, Thompson announced his intention to graduate from the

in May and transfer to another college to play football as a graduate student.

Utah

Thompson transferred to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and was eligible to play immediately after graduating from Oklahoma. He competed with junior Travis Wilson, who started 16 games at quarterback for

in the previous two seasons, for the starting quarterback job. It was expected that Wilson would win the quarterback competition and he was eventually named the starting quarterback over Thompson during fall camp. In a game against #8 ranked

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

on October 4, 2014, Thompson relieved Wilson after the offense started the game with three consecutive three-and-outs. Thompson would lead Utah to a 30-28 upset victory over UCLA. In the next game against

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, Thompson started the game, but was benched in favor of Wilson at halftime. Wilson would lead Utah to a double-overtime victory. On November 8, Thompson started the game against #4 ranked

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, but he left the game after suffering a torn ACL. The knee injury ended his 2014 season.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Thompson signed with the

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 ...

on July 27, 2016. He was waived on September 3, 2016 and was signed to the practice squad the next day. After spending his entire rookie season on the practice squad, he signed a reserve/future contract with the Redskins on January 2, 2017. On August 13, 2017, Thompson was waived/injured by the Redskins and placed on injured reserve. He was released on August 18, 2017.

Los Angeles Rams

On July 30, 2018, Thompson signed with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. On August 31, 2018, Thompson was waived/injured by the Rams and placed on injured reserve. He was released on December 4, 2018.

Personal life

Thompson is a member of the

Kiowa tribe Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and ev ...

, gaining membership through his mother. In 2014, he went through a naming ceremony and received the name "Little Wolf". He is the older brother of current

Florida Atlantic Owls The Florida Atlantic Owls are the athletics teams of Florida Atlantic University. The Owls participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I as members of Conference USA. On October 21, 2021, Florida Atlantic accept ...

quarterback,

Casey Thompson Casey Thompson (born October 3, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. He previously played college football for Texas, Nebraska, and Florida Atlantic. High school career Thompson played his first three years of hig ...

. On May 10, 2013, Thompson was arrested on misdemeanor complaints of public intoxication and interference with official process at about 2:15 a.m. after police responded to a loud party call.

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners bioUtah Utes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Kendal 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Oklahoma City American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Kiowa people Oklahoma Sooners football players Utah Utes football players Washington Redskins players Los Angeles Rams players