Bryan Thompson (born April 7, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans in the Unite ...

and

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

Early life

Thompson grew up in

Moreno Valley, California Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's pop ...

and attended

Rancho Verde High School Rancho Verde High School is one of three comprehensive high schools in the Val Verde Unified School District. The school is situated on 38 acres in the southern section of Moreno Valley, California. Rancho Verde represents a community of diverse ...

where he lettered in football and track & field. In his high school career, Thompson completed 135 receptions for 2,636 yards and 27 touchdowns. Thompson was a three-star ranked recruit and would decide to commit to play college football at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

over offers from Nebraska, Oregon, Boise State, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Indiana, Oregon State, UNLV, Washington and Washington State.

College career

Utah

During Thompson's true freshman season in 2017, he played in 12 games and started one of them against

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. He finished the season with five receptions for 77 yards with an average of 15.4 yards per catch. During the 2018 season, he played in only four games due to him battling injuries. He made one catch for 31 yards in the 2018 Holiday Bowl against Northwestern. During the 2019 season, he appeared in 12 games and started nine of them. He finished the season with being second on the team in terms of receiving yards with 18 catches for 461 yards and three touchdowns with an average of 25.6 yards per catch. During the 2020 season, he played in all five games and started two of them. He finished the season with nine receptions for 187 yards with one touchdown along with one rush for nine yards and a touchdown with an average of 20.8 yards per catch. On February 3, 2021, Thompson announced that he has entered the transfer portal. On February 18, 2021, he announced that he would be transferring to Arizona State.

Arizona State

During the 2021 season, Thompson appeared in 11 games and started four of them. He finished the season with 13 catches and 130 yards. During the 2022 season, he appeared in 11 games and started the last seven of them. He finished the season with 25 catches and 377 yards.

Professional career

On May 18, 2023, Thompson was signed to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

after going unselected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. Thompson was released on August 29, 2023 but was re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 22, 2024. Thompson was waived with an injury designated on August 13.

References

External links

Utah Utes bioArizona State Sun Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Bryan 1999 births Living people American football wide receivers Utah Utes football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Buffalo Bills players Players of American football from Moreno Valley, California