Chris Thompson (born October 20, 1990) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

and was selected by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in the fifth round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

Early life

Thompson grew up in Greenville,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and attended and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Madison County High School. He received offers from Florida State, Clemson, Memphis, and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He chose to attend Florida State.

College career

2009

On October 10, 2009, Thompson ran for a 49-yard gain against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. On October 31, Thompson ran for his first and second touchdown as a Seminole against North Carolina State. Thompson played in 13 games his freshman year, running for 120 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 10 yards. Thompson returned six kickoffs for 150 yards (25.0 average).

2010

On September 4, 2010, Thompson ran for a touchdown and blocked a punt against Samford. On September 18, Thompson ran for 123 yards on nine carries and a touchdown against BYU. On October 2, 2010, Thompson ran for 76 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. On October 9, Thompson ran for 158 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown against

. On November 20, Thompson ran for 95 yards and a touchdown against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. On December 31, Thompson ran 147 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in the 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl. On December 4, Thompson recorded a 20-yard touchdown reception against

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in the 2010 Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game. Thompson played in 14 games his sophomore year, running for 845 yards on 134 carries and six touchdowns. He also caught 19 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown. Thompson returned 2 kickoffs for 33 yards (16.5 average).

2011

On September 10, 2011, Thompson ran for 21 yards and a touchdown against Charleston Southern. On October 8, Thompson sustained T5 and T6 compression fractures in his back against Wake Forest which ended his junior season. Thompson only played in five games as a junior, running for 83 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown. He also caught three passes for 17 yards.

2012

On September 8, 2012, Thompson ran for his first touchdown of the season against Savannah State. On September 15, Thompson ran for 197 yards on 9 carries and two touchdowns against Wake Forest. On September 22, Thompson ran for 103 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns against Clemson. He also caught 8 passes for 79 yards. On October 6, Thompson ran for 141 yards on 25 carries against NC State. On October 20, Thompson tore his ACL in his left knee against

which ended his season. Thompson played in eight games his senior year, running for 687 yards on 91 carries and five touchdowns. He caught 21 passes for 248 yards. On January 2, 2013, Thompson, along with teammate and cornerback Xavier Rhodes entered the

College statistics

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Thompson was selected by the

in the fifth round, with the 154th overall pick, of the

. He signed a four-year contract on May 15, 2013. With Richard Crawford on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

, Thompson was given the return specialist job. After struggling in the first four games of the season, he lost his returner position to Josh Morgan. On November 8, 2013, Thompson was placed on the team's injured reserve due to a torn left labrum. He finished his rookie season with eight kick returns for 160 net yards and seven punt returns for 36 net yards. The Redskins released Thompson for final roster cuts before the start of the 2014 season, losing the third-string running back position to rookie Silas Redd. He was signed to the team's practice squad after clearing waivers the following day. Thompson was promoted to the active roster on December 11, 2014. Thompson scored a receiving touchdown against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in the Week 15 game. The touchdown was the first of Thompson's professional career. His only other action in the 2014 season came in the next game against the Philadelphia Eagles, where he had three receptions for five yards. On September 24, 2015, Thompson recorded his second career touchdown reception against the

. Overall, in the 2015 season, he had 216 rushing yards, 35 receptions, 240 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. On March 4, 2016, the Redskins extended a tender to Thompson. He officially accepted and signed the tender on March 17. On September 12, 2016, Thompson scored his first rushing touchdown of his career against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. On October 2, 2016, Thompson scored his fifth touchdown of his career, a 5-yard touchdown reception against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. On October 23, 2016, Thompson ran for a season-high 73 yards on 12 carries against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. On December 11, 2016, Thompson ran for 38 yards on three carries and a touchdown 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. Thompson ran in a 25-yard touchdown, his third touchdown of the season and the sixth of his career. Overall, in the 2016 season, he finished with 356 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 49 receptions, 349 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. On April 21, 2017, Thompson re-signed with the Redskins. On September 5, 2017, Thompson signed a two-year contract extension with the Redskins. On September 10, 2017, in the season opening 30–17 loss to the

, Thompson recorded a 24-yard receiving touchdown from Cousins. In a Week 2 game against the

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

, Thompson had three rushing attempts for 77 yards and two touchdowns. On September 24, Thompson amassed 188 total yards (150 receiving) in a 27–10 win over the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

on ''

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''. In Week 11, Thompson fractured his fibula and was ruled out for the season. He was placed on injured reserve on November 21, 2017. He finished the 2017 season with 294 rushing yards and two touchdowns, along with 39 receptions for a career-high 510 yards and four touchdowns. In Week 2, against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

, Thompson recorded a career-high 13 receptions for 92 receiving yards in the 21–9 loss. He suffered a rib injury and missed game action. Overall, Thompson played in ten games and had 178 rushing yards and 41 receptions for 268 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. In 2019, Thompson appeared in 11 games and recorded 37 carries for 138 rushing yards to go along with 42 receptions for 378 receiving yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On May 1, 2020, Thompson signed a one-year contract with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. In Week 2 of the 2020 season against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

, Thompson recorded his first receiving touchdown as a Jaguar during the 33–30 loss. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the team on October 24, and activated on October 30. He suffered a back injury in Week 10 and was placed on injured reserve on November 16, 2020.

San Francisco 49ers

On September 22, 2021, Thompson was signed to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

practice squad. He was released on October 5.

Chicago Bears

On October 19, 2021, Thompson was signed to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

practice squad. He was waived by the team on November 3.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Florida State Seminoles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Chris 1990 births Living people People from Greenville, Florida People from Madison, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football running backs Florida State Seminoles football players Washington Redskins players Jacksonville Jaguars players San Francisco 49ers players Chicago Bears players