Kendal Thompson (born May 14, 1992) 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 spent 3 seasons as a

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 ...

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) for 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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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 ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

and

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 ...

prior to his position change to wide receiver in preparation for the NFL. He signed with the

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, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

quarterback.

Early life

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 principal ...

, Thompson was an

Elite 11 Elite 11 is a quarterback competition for high school quarterbacks. Elite 11 was founded in 1999 by Andy Bark and is run by his company Student Sports. Rising seniors participate in the contest. The quarterbacks submit videos of themselves pla ...

finalist and also earned

all-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

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 United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game wa ...

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

in January 2011.

College career

Oklahoma

Thompson was redshirted in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and did not play in any games in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. As a redshirt sophomore in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, Thompson was slated to compete against redshirt junior

Blake Bell Blake Bell (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional football tight end. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, where he received the nick ...

and redshirt freshman

Trevor Knight Trevor A. Knight (born October 3, 1993) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback . He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas A&M Aggies. After leading Oklahoma to an 8–5 record in the 2014 s ...

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 the Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State Cowboys, Cowboys and Cowgirls of the Bi ...

against #6 ranked

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. 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 (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 ...

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

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

, 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 United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, 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 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 ...

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

. 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 ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, 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 Colora ...

, 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

quarterback,

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

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