NFL Star Thompson Also Played Pro Baseball

Shaq Thompson has played 10 NFL seasons at linebacker for the Carolina Panthers. He has gone over 100 tackles in four separate seasons. He’s also had one fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Thompson shows 54 tackles for loss during his NFL tenure, including a career-high 11 in 2019. The six-foot, 230-pounder who played his college ball for the Washington Huskies could just as easily be completing his 10th season as a pro in another sport, had he chosen to continue to pursue that route.

At one time, Thompson was an MLB prospect in the Boston Red Sox system.

Thompson was drafted by the Red Sox in the 18th round of the 2012 MLB Draft.played for their rookie-level team in the Gulf Coast League in the summer of 2012. 

Thompson lettered in football, baseball and track and field at Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California. Even though he only played baseball in his senior year, the Red Sox were opting to take a chance that his versatile athletic skills would translate into making him a big-league prospect on the diamond. Even though he was committed to play football at Washington in the fall of 2012, Thompson decided to give pro baseball a shot and see what the outcome would be. 

It would turn out that hitting a ball carrier was a lot easier for Thompson than hitting a baseball. Thompson decided to end his baseball career and focus on football full-time after he went 0-for-39 with 37 strikeouts over 13 games. He struck out in each of his first 16 at-bats. 

Even with his struggles, the Red Sox wanted Thompson to come back. Working with then Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian, the club sought to map out a two-sport strategy for their protege. They saw potential in this multi-sport athlete who was still quite raw in terms of his baseball acumen.

“He was very coachable,” Red Sox assistant hitting coach Victor Rodriguez remembered to MLB.com. “He wanted to get better, he wanted to learn. He put a good effort into everything he did.

“He didn’t play much baseball. He was a football player trying to compete at a professional level. Even guys who play their whole life have trouble when they become professional.” 

Nonetheless, his athletic versatility still shone on the football field. At Washington, Thompson would play safety, slot corner, linebacker, and running back. In 2014, he was awarded the Paul Hornung Award, which goes annually to the NCAA’s most versatile football player. 

Even in the NFL, Thompson’s multi-sport experience has come in handy. With the Panthers, he plays a unique position called The Big Nickel. It’s kind of a hybrid between linebacker and safety.