Jack Thompson (American football)

For other people with the same name, see Jack Thompson (disambiguation).

Jack Thompson

Thompson in 2019, at Mike Leach's Insurgent Warfare and Football Strategy class
No. 12, 14
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Born:	(1956-05-19) May 19, 1956 (age 68) Tutuila, American Samoa
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	217 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school:	Evergreen (White Center, Washington)
College:	Washington State
NFL draft:	1979  / round: 1 / pick: 3
Career history
Cincinnati Bengals (1979–1982) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1983–1984)
Career highlights and awards
2× First-team All-Pac-8/Pac-10 (1976, 1978) Second-team All-Pac-8 (1977) Washington State Cougars No. 14 retired
Career NFL statistics
Pass attempts: 845 Pass completions: 449 Percentage: 53.1 TD-INT: 33-45 Passing yards: 5,315 Passer rating: 63.4
Player stats at PFR

Jack Thompson (born May 18, 1956), nicknamed "the Throwin' Samoan", is an American Samoan former professional American football quarterback. Thompson played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons, four with the Cincinnati Bengals and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football for the Washington State Cougars. He was selected in by the Bengals in the first round of the 1979 NFL draft with the third overall pick.

His nickname was bestowed on him by Spokesman-Review columnist Harry Missildine during Thompson's breakout sophomore season at Washington State in 1976. ^[1]

College career

As a collegian at Washington State University in Pullman, Thompson set numerous school, Pac-10 and NCAA records. In the second game of 1976, he took over on offense after senior starter John Hopkins was injured making a tackle in the second quarter at Minnesota. ^[2] In a 2002 story, Thompson explained why he chose to attend Washington State and how his first series against Minnesota in 1976 was almost his last until offensive coordinator Bob Leahy convinced head coach Jackie Sherrill to leave Thompson in the game. ^[3]

As a fifth-year senior in 1978, Thompson finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, ^{[4] [5]} and concluded his college career as the most prolific passer in NCAA history with 7,818 passing yards. ^[6] Thompson set Pac-10 records for attempts, completions, and TD passes. He was all-conference three times and either first-team, second-team, or honorable mention All-American three times.

Thompson is one of only two players in school history to have his number retired (with Pro Football Hall of Famer Mel Hein); he wore No. 14 and graduated from Evergreen High School in White Center, Washington, in 1974, south of Seattle.

College statistics

Legend
	Pac-8/Pac-10 record
	Led the Pac-8/Pac-10
	NCAA Record
	Led the NCAA
Bold	Career high

Season	Team	GP	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Rtg
1975	Washington State	11	26	54	48.1	351	3	2	113.7
1976	Washington State	11	208	355	58.6	2,762	20	14	134.7
1977	Washington State	11	192	329	58.4	2,372	13	13	124.1
1978	Washington State	11	175	348	50.3	2,333	17	20	111.2
Career		44	601	1,086	55.3	7,818	53	49	122.9

NFL career

Thompson was the first quarterback selected in the 1979 NFL draft, taken third overall by the Cincinnati Bengals. ^{[6] [7]} At the time, the team had 30-year old Ken Anderson as their starter, who had just finished his seventh season as the starter for a team that went 4–8. Team president and founder Paul Brown felt the need to draft a successor to Anderson to help the team despite projections that saw the New York Giants pick him at the seventh spot. ^[8] Thompson was tabbed as the backup for Anderson, who started the first three weeks of the season. Thompson was put in mop-up duty for the second game before throwing twenty passes in the second game in a 20–14 loss to the New England Patriots; on the run in both games, he had a touchdown in each one. In week four against the Houston Oilers, he was tabbed to start. He went 11-of-21 for 181 yards with an interception while being sacked seven times and running for zero yards in a 30–27 loss. He did not start another game that year, but he did make appearances in five subsequent games in relief. In total, he threw for one touchdown and five interceptions while running for five touchdowns. ^{[9] [10]}

The following year saw Anthony Munoz drafted to provide support in the tackle position while Thompson and Anderson vied for playing time under new head coach Forrest Gregg. On opening day of 1980, Thompson was tabbed as the starter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game did not go well, as he completed 6-of-21 for 47 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a miserable 17–12 loss. He was tabbed to come in for Anderson in the following two games, which included going 9-for-18 with 122 yards and two touchdowns that saw Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh 30–28. He was then tasked to start the following week against Houston and went 14-of-24 for 134 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but a last-minute drive to tie fell short in a 13–10 loss. He played sparingly for the next eleven weeks before being tabbed to start the final two games of the year against Chicago and Cleveland. In total, he threw for 1,324 yards while running for 84 that saw eleven touchdown passes to twelve interceptions while the Bengals as a whole won just six games. ^{[11] [12]}

1981 was a turning point, but not for Thompson. Anderson threw three interceptions in the first half of the opening game against the Seattle Seahawks, but Thompson had suffered a sprained ankle injury in the preseason, which meant that Gregg went to Turk Schonert in relief that saw a wild comeback win. As related by Thompson later, “I was in a quarterback meeting talking to Kenny and I remember him looking at me and saying, ‘I need to be the starter. He was resolved. I said, ‘Why don't you go talk to Forrest and be done with it?’ He did, then went into that New York game and had a great game and we were off and running. I got to witness his ‘Phoenix’ moment. I have nothing but respect for that.” With his job on the line, Anderson proceeded to have a standout season that saw them go all the way to Super Bowl season while Thompson threw just 49 passes in mopup duty. ^[13] His final pass as a Bengal was in the AFC Championship Game, dubbed as the "Freezer Bowl" due to the subzero temperatures that saw him come in and complete a 14-yard pass when Anderson was checked up for a time.

Thompson went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1983 and was the starter, but he was replaced in the following year by Steve DeBerg. ^[14]

In 2008, ESPN ranked Thompson no. 26 among the 50 worst NFL draft busts. ^[15]

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Year	Team	Games			Passing									Rushing				Sacked		Fumbles
		GP	GS	Record	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	Lng	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Sck	Yds	Fum	Lost
1979	CIN	9	1	0–1	39	87	44.8	481	5.5	50	1	5	42.4	21	116	5.5	5	16	178	3	1
1980	CIN	14	4	1–3	115	234	49.1	1,324	5.7	59	11	12	60.9	18	84	4.7	1	13	113	5	3
1981	CIN	8	0	—	21	49	42.9	267	5.4	21	1	2	50.3	0	0	0.0	0	7	61	0	0
1982	CIN	1	0	—	0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
1983	TB	14	13	2–11	249	423	58.9	2,906	6.9	80	18	21	73.3	26	27	1.0	0	39	289	10	5
1984	TB	5	3	1–2	25	52	48.1	337	6.5	74	2	5	42.4	5	35	7.0	0	10	54	1	1
Total		51	21	4–17	449	845	53.1	5,315	6.3	80	33	45	63.4	70	262	3.7	6	85	695	19	10

Playoffs

Year	Team	Games			Passing									Rushing				Sacked		Fumbles
		GP	GS	Record	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	Lng	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Sck	Yds	Fum	Lost
1981	CIN	2	0	—	1	1	100.0	14	14.0	14	0	0	118.7	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Total		2	0	—	1	1	100.0	14	14.0	14	0	0	118.7	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

After football

After his football career, Thompson settled in Seattle and became a mortgage banker, as well as a volunteer quarterbacks coach at Ballard High School. His son Tony, a tight end, followed in his dad's footsteps in suiting up at Washington State, and a nephew, Tavita Pritchard, was a quarterback at Stanford University.

References

1. Hanson, Scott (November 19, 2018). "Jack Thompson, before becoming a Washington State football legend, wanted to be a Husky". The Seattle Times . Retrieved February 22, 2021. I knew the guy who tagged me with it, Harry Missildine (of the Spokesman-Review), and I didn't think anything of it. It was pretty true. I am Samoan and I threw the ball. In these politically correct days, people might have a problem with it, but that's their problem, not mine. I am proud of it, and my dad, frankly, loved it.
2. Missildine, Harry (September 19, 1976). "Gophers whips Cougs". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. D1.
3. Witter, Greg (June 10, 2002). "Destiny: How legendary Jack Thompson landed and stayed at WSU". 247sports.com. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
4. "Oklahoma's Sims Heisman winner". Lodi News-Sentinel. (California). UPI. November 29, 1978. p. 18.
5. Word, Ron (November 29, 1978). "Billy Sims". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 49.
6. "Ohio State linebacker goes to beef up Buffalo". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. May 4, 1979. p. 49.
7. Bergum, Steve (May 4, 1979). "Cincinnati denies rumors; Thompson isn't trade bait". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 49.
8. "'It was electric': Former WSU quarterback Jack Thompson recalls Cincinnati Bengals' 1982 Super Bowl run | the Spokesman-Review".
9. "Houston Oilers at Cincinnati Bengals - September 23rd, 1979". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
10. "Jack Thompson 1979 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
11. "Jack Thompson 1980 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
12. "Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals - September 21st, 1980". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
13. Kirkendall, Josh (April 27, 2015). "No. 4 Bengals draft bust of all-time". Cincy Jungle. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
14. "Thompson hopes to come out of 'retirement'". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). October 7, 1984. p. 3C – via Google News.
15. "Warrick, Klingler fell way short in Cincy". ESPN. April 16, 2008. Archived from the original on April 21, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2020.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com  ·  Pro Football Reference  · 
• Friends of Evergreen Archived September 8, 2017, at the Wayback Machine − Jack Thompson