Jack Thompson (born May 18, 1956) is an American former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League for six seasons. He was known as "the Throwin' Samoan," a nickname bestowed on him by Spokesman-Review columnist Harry Missildine during Thompson's breakout sophomore season at Washington State University in 1976 .
As a collegian at Washington State 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 .[1]
As a senior in 1978 , he finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy ,[2] [3] and concluded his college career as the most prolific passer in NCAA history with 7,818 passing yards.[4] 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.
Legend
Led the Pac-8/Pac-10
Pac-8/Pac-10 record
Led the NCAA
NCAA Record
Bold
Career high
* Includes bowl games.
He is one of only two players in school history to have his number retired (with Pro Football Hall of Famer Mel Hein ). Thompson wore No. 14 and graduated from Evergreen High School in 1974, south of Seattle .
Thompson was the first quarterback selected in the 1979 NFL Draft , taken third overall by the Cincinnati Bengals ,[4] [6] and played there for four years, which included the Super Bowl season in 1981 .
Considered by ESPN to be a bust of a draft pick (#26 worst – fellow WSU grad Ryan Leaf is considered #1),[7] Thompson went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1983 and was the starter , but was replaced the following year by Steve DeBerg .
Year
Team
Games
Passing
Rushing
Sacked
Fumbles
Record
G
GS
Cmp
Att
Pct
Yds
Y/A
Lng
TD
Int
Rtg
Att
Yds
Avg
TD
Sck
Yds
Fum
Lost
W–L
1979
CIN
9
1
39
87
44.8
481
5.5
50
1
5
42.4
21
116
5.5
5
16
178
3
1
0–1
1980
CIN
14
4
115
234
49.1
1,324
5.7
59
11
12
60.9
18
84
4.7
1
13
113
5
3
1-3
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
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
0-0
1983
TB
14
13
249
423
58.9
2,906
6.9
80
18
21
73.3
26
27
1.0
0
39
289
10
5
2-11
1984
TB
5
3
25
52
48.1
337
6.5
74
2
5
42.4
5
35
7.0
0
10
54
1
1
1-2
Total
51
21
449
845
53.1
5,315
6.3
80
33
45
63.4
70
262
3.7
6
85
695
19
10
4-17
Year
Team
Games
Passing
Rushing
Sacked
Fumbles
Record
G
GS
Cmp
Att
Pct
Yds
Y/A
Lng
TD
Int
Rtg
Att
Yds
Avg
TD
Sck
Yds
Fum
Lost
W–L
1981
CIN
2
0
1
1
100.0
14
14.0
14
0
0
118.7
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0-0
Total
2
0
1
1
100.0
14
14.0
14
0
0
118.7
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0-0
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 .
↑ Missildine, Harry (September 19, 1976). "Gophers whips Cougs" . Spokesman-Review . Associated Press ((Spokane, Washington)): p. D1. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uCBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m-0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6533%2C1584334 .
↑ "Oklahoma's Sims Heisman winner" . Lodi News-Sentinel . UPI ((California)): p. 18. November 29, 1978. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VuAzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lDIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=6513%2C3154430 .
↑ Word, Ron (November 29, 1978). "Billy Sims" . Spokesman-Review . Associated Press ((Spokane, Washington)): p. 49. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pEpOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=De4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6337%2C6415692 .
↑ 4.0 4.1 "Ohio State linebacker goes to beef up Buffalo" . Spokesman-Review . Associated Press ((Spokane, Washington)): p. 49. May 4, 1979. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AOkRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6902%2C1670873 .
↑ "Jack Thompson college statistics" . https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jack-thompson-1.html . Retrieved July 14, 2019 .
↑ Bergum, Steve (May 4, 1979). "Cincinnati denies rumors; Thompson isn't trade bait" . Spokesman-Review ((Spokane, Washington)): p. 49. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AOkRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4154%2C1673111 .
↑ ESPN.com: "Phillips couldn't outrun off-the-field troubles: From Ryan Leaf to Michael Westbrook, ESPN.com ranks the top 50 draft busts" April 18, 2008.
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