Shaq Thompson is an exceptional Hornung Award-winning American footballer who plays as a linebacker for the Charlotte-based soccer team, the Carolina Panthers. He began his exploration of the National Football League (NFL) in 2015 after being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft 2015.
A man of many talents, Thompson is also a baseball star and a talented sprinter. He had a short stint in Major League Baseball (MLB) and was a Boston Red Sox representative in the MLB after being selected in the 18th round of the MLB Draft in 2012. However, the NFL star chose a career in football after scoring 0-39 with 37 strikeouts in 13 games.
Thompson also completed a four-year program in athletics, after which he perfected his talent as a sprinter. His career as a sprinter has been very productive and also earned him admiration for his performance in the 2010 CIF San Joaquin Master Finals. He is said to have achieved a personal best of 10.96 seconds in the 100-meter run of the event, putting him in seventh place.
He also holds the record for winning fifth place (21.69 seconds) in the 2010 CIF State Track and Field Championships in the 200-meter run. Thompson finished seventh in the 2011 CIF State Track and Field Championships in the 200-meter race, where he competed with the renowned sprinter Remontay McClain.
Shaq Thompson Age and Bio
Shaq is the son of Patrice Thompson (mother), who raised the footballer together with his three other siblings on his own in Del Paso Heights, a town in Sacramento, California, in the United States. She gave birth to the linebacker on April 21, 1994, in Sacramento, California. Shaq Thompson, whose father is missing on the map, has an older brother named Syd’Quan Thompson, a footballer who plays for the Broncos in the NFL.
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The Carolina Panther player studied at Grant Union High School, where he played on the school’s baseball, track and field, and soccer teams. During his second year at Grant, he played an influential role in leading the Pacers to a 12-1 overall record. Thompson also scored 25 touchdowns with 164 Carries and 1,882 and helped his school set an 8-4 record and advance to the quarter-finals of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs as a junior.
Among the seniors, he scored 15 touchdowns with 120 carries and 1,134 yards, passed 893 yards and 8 scores, and 57 tackles. After an impressive outing with the senior team, Shaq was listed as one of the representatives in the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
The exceptional linebacker initially worked at the University of California at Berkeley, but changed his mind in 2012 and enrolled at the University of Washington. At the university, he played as a linebacker, running back, slot corner, and safety football from 2012 to 2014, and in his final year received the fifth annual Paul Hornung Award for most versatile players. He gave up his senior season to pursue a full-time career in the NFL in 2015.
Shaq Thompson’s NFL CareerÂ
Shaq’s professional career began in 2015 after he was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the 25th overall candidate in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. On May 7, 2015, he would sign a four-year contract worth $8.80 million with the football team. The contract included a signing bonus of $4.66 million and a $7.17 million guarantee.
The linebacker made his debut with the Carolina Panthers with a 20-9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The footballer’s 2015 rookie season ended with ten starts, two passes, one sack in 14 games, and a total of 50 combined tackles.
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The Carolina Panther star also started his 2016 season with an impressive record, helping his team to a 31-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round. He also appeared in the Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016, where he scored five combined tackles against the Denver Broncos. Shaq suffered a knee sprain in 2016 and had to miss two games. He made a comeback, however, which led to more impressive performances.
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Shaq Thompson continued his career with the Panthers in 2017 alongside the linebacker, taking two solo tackles and suffering from plantar fasciitis, which led to him missing another two games in weeks 14-15. The Carolina Panthers decided on April 23, 2018, to give the Sacramento-born NFL star a five-year option on his contract, making the man in the number 54 jersey one of the team’s most popular players.
Body Measurements, Height & Weight
The Carolina Panthers’ linebacker stands at a height of 1.83 meters and makes him one of the NFL stars with the most impressive stature. His weight, as can be seen from his profile, is 104 kilograms or 230 lb.