Quick Facts
TaurusBiography
Jack Thompson (born May 18, 1956) is an American Samoan former professional American football player, a quarterback in the National Football League for six seasons, four with the Cincinnati Bengals and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 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.
College career
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.
As a fifth-year senior in 1978, Thompson finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, and concluded his college career as the most prolific passer in NCAA history with 7,818 passing yards. 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 1974, south of Seattle.
College statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the Pac-8/Pac-10 | |
| Pac-8/Pac-10 record | |
| Led the NCAA | |
| NCAA Record | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Season | School | Games | Cmp | Att | Yds | Pct | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Washington State | 11 | 26 | 54 | 351 | 48.1% | 3 | 2 | 113.7 |
| 1976 | Washington State | 11 | 208 | 355 | 2,762 | 58.6% | 20 | 14 | 134.7 |
| 1977 | Washington State | 11 | 192 | 329 | 2,372 | 58.4% | 13 | 13 | 124.1 |
| 1978 | Washington State | 11 | 175 | 348 | 2,333 | 50.3% | 17 | 20 | 111.2 |
| Career | Washington State | 44 | 601 | 1,086 | 7,818 | 55.3% | 53 | 49 | 122.9 |
* Includes bowl games.
NFL career
Thompson was the first quarterback selected in the 1979 NFL Draft, taken third overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, 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), Thompson went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1983 and was the starter, but was replaced the following year by Steve DeBerg.
NFL career statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| NFL record | |
| Won the Super Bowl | |
| AP NFL MVP | |
| Super Bowl MVP | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| 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 | ||
Playoffs
| 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 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.