Kenbrell Thompkins

Kenbrell Thompkins (born July 29, 1988) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He played college football for El Camino Community College from 2008 to 2009 and for Cincinnati from 2011 to 2012. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots in 2013.

A native of the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Thompkins attended Miami Northwestern High School. A classmate of Anthony Gaitor, Thompkins started for Northwestern, but was academically ineligible to play as a sophomore and was later expelled for violating school policy. He was allowed to re-enroll prior to his junior football season, only to be expelled again later in the year. After spending his junior year at an alternative school, he re-enrolled at Northwestern for the third time prior to his senior year and finished his high school football career. Not long after the season concluded, Thompkins was expelled for the third time, after being arrested on armed robbery charges.

After seven mostly drug-related arrests Thompkins was barely recruited coming out of high school. His only scholarship offer was from Morgan State, but he never enrolled.

Thompkins briefly attended Palomar Community College in San Marcos, California in 2008 before transferring to El Camino Community College in Torrance, California to play football. At El Camino, Thompkins recorded two 1,000-yard seasons in a row, being named a team captain as a sophomore. Following his sophomore campaign, Thompkins signed with the University of Tennessee in order to play under then-coach Lane Kiffin; following Kiffin's departure to become head coach of the USC Trojans football team, Thompkins transferred to the University of Oklahoma Sooners, but did not play at either university, as Oklahoma has a strict policy against admitting students with a history of legal troubles. Instead, Thompkins transferred to the University of Cincinnati, where he played for two seasons from 2011 to 2012.

As a junior in 2011, Thompkins caught 44 passes for 536 yards (12.2 yards per reception) and two touchdowns. As a senior, he recorded 34 receptions for 541 yards (15.9) and two touchdowns.

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots signed Thompkins, an undrafted free agent, on May 3, 2013. As required by the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deal was a three-year contract. Thompkins received a $2,500 signing bonus, and $2,500 of his 2013 salary was guaranteed.

In his preseason debut, Thompkins registered 4 receptions for 23 yards with the first-team offense against the Philadelphia Eagles.

In the third game of the season, Thompkins caught the first two touchdown passes of his career to help the Patriots win the game 23–3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In week 4, Thompkins had the best game of his young career, registering 6 receptions for 127 yards and one touchdown in a win against the Atlanta Falcons. In week 6's matchup against the undefeated New Orleans Saints, Thompkins caught the game-winning touchdown on a 2nd down play with 5 seconds remaining in the game.

Thompkins was released by the Patriots on October 4, 2014.

Oakland Raiders

Thompkins was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Raiders two days after his release, on October 6, 2014.He caught 15 passes in 12 games for 209 yards with Oakland and was cut by Oakland on September 1, 2015.

Second stint with Patriots

The Patriots re-signed Thompkins to their practice squad on September 6, 2015. Thompkins was released from the practice squad on September 30, 2015.

New York Jets

On October 2, 2015 the New York Jets signed Thompkins to their Practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 20, 2015 after Quincy Enunwa was suspended.

On September 3, 2016, Thompkins was released by the Jets as part of final roster cuts.

Regular Season Stats

He is the cousin of current Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and also has a younger brother Kendal Thompkins who recently played for the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League.