Athlete Spotlight: Wildcat Wideout Realizing His Future

Senior receiver Nyere (Nie-air-ree) Thompson wasn’t sure if he could handle varsity football by his sophomore year, but a challenge from the coach turned things around for the Wildcat senior.

Thompson made his way to the Wharton Wildcats on a bumpy road.

He spent the first six or seven years of his life in Queens, NY. He lived with his mom, grandma and baby brother in a tiny apartment. Thompson’s dad had been incarcerated for as long as he could remember and Thompson’s mom figured it was time for a change.

All four of them moved to Tampa.

In Tampa, Thompson found the athletic outlet he sought in TBYFL. He played for the Saints and Bulls until he was old enough to attend Buchannan Middle School, where he made wide receiver for the flag football team.

Nyere is no Calvin Johnson but he’s got decent size and fills out his 6-foot-2 frame pretty well, at about 185 pounds.

“I was pretty good at blocking, I guess that’s why they put me at tight end,” Thompson said.

Thompson spent his freshman year as a tight end on junior varsity. He moved up to varsity in spring of his freshman year only to come back down to JV his sophomore year. This could have been a turning point in the wrong direction for Thompson. He was mired in the trenches blocking, and only a peripheral option in the Wildcat passing game.

According to Thompson, one day Coach David Mitchell approached him and said, “you are the future of this team.” This had a profound effect on the sophomore. By the time his junior year came around, he was ready to go.

“I felt like I had a responsibility to Coach and to the team after that,” said Thompson.

He came in his junior year — still playing tight end, mind you — and caught 20 balls for 227 yards at 11.35 yards per clip. He also scored two touchdowns that year.

Receptions were tough to come by last year as seniors Shaq Williams and Marvin Murray gobbled up 61 between the two of them. Now, they are gone and Coach Mitchell’s prophecy has come true. Thompson is no longer the future of the Wildcats, he is the present-day of the Wildcats.

Needless to say, he will move to the outside receiver position this year and take on most teams’ No. 1 cornerback.

He’s well-suited to succeed in that role. Thompson has played out of his mind during 7 on 7 competition this year. Wharton as a team has done exceptionally well in 7 on 7 competitions this year and Thompson is a big reason why.

If he can translate what he is doing in the summer into what he needs to do in the fall, you can expect big numbers from the senior Wildcat.