COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: Day 32 Anthony Thompson
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 204 pounds
Hometown: Terre Haute, Indiana (Terre Haute North Vigo High School)
Class/Position: Legend / Running Back
NIL Store: N/A
Continuing on with our annual Countdown to Kickoff, we move forward to day 32, where we highlight one of the greatest players to ever put on the Crimson and Cream jersey: Anthony Thompson.
Born and raised in Indiana, Anthony Thompson stayed at home with his college commitment and began his career in Bloomington in 1986. Now, Thompson’s senior year stats in high school were phenomenal (1,547 rushing yards, 7.4 YPC, and 17 TDs per the Indiana Football Hall of Fame), but no one could have anticipated the heights he reached at IU over his four year career. In total, Thompson rushed for 4,965 yards, 4.6 YPC, and 64 TDs while also tallying 713 receiving yards, 7.6 YPC, and 1 TD.
His career at Indiana was perfectly capped off with a senior season to remember, which has gone down as one of the best single seasons an Indiana player has ever put together. In 1989, Thompson gathered 1,994 total scrimmage yards and recorded 25 total TDs, leading the FBS in nearly all of these categories. He just barely missed winning the Heisman Trophy, finishing second to Andre Ware by 70 points, won the Maxwell Award (and remains IU’s only Maxwell Award winner), was a unanimous All-American selection and joined Emmitt Smith as the only two running backs on the All-American team, and also won the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award (again being IU’s only recipient ever of this award). Talk about a dream season.
Thompson was then drafted by the Phoenix (now Arizona) Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1990 NFL Draft. He played two and a half years in Phoenix before moving to the Los Angeles Rams (before the Rams left for St. Louis, and then moved back to L.A.). He tallied 905 total scrimmage yards with 6 TDs in his NFL career before retiring in 1992.
Now, Anthony Thompson is the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development for Indiana University. He is also a pastor at Lighthouse Community Church in Bloomington, Indiana. He earned inductions into the National College Football Hall of Fame and the IU Athletics Hall of Fame. Additionally, the Tony Dungy-Anthony Thompson Humanitarian Award was co-named in his honor (credit Indiana Football Hall of Fame – IFCA IFHOF – for this info). Anthony Thompson’s number (32) is also the only retired number in program history.
Check out this video put together by the Big Ten Network of the legend himself and enjoy.
The Hoosier Huddle Countdown to Kickoff continues each and every day so be sure to check back often for the latest profile piece!