Football legend Jack Thompson visits South to Talk Education
When football great Jack Thompson stopped by South Seattle Community College on Feb. 25 to talk with our students about his life and the lessons learned along the way, no one would have been surprised if the entire hour was spent recalling his many quarterback accolades.
Instead, Thompson – who was recently inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame - was far more interested in sharing the importance of education in an interview and Q&A session held at South's Olympic Hall Theater. AANAPISI (Asian-American Native-American Pacific-Islander) member and South student Sela Tuelilo expertly hosted the event and interviewed Thompson.
Thompson was born in American Samoa in 1956. His family emigrated to White Center (just south of our campus), WA in 1958. From as far back as he could remember, Thompson said his dad preached the importance of getting an education in America.
"He instilled in all of his kids that we didn't come here to mess around," said Thompson. "He made the sacrifice he did to give his kids a shot at a great education. That's why he left the island; that's why my mom left the island."
While he knew education was paramount, Thompson's natural ability as a football player also emerged and he became the star quarterback for Evergreen High School. Courted by both University of Washington and Washington State, Thompson eventually chose the Cougars. He arrived in 1974, and over the next four years he pummeled nearly every quarterbacking record on the WSU and Pac-10 books.
Thompson was selected third overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft, and went on to play six years in the top league.
A successful career by any measure, Thompson always knew his playing days would eventually come to an end. As his father said, "They can take away your arms; they can take away your legs: but they can never take away what you learn up here," (pointing to the head).
Thompson told the story of walking into the WSU locker room as a freshman and coming upon a most peculiar sight: One of the toughest, meanest members of his team ("A guy you didn't mess with or make eye contact with") was sitting in the corner crying. He walked over to his downtrodden teammate and asked what was wrong.
"You didn't hear?" his teammate asked. "I didn't get drafted."
"The first thing that came to mind for me, and this came from my dad, was, 'Well, what about your degree? You had four years of free education, what about your education?'" Thompson asked.
"What degree?" his teammate replied. "I didn't come here for a degree."
"And it hit me: That's what my dad was talking about," Thompson told the South crowd. "My dad's proudest moment wasn't this or that (referring to his football achievements). When I got my degree, lights out man, lights out. That was the accomplishment he was most proud of was to give us a shot at a good education."
Today, long after throwing his last competitive football, Jack Thompson dominates in the banking field as a Vice President for Sterling Bank.
It appears his father's dedication to education has certainly paid off.