The NFL Draft Was Moment of Truth for Anterio Thompson

The former Husky defensive tackle had an emotional, unfiltered call with his new team.

Anterio Thompson at Husky Pro Day. | Dan Raley

During the recently completed NFL Draft, the phone conversations revealed between the teams and the players informing the latter of their pro football destinations were tearful, heartfelt and overly emotional, as revealing as anything that took place over three days.

Former University of Washington defensive tackle Anterio Thompson was no exception when the moment of truth came on Saturday, when he went to the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round with the 208th overall pick.

He was somewhat in shock, unintentionally funny, honest to a tee.

When Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham called, Thompson's immediate reaction was a classic, used later in a team social media posting.

"Are you for real?!" Thompson blurted out.

"Yeah, we're for real," Cunningham responded, laughing as he handed the phone to Atlanta coach Kevin Stefanski. "You ready? You ready to go?"

"Are you for real?!"

We're for real, @ThompsonAnterio 😂 pic.twitter.com/U8OXc90iJ3

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) April 26, 2026

The Thompson-Stefanski back and forth went like this.

"You're a Falcon, dude," the coach said.

"No bro, this can't be real," Thompson responded.

"Pretty cool, right?" Stefanski said.

"No, this is crazy," the former UW defensive tackle said unfiltered.

Anterio Thompson grips a football during spring ball. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Stefanski handed the phone over to owner Josh Blank, son of Arthur Blank, who had led the franchise for decades. .

"We're excited to have you down here in Atlanta," Blank said. "We're really looking forward to it."

"I appreciate it," Thompson said as his moment of long-distance truth continued. "I ain't gonna lie, I'm shaking right now."

The phone next went from Blank to Atlanta defensive-line coach Kevin Ollie, who played his college ball at Ball State. He spent the 2010 season as a freshman teammate to senior Michael Switzer, now the UW offensive-line coach.

Anterio Thompson (54), Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei (11) and Elinneus Davis (90) bring down Rutgers' Antwan Raymond. | Dave Sizer photo

Both Ollie and Switzer were highly decorated players while in the MAC, which is where Thompson played in 2024, and started 12 games for Western Michigan before coming to Montlake.

Ollie did almost all of the talking here, reminding them of their recent conversation and reiterating that he had lobbied for him as Thompson continued to sit in disbelief.

"You told me, man, you told me," Thompson said.

Welcome to the 404, @ThompsonAnterio! pic.twitter.com/vq9tgn3WCs

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) April 25, 2026

Next on the phone was Jeff Ulbrich, who replaced former Husky head coach Jimmy Lake as the Falcons' defensive coordinator when Lake was fired at the end of the 2024 season. The man known as Coach Brick reminded Thompson of their recent Facetime call.

"This is going to be an amazing journey," Ulbrich said. "It's going to be amazing for us and it's going to be amazing for you ."

"I appreciate you saying that," Thompson said. "I'm shaking, like I don't even know what to say. Got nothing to say. I'm shaking."

Finally, the phone was handed to Matt Ryan, the former Falcons quarterback and now very visible team president. It was almost too much for the former Husky defensive tackle to bear.

"Matt Ryan, oh my god," Thompson said, not holding back.