Inside The Huskies

Thompson Won't Wait To See If He Has More UW Eligibility

The Husky defensive tackle is intent on entering the NFL Draft.
Dan Raley|
Anterio Thompson, Bryce Butler and Jacob Lane wait for the next play for the Huskies.
Anterio Thompson, Bryce Butler and Jacob Lane wait for the next play for the Huskies. | Dave Sizer photo

Anterio Thompson could have waited for the NCAA to determine whether junior-college football players -- of which he was once one -- should not have that experience count against their four-year school eligibility.

Over the weekend, however, the 6-foot-4, 310-pound University of Washington defensive tackle took a look at his future and decided to pursue the NFL Draft like he would a quarterback standing unprotected in the pocket.

All out.

After seeing the growth in his game since coming to Montlake, Thompson declared his intentions to make himself available for the April 23-25 draft, leaving any possible college eligibility sitting on the table should it come up.

"I see from every game, from my own eyes, me just getting better and better," Thompson said near the end of the season. "I'm just night and day better from before."

Thus Thompson will wrap up a college football career that consisted of a season each at Iowa Western Community College, the University of Iowa, Western Michigan and Washington.

For the Hawkeyes, he largely was a special-teamer who showed off his athleticism on a big body with a pair of punt blocks.

At Western Michigan, he became a 12-game starter for a bowl team.

At the UW, he felt his game was polished even more while appearing in all 13 games and starting twice. He finished with 30 tackles, which included 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, and he knocked down a pair of passes.

Asked about his future before the season ended, he said, "It's definitely been something that's been on my mind, but I'd like to focus on what going on with the team and to finish the season strong."

Thompson was one reason the Huskies were more stout up front defensively, permitting opposing teams just 100.1 of rushing yards per game.

Anterio Thompson emerges from a pile after tackling Rutgers' Antwan Raymond.
Anterio Thompson emerges from a pile after tackling Rutgers' Antwan Raymond. | Dave Sizer photo

Of his fellow UW defensive tackles, he described returning junior Elinneus Davis as "the brains," departing senior Bryce Butler as "the destructive guy" and Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei as "the pass-rushing specialist."

He credited them all with making him a better player and with each doing his part to the point that Thompson didn't feel the need he had to do more up front. He could just take care of the football business required of him.

"Being out there with those guys, you're just confident you're going to go out there and get the best out of it," Thompson said.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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