Meet Fred Thompson
April 14, 2011
Corvallis, Ore. -
For osubeavers.com
A California native, 2009 Cream of the Crop recipient, athlete of the year, first team All-City and NorCal Region best defensive tackle, Fred Thompson anxiously waited for the time to come when he would finally become a part of Beaver Nation. As a greyshirt freshman, Thompson took some time off school before arriving this winter. It was a time where he says made him, “… want to come out and make a statement that I was worth the wait.”
Standing at 6’4” tall and weighing in at 318 pounds, he comes to OSU more eager than ever for a chance to prove himself. As a scholarship athlete, Thompson knows what is expected of him and he is more than willing to show what he has to offer.
“It’s big and it means everything to me. I know for sure if I didn’t have a scholarship I wouldn’t be at a major school just for the simple fact that I can’t afford college.”
I may change my major to New Media, once I looked into it more and realized what it was all about.”
“It was stressful, but fun at the same time. I always had recruiters pulling me out of class, which was different. It makes you feel good to know that you’re wanted by so many people.”
“I kind of knew all along, but I still played my cards. When Oregon State offered me I had a feeling I’d like to come here, but I didn’t want to pull the trigger too soon. So I was sitting back and weighing my options, waiting to see what I thought of the campus. When I visited I knew it was going to be a good fit.”
“For my situation of being greyshirted, I was out of school for a term. It’s a wake up call for getting back into the transition of school with the workouts and football. When it was time for me to get ready for classes, I knew I needed to step up and I quickly realized it was a big step.”
“I just want to come out and make a statement that I was worth the wait. I want to let the coaches know that I am what they want and I want to have a good spring. I want to get a spot up on that Jumbotron (Dam Cam).”
“I am a Bengals fan; I don’t know why. I lived in Oakland and I am from Richmond, California so people are always like, `how are you a fan of the Bengals?’ But when I was younger and watching one of their games, the first thing that caught my eye was the uniform. This was even before football was in my life; I just liked how they looked. But once I was excited about it, I started picking up on the rest and learning the game of football. I have stuck with the Bengals ever since.”
“There aren’t certain songs that I have to listen to, but I know when game-day is here, I just know what song will put me in my zone and in my game mode. Sometimes it’s the weirdest songs. In high school, one of my teammates had his iPod on shuffle; this was when Single Ladies by Beyonce came out. He was making a joke of it then changed it, but then I found it and was listening to it -- ever since then, that was always a good one to listen to that I found funny.”
“I’m a goofball, so I am always dancing. I can dance really well. I can juggle. I am a music guy, but I like making beats. Two of my teammates and I actually recorded a song last year. I just do it for fun when I have spare time -- I really enjoy doing it.”
“ESPN. I know that they always play the same thing over and over again, even if it’s the same top 10 highlights, I always find myself watching it. Besides that, The Game on BET.”
“I actually have quite a few that I’ve picked up and taken with me. I have this one from my brother, ‘shoot for the stars and land on the clouds’ -- always push through the expectations. I got this from a coach, ‘this God didn’t put me here to be average.’ There are always ones that stick out.”
“Where I am from in the Bay Area they made a list of the best high school football players; the list was about 25 people. I actually was number two on that list, right behind a quarterback. So, then there was a lot of talk of how good that was, it was a fun thing to be a part of. Most of the guys on that list ended up going to D1 schools and two of my teammates were on the list, including my friend Ryan Murphy.”
“A lot of excitement! Even when I came up for the USC game, I was on the sideline during the pre-game and some music was on for the team to warm up and we were all dancing around and getting the fans into it. I don’t actually know these guys, but the ones with the orange spandex suites they were always egging me on to dance. I went to the Stanford game, a lot of fans traveled. As I was walking down into the OSU section, those guys were there again, wanting me to sit with them and a bunch of other people had recognized me, and they were yelling and clapping.”
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