As a defensive lineman, Jordan Thompson doesn’t want to be in the spotlight on the football field. He just wants to do the hard work to help his team win games.
Since graduating from Northwestern University five years ago, Thompson has been working far from the limelight in professional football, playing for the spring football league of the moment.
Sunday, Thompson and his teammates will be in the spotlight when they play for the championship of the new United Football League.
Thompson and the Birmingham Stallions will play the San Antonio Brahmas in the championship game 5 p.m. Sunday at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. The game will be broadcast live on the FOX Network.
The United Football League is in its first year as a merger of the United States Football League and the XFL, two leagues that had rebooted their identities in the past couple of years.
Thompson had played in both leagues after spending time with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent.
“Just a lot of excitement,” Thompson said. “Being one of the guys who were a part of the team in the USFL days is just surreal. Seeing the progress we’ve made, the growth the guys and the coaches have made over the past three years. I’m excited and I’m ready to rock.”
Thompson’s Birmingham Stallions are 10-1 this season after winning the USFL title the previous two years. San Antonio handed the Stallions their only loss this season, winning 18-9 in San Antonio.
“They’re a good team, well-coached,” Thompson said. “They play hard. They run the ball well. I’m excited for our front seven to match up with those guys and really show what we can do, play our best kind of ball.”
Thompson, 6-3, 290 pounds, starts as a defensive tackle for the Stallions. He has 25 tackles this year, six for loss with four sacks. He also has two pass breakups and a forced fumble for the Stallions, who allow 18 points per game.
The defense had to make plays in a win over Michigan in the previous round. Birmingham won 31-18 to advance to this weekend’s championship game after winning two close games with the Panthers during the season.
Birmingham trailed 18-3 in the first half as its offense struggled with turnovers. The defense held Michigan to field-goal attempts on five drives to keep the team in the game, then shut out the Panthers the rest of the way. Birmingham forced four turnovers in the game.
“It’s always hard playing a team twice, and when you play a team three times, it’s even that much harder,” Thompson said. “That’s why football is the greatest team game. There are games when the offense puts up 20, 30 points and there are times when the defense has to stand up. We have each other’s backs.”
As an interior defensive lineman, Thompson’s job is not to rack up statistics, but engage blockers, do the work in the trenches and free space for other defenders to make plays.
“It’s a passion,” Thompson said. “If you love ball, you know about it. Everyone loves quarterback, running back, cornerback. To be a d-lineman you really have to have a certain level of grit and toughness to play. To get my hands in the dirt and dominate is why I love playing defensive line.”
It is something he has done his entire football career.
At Northwestern, he made 35 consecutive starts on the line, helping the Wildcats go 19-8 and win two bowl games his final two seasons. His senior year, 2018, he was a key contributor on a rushing defense that ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 26th in the nation allowing 129.6 yards per game. Northwestern reached the Big Ten conference championship game and then beat Utah in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.
As a junior in 2017, he started all 13 games, helping Northwestern to a 10-3 record and a win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl in Nashville.
Now he’s manning the trenches in pro football.
“Anyone who plays spring football, especially the UFL, you have to love it,” he said. “Football is hard game to play, no matter if you’re in a spring league, the UFL or the NFL. Every team has guys who really love and care about the game and has aspirations to play in the league or keep playing ball. Being around guys like that really makes it easy.”
Thompson was a key player for La Salle’s 2014 Division II state championship team, the first in program history. He posted 67 tackles, including 6.5 sacks for a team that was led in rushing by Thompson’s future Northwestern teammate, Jeremy Larkin.
Thompson was Ohio Division II defensive player of the year that season.
“The first thing is the guys on the team,” Thompson said. “Just the camaraderie that we built on that state championship team was unmatched. The best part of that is I don’t always think about just that one year, but the work we put in over those four years. I think about those guys often.”