Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson inspires Houston Heights High School wide receiver Deshaun Thompson. Thompson likes the way Jackson plays and compares his own skill with that of Jackson.
Thompson got his start in football in fifth grade, playing flag football and that’s where the love for the game began.
“I think in the seventh grade when I started playing in middle school and this one game, I had a [big game]. I had three touchdowns and I think I had an interception. My coach was like you could go real far with this and [told me] just focus on my education. This is when it hit me, like this is what I want to do when I get older,” he said.
If you ask Deshaun Thompson what is the hardest thing he has had to overcome in his life, he will tell you it is the absence of a father figure and male figure in his life to teach him how to be a man.
Houston Heights head football coach Stephon Dixon Sr. will remember Thompson for his growth as a young man.
“I think just his overall growth as a player and as a man. I am not sure what went wrong at his other school, but we will guide him into being a more responsible young man. I think once he matures and grows….the sky is the limit for this young man,” Dixon Sr. said.
Deshaun Thompson transferred to Houston Heights High School/Houston, Texas in the summer of his sophomore year from Harker Heights High School/Harker Heights, Texas. Here’s what the Austin, Texas native had to say about the transfer.
“It wasn’t a good fit for me at all. I had friends that I know getting killed, friends that I know shooting people and mom was like ‘this is not the environment I want to go to.’ I don’t want [you] to go down the wrong path and end what I love doing. I just want to get an education and provide for my family. So my uncle has stayed down here [in Houston] and said it’s a real good environment.”
Thompson loves the Houston area because it’s where everybody comes to recruit young football talent like himself and has great educational opportunities, he said.
“I came down here and I fit in,” he added.
The six-foot-three, 190 pound, wide receiver doesn’t have any offers at the moment but said schools have told him they are waiting to offer him until after his junior season. He plans to make his commitment decision after his last game as a Houston Heights Bulldog in his senior year.
“Really, I think, I have high interest in the University of Houston, LSU and USC. When I went up there, the way the wide receiver coaches coach, it really clicked with me. They’ll go out of there way for their receivers, help them out and do special things.”
Off the field, he wants to be a lawyer so going to a university with a great law school is important. He also wants to go to a school with a great coaching staff that shows genuine interest in recruiting him to be a part of their program.
Thompson wants to have a breakout 2016 season this year and put up 1,500 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. The best parts of his game, he said, are his physicality, ability to get yards after the catch and the fact that he’s a red zone target.
“Well, I like to do everything perfectly so I need to work on my routes and make sure every little thing I do is perfect. I run about a 4.58 [40-yard dash] right now. I’m trying to get that down to at least a 4.4.”
Dixon Sr. believes that Thompson’s size, soft hands, and confidence in his playing ability will translate with him to the college level he has all the confidence that Thompson can be a Division I football player.
Here is what Thompson said he could bring to a university on and off the field.
“I say I would come with good leadership. Someone who would [go ot of] their way for one of my teammates. [I’ll make] real smart decisions on and off the field, be a full-out player and be a respectful characterized person.”
Deshaun Thompson is going to miss playing Houston football on Friday nights along with the coaching staff at Houston Heights.
“They treat me like I’m one of their own. [Also] the environment because when I first got there, when I first transferred, it’s like everyone wants to help you. I was nervous [on] the first day coming here. I didn’t know how they were going to react but most of the people helped me out, showed me around the school and just helped me.”