Michigan State University Athletics
Tyriq Thompson: Breaking Tradition by Building His Own Legacy
9/19/2019 3:08:00 PM | Football
Growing up in Detroit, Tyriq Thompson was surrounded by tradition. His father was a football legend at the local high school who went on to be an All-Big Ten selection at safety for Michigan and later drafted by the Indianapolis Colts.
But, at the age of seven, Thompson was playing every sport, but football.
"Well, it was more so like I was playing so many sports at the time that football was pretty much the only one I wasn't playing," Thompson said. "But, once I was old enough to actually start playing, my mom and dad asked me, 'Do you want to play football?' and I said, 'Yes' and they took me out to the field."
With football so ingrained in his family, one would think the pressure of his father's accomplishments would be too much for a young player to handle. The fifth-year senior linebacker said those pressures were nonexistent from the moment he stepped on the field.Â
"Nothing was ever forced on me," he said. "There was even one point where I was maybe 12 or 13, I stopped playing football all together. My dad, he was a little hurt, but he understood and was still supporting me by coming to every basketball game. That support was always there, and I never felt any pressure or his shadow looming over me or anything like that. He always wanted me to be the best version of myself, even better than him."
After playing high school football in Missouri for his first two years, Thompson enrolled in his father's old stomping grounds, Martin Luther King High School in Detroit. His father's legacy aside, the senior credits his time at King as a major transitional period for him.
"It was really big for my legacy as far as my family," Thompson said. "My dad, he was a blue chip, All-American coming out of high school and he was All-Big Ten coming out of UM. But it meant a lot to me going to King. It's a great program with great coaches, Coach (Terel) Patrick, Coach (Ty) Spencer and rest in peace, Coach (Dale) Harvel. My time there really helped mold me into the football player I was to be able to come here to MSU."
For Thompson, choosing MSU was all about the people.
"Here I just had a genuine feel that I wasn't being lied to or told something just to get me here," he said. "It didn't feel like the coaches were trying to sell Michigan State to me, they were just being themselves and that's what drew me in."
Breaking away from tradition and starting his own legacy at MSU didn't start as planned. In the spring of 2015, Thompson came to MSU as the only early enrollee for the Spartans, but his personal expectations of playing that coming season were delayed.
"Pretty much like every freshman, you expect yourself to come in and work your way up, play and your career takes off from there," the redshirt senior said. "But, for me coming in early, going through winter conditioning, spring ball, I just wasn't ready to play when season came around. I was on the scout team and I was a little disappointed at first, but it was more disappointment in myself because I wasn't moving along as fast as I would like to."
Playing on scout team during the 2015 season taught Thompson some valuable lessons and made him more appreciative of the opportunity to play.
"I wouldn't have it any other way at all," Thompson said. "Being on scout team and going against the Jack Allen's and the Jack Conklin's; those guys who were starters on offense, being able to go against them and just compete every day and have fun with it. That helped me build my game and it helped me have more of an appreciation for when I did actually get the chance to get in the game."
That year paid off in more ways than one. In the following three seasons Thompson was able to work his way up from primarily playing on special teams as a redshirt freshman to starting at Sam linebacker as a redshirt junior.
The 2018 season was definitely the breakout year for the redshirt senior. He produced a career-high 31 tackles, including two tackles for loss, one sack, two fumble recoveries and one interception in 12 games. Against his dad's alma mater, Thompson recorded a career-high of six stops and one fumble recovery. He even went on to win the MSU Danziger Award for the most outstanding Detroit player on the team.
But, for Thompson it was hard to pick a season highlight when the team was unable to accomplish their goals.
"I can't even really say, from a team standpoint, yeah guys made plays and I made plays, but as a whole just last year was disappointing overall so it's kind of hard to pick out any highlights," Thompson said. "It's a team game. Without one person everything falls apart. As one person moves, the team moves and as the team moves, each individual moves."
As a member of the team's Eagles leadership council, Thompson takes pride in having underclassmen looking up to him, like he did to Shilique Calhoun and the upperclassmen of his upbringing. In this leadership role, Thompson is ready to help the team achieve their goals this season.
"This year we're not trying to redeem ourselves from last year or anything like that," he said. "We're focused on 2019 being the best that we can possibly be, and our expectations are going to be high. But step one is our next game and just week by week, we're building, taking those stepping stones to get to our goal."
Thompson graduated in December 2018 with a degree in journalism and is now pursuing a second degree in film studies. As he tries to solidify his name in MSU football history during his final season, Thompson's true vision for his legacy would impact the youth of his hometown.
"My ultimate goal at the end of the day is to be able to go back to Detroit and open up my own school," Thompson said. "Also, just give kids like me who have the ability to write, who are leaders in their own right, a platform to do whatever they want to do. A lot of the times kids are put in a box… You have to be able to give kids a platform to do what they want to do in order for them to be confident and excel at it."
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But, at the age of seven, Thompson was playing every sport, but football.
"Well, it was more so like I was playing so many sports at the time that football was pretty much the only one I wasn't playing," Thompson said. "But, once I was old enough to actually start playing, my mom and dad asked me, 'Do you want to play football?' and I said, 'Yes' and they took me out to the field."
With football so ingrained in his family, one would think the pressure of his father's accomplishments would be too much for a young player to handle. The fifth-year senior linebacker said those pressures were nonexistent from the moment he stepped on the field.Â
"Nothing was ever forced on me," he said. "There was even one point where I was maybe 12 or 13, I stopped playing football all together. My dad, he was a little hurt, but he understood and was still supporting me by coming to every basketball game. That support was always there, and I never felt any pressure or his shadow looming over me or anything like that. He always wanted me to be the best version of myself, even better than him."
After playing high school football in Missouri for his first two years, Thompson enrolled in his father's old stomping grounds, Martin Luther King High School in Detroit. His father's legacy aside, the senior credits his time at King as a major transitional period for him.
"It was really big for my legacy as far as my family," Thompson said. "My dad, he was a blue chip, All-American coming out of high school and he was All-Big Ten coming out of UM. But it meant a lot to me going to King. It's a great program with great coaches, Coach (Terel) Patrick, Coach (Ty) Spencer and rest in peace, Coach (Dale) Harvel. My time there really helped mold me into the football player I was to be able to come here to MSU."
For Thompson, choosing MSU was all about the people.
"Here I just had a genuine feel that I wasn't being lied to or told something just to get me here," he said. "It didn't feel like the coaches were trying to sell Michigan State to me, they were just being themselves and that's what drew me in."
Breaking away from tradition and starting his own legacy at MSU didn't start as planned. In the spring of 2015, Thompson came to MSU as the only early enrollee for the Spartans, but his personal expectations of playing that coming season were delayed.
"Pretty much like every freshman, you expect yourself to come in and work your way up, play and your career takes off from there," the redshirt senior said. "But, for me coming in early, going through winter conditioning, spring ball, I just wasn't ready to play when season came around. I was on the scout team and I was a little disappointed at first, but it was more disappointment in myself because I wasn't moving along as fast as I would like to."
Playing on scout team during the 2015 season taught Thompson some valuable lessons and made him more appreciative of the opportunity to play.
"I wouldn't have it any other way at all," Thompson said. "Being on scout team and going against the Jack Allen's and the Jack Conklin's; those guys who were starters on offense, being able to go against them and just compete every day and have fun with it. That helped me build my game and it helped me have more of an appreciation for when I did actually get the chance to get in the game."
That year paid off in more ways than one. In the following three seasons Thompson was able to work his way up from primarily playing on special teams as a redshirt freshman to starting at Sam linebacker as a redshirt junior.
The 2018 season was definitely the breakout year for the redshirt senior. He produced a career-high 31 tackles, including two tackles for loss, one sack, two fumble recoveries and one interception in 12 games. Against his dad's alma mater, Thompson recorded a career-high of six stops and one fumble recovery. He even went on to win the MSU Danziger Award for the most outstanding Detroit player on the team.
But, for Thompson it was hard to pick a season highlight when the team was unable to accomplish their goals.
"I can't even really say, from a team standpoint, yeah guys made plays and I made plays, but as a whole just last year was disappointing overall so it's kind of hard to pick out any highlights," Thompson said. "It's a team game. Without one person everything falls apart. As one person moves, the team moves and as the team moves, each individual moves."
As a member of the team's Eagles leadership council, Thompson takes pride in having underclassmen looking up to him, like he did to Shilique Calhoun and the upperclassmen of his upbringing. In this leadership role, Thompson is ready to help the team achieve their goals this season.
"This year we're not trying to redeem ourselves from last year or anything like that," he said. "We're focused on 2019 being the best that we can possibly be, and our expectations are going to be high. But step one is our next game and just week by week, we're building, taking those stepping stones to get to our goal."
Thompson graduated in December 2018 with a degree in journalism and is now pursuing a second degree in film studies. As he tries to solidify his name in MSU football history during his final season, Thompson's true vision for his legacy would impact the youth of his hometown.
"My ultimate goal at the end of the day is to be able to go back to Detroit and open up my own school," Thompson said. "Also, just give kids like me who have the ability to write, who are leaders in their own right, a platform to do whatever they want to do. A lot of the times kids are put in a box… You have to be able to give kids a platform to do what they want to do in order for them to be confident and excel at it."
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