Willis Hope "Weegie" Thompson (born March 21, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played high school football for Midlothian High School in Richmond, Virginia. He was recruited by Florida State University as a quarterback.
| No. 87 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | March 21, 1961 Pensacola, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Midlothian (Midlothian, Virginia) | ||||||||
| College: | Florida St. | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1984 / round: 4 / pick: 108 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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College statistics
edit- 1981: 2 catches for 73 yards.[1]
- 1982: 8 catches for 136 yards and 2 TD.
- 1983: 31 catches for 502 yards and 3 TD.
Professional career
editThompson was selected in the fourth round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[2] Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott gushes when he talks about Thompson. In Thompson's rookie season, 1984, the Steelers were the only team to beat the 49ers. One reason they did was by assigning Thompson to block Lott on every play. "He blocked my butt all day -- and fair," Lott remembered. "Every play, he came after me. And I respect the hell out of Weegie Thompson to this day. He's one of the toughest guys I ever played against."[3]
NFL career statistics
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1984 | PIT | 16 | 7 | 17 | 291 | 17.1 | 59 | 3 |
| 1985 | PIT | 16 | 0 | 8 | 138 | 17.3 | 42 | 1 |
| 1986 | PIT | 16 | 4 | 17 | 191 | 11.2 | 20 | 5 |
| 1987 | PIT | 12 | 3 | 17 | 313 | 18.4 | 63 | 1 |
| 1988 | PIT | 16 | 11 | 16 | 370 | 23.1 | 50 | 1 |
| 1989 | PIT | 16 | 0 | 4 | 74 | 18.5 | 28 | 0 |
| 92 | 25 | 79 | 1,377 | 17.4 | 63 | 11 | ||
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1984 | PIT | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 |
| 1989 | PIT | 2 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | 0 |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 23 | 0 | ||
Personal
editThompson is called Weegie because his Father, Willis Sr., was nicknamed Weegie when his younger brother couldn't pronounce Willis. It came out Weegie. So, Weegie is Weegie Jr. (Willis).[4]
After his playing days, Thompson took a position with Chambers Development before moving on to work as a salesman with Waste Management in Midlothian, Virginia.
References
edit- ^ "Weegie Thompson College Stats".
- ^ "1984 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
- ^ Miller, Ira (July 26, 2000). "No. 1: The Vicious Gentleman". SFGate. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
- ^ Emert, Rich (September 9, 2003). "Where are they now? Weegie Thompson". PostGazette.com. Retrieved January 18, 2011.