Getting the Call Was 100 Times Better Than Expected
May 03, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
The image will accompany Skylar Thompson's NFL Draft Day experience forever and ever, how he concealed his face with his left hand and held his cellphone with his right. He wore a plain white hoodie, the hood pulled hard over his head. The legs that nearly four months to the day stood atop the victor's podium at the 2021 TaxAct Texas Bowl shifted upon the tile floor of his parent's home in Independence, Missouri. Pictures of his past surrounded him neatly in assorted vertical and horizontal frames.
A rack of football jerseys — red, black, white and purple — from Fort Osage High School and Kansas State hung to his right, the carefree youth, and college days drawn to a close. His cellphone rang just before 5:20 p.m. Saturday, the moment he dreamed of since fourth grade springing to fruition.
The past few months had drawn on and on since the NFL Combine, when he zipped 50-yard passes on a dime, and Saturday seemed like it would never end, but his heartbeat jumped and fluttered like a butterfly hopping from daylily to daylily before everything stopped in an instant, except for his anxious feet. A deep voice from the 305 area code, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, caused Thompson pause, in his hoodie, his hand covering his face, the moment the 25-year-old would never forget in his entire life, suddenly unfurling in a flurry.
Grier: It's Chris Grier with the Dolphins.
Thompson: Awesome, awesome, nice to meet you.
Grier: Good. How's everything?
Thompson: It's going good. It's been good. It's been anxious times.
Grier: We're going to make you a Miami Dolphin, OK?
Thompson: Oh my gosh. Thanks so much.
Grier: Well, hey, appreciate how you play, and carry yourself, and your leadership ability. We're fired up for you and think you'll be a great fit.
The next voice on the phone was that of Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.
McDaniel: Skylar.
Thompson: Thank you so much.
McDaniel: Hey, no, thank you. We're excited to not give you the option. You're coming to Miami, dude.
Thompson: Yes sir.
McDaniel: It's a real moment that you definitely deserve. We're all excited to get started. Congratulations, and you know what, let's get to work.
Thompson: Yes sir. Let's do it.
Then at 5:22 p.m. it was formally announced on TV: With the 247th overall pick — the 26th pick in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft — the Miami Dolphins selected Skylar Thompson, quarterback, Kansas State University.
"It was one of the best moments of my life," Thompson recalled during a phone interview Monday night. "It literally paralyzed me hearing it. I literally collapsed and bent over because — I still can't put it into words. My whole life, I've dreamed of getting that call and what that moment would feel like and what it'd look like, all those things. I've dreamed it, especially the past couple months, visualizing what it'd be like.
"It was 100 times better than what I expected."
Here's what Saturday's draft image didn't show. It didn't show that this was one of the busiest moments in Thompson's life. Literally, he was texting with five or six other NFL teams, who were interested in pursuing an undrafted free-agent deal with Thompson, as the 305 area code swept across Thompson's phone. Saturday's image didn't reveal that Thompson initially expected the Dolphins had phoned him to offer him an undrafted free-agent deal like the others. He had mentally accepted that he would go undrafted. He had only spoken with the Dolphins once over the draft process, yet the coaches later made it very clear that they wouldn't have allowed Thompson to go undrafted, because they wanted him that badly. No, Saturday's draft image didn't show any of that, yet the lasting image proved as powerful as the rest of the story.
He'll share a quarterback room with starter Tua Tagovailoa and backup Teddy Bridgewater.
"This whole process, I just wanted to go somewhere where I'd be given a chance and where the coaches would believe in me, even if it was just the slightest amount of belief," Thompson said. "That's all I could ever ask for. I got it. I got an opportunity. I'm in a great situation getting to share the quarterback room with Tua and Teddy Bridgewater, two great players and humans. I'm just so excited to get there and to get to work.
"One thing Coach McDaniel said is that their quarterback room is such a great room with two guys who are really trying to get better and just focusing on the process. There are no egos there or anything. Everybody is there for the right reason, for the team, and wants to win. I couldn't ask for a better situation."
Thompson returned home to Independence, Missouri at 2 a.m. Monday. He's still on the go, that post-draft adrenaline still fueling a mind that no doubt will start digesting the Dolphins playbook this week.
"I have a million things going on right now and I don't know my right from my left," Thompson said. "I tell you what, I just spoke with my dad, and everybody is taking a deep breath. I can't even put into words what the past 48 hours have been like. I'm so excited.
"It was surreal. It's crazy. It's just now really starting to hit me, what just happened, you know? It was definitely surreal getting off the plane in Miami and telling myself, 'This is going to be my home.'"
Thompson was the fourth and final pick by the Dolphins, who selected Georgia inside linebacker Channing Tindall (third round), Texas Tech wide receiver Erik Ezukanma (fourth) and California outside linebacker Cameron Goode (seventh).
"For me to be one of their four draft picks was awesome," he said. "That's all I could ever want."
He became the first K-State quarterback selected in an NFL Draft since Josh Freeman in 2009. He became the third-consecutive Klieman quarterback to be drafted in the NFL, joining Carson Wentz and Easton Stick, both from North Dakota State.
No quarterback in K-State history endured or enjoyed a career quite like Thompson, the 6-foot-2, 217-pounder with an indomitable will to win, who will go down as one of the most storied signal-callers to ever wear the Powercat. Why, you'll remember that he started out his career as a third-string quarterback and then led the Wildcats to a victory at No. 10 Oklahoma State. Then he was a part of a two-quarterback system. Then Bill Snyder retired and Klieman became head coach. Then Thompson helped beat No. 5 Oklahoma. Then he missed almost the entire 2020 season with a shoulder injury. Then the pandemic. Then he was granted a sixth year. Then the comeback. Then the right knee injury. Then another comeback. Then the riveting finale.
Thompson finished his K-State career ranked top 10 in 15 different game, season and career statistical categories. He completed 162 of 233 (69.5%) passes for 2,113 yards and 12 touchdowns and four interceptions capped with his Texas Bowl MVP performance in which he went 21 of 28 for 259 yards and three touchdowns against LSU. During his career, he threw for 7,124 yards and 42 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and rushed for 1,087 yards and 26 scores on the ground. He finished his career as the only player in school history with 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a career. His 24 career wins and 40 starts were most by a K-State quarterback since at least 1990.
"I hope that I set an example of quarterback play at K-State and that there's great opportunities as a recruit to go to K-State and get drafted," Thompson said. "You look at Coach Klieman's resume and Carson Wentz, Easton Stick and me, his last three quarterbacks have been drafted. If you're a high school quarterback recruit looking to go somewhere, K-State should be high up there. It's not words or talk, it's proof.
"It's in the ground there that we have good quarterback play and Coach Klieman knows how to develop quarterbacks and Coach Klein is one of the best quarterback coaches in the country. I can't wait to see what he does as offensive coordinator."
Thompson showed off his skills at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis in early March. He was the first K-State quarterback invited to the NFL Combine since Klein in 2013. Throughout the process, Thompson was determined to take advantage of every opportunity, saying, "If I didn't experience or learn this or that at K-State, I wouldn't be as prepared as I am."
He believed that the Wildcats' pro-style system would transfer well into the NFL and credited the K-State program for providing the structure and discipline necessary to maximize each moment in preparation. He called the NFL Combine a "non-stop, 100-mile-per-hour start-to-finish evaluation process," with medical and orthopedic exams and meetings and interviews with NFL personnel.
The Dolphins showed their faith in Thompson.
Now he awaits Dolphins rookie camp on May 11.
"My first goal is to make the roster," he said. "I just don't think people understand how hard that is to do in the NFL. Going into this first year, that's what it is, it's for me to get on the active roster and to just be a sponge and really have a year to develop and learn and get my feet underneath me and just be ready for my opportunity, whenever that time comes, and I have no idea, I don't have any control over any of that, and the only thing I can control is just getting better every single day and learning and developing and just finding ways to help the team win.
"That's always been my thought process and focus, and that's always led me in the right direction. That's always been my process to working and maneuvering every day, and when I've done that things just seem to fall into place. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready. That's going to be my focus this whole time is just staying ready and being the best person and player I can be every single day. Everything else will take care of itself from there. My first goal is to make the 53-man roster and be a viable asset to the team and to make the team better and help the team win with whatever that might look like."
Nothing will replace the look Thompson shot his father for the briefest of moments when he announced that he was a Dolphin. Nothing will replace the image of Thompson, his hoodie drawn around his head, covering his face with his cellphone pressed to his ear, trying to digest the enormity of the moment more than a decade in the making. He'll remember the cheers and thunderous clapping and the hugs and how everything seemed to blur together, and he still reminds himself that this is real — "It's real, it's real now, and this is just the beginning!" he said into the phone Monday night, still caught in the haze of post-draft euphoria. There are plenty of moments to remember and to treasure along the way, but they all fall short of one lasting image.
Nothing will ever quite look like Skylar Thompson did Saturday when he received the call.
The image will accompany Skylar Thompson's NFL Draft Day experience forever and ever, how he concealed his face with his left hand and held his cellphone with his right. He wore a plain white hoodie, the hood pulled hard over his head. The legs that nearly four months to the day stood atop the victor's podium at the 2021 TaxAct Texas Bowl shifted upon the tile floor of his parent's home in Independence, Missouri. Pictures of his past surrounded him neatly in assorted vertical and horizontal frames.
A rack of football jerseys — red, black, white and purple — from Fort Osage High School and Kansas State hung to his right, the carefree youth, and college days drawn to a close. His cellphone rang just before 5:20 p.m. Saturday, the moment he dreamed of since fourth grade springing to fruition.
The past few months had drawn on and on since the NFL Combine, when he zipped 50-yard passes on a dime, and Saturday seemed like it would never end, but his heartbeat jumped and fluttered like a butterfly hopping from daylily to daylily before everything stopped in an instant, except for his anxious feet. A deep voice from the 305 area code, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, caused Thompson pause, in his hoodie, his hand covering his face, the moment the 25-year-old would never forget in his entire life, suddenly unfurling in a flurry.
Grier: It's Chris Grier with the Dolphins.
Thompson: Awesome, awesome, nice to meet you.
Grier: Good. How's everything?
Thompson: It's going good. It's been good. It's been anxious times.
Grier: We're going to make you a Miami Dolphin, OK?
Thompson: Oh my gosh. Thanks so much.
Grier: Well, hey, appreciate how you play, and carry yourself, and your leadership ability. We're fired up for you and think you'll be a great fit.
Thompson bent over like a weary runner after a marathon, his hand still clutched against his face and the phone still pressed to his ear, as he listed to Grier's fateful words, and gatherers at his special day — all his family and friends attended, along with K-State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Collin Klein, and his wife, Shalin — began clapping. Thompson arose, told his father, Brad, "I'm going to the Dolphins," and everybody cheered, and Thompson turned around and stepped outside. He simply needed a quiet moment to talk.The 📞 every football player dreams of.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) May 1, 2022
Here's @skylarjthompson's reaction!#NFLDraft x @Verizon pic.twitter.com/0em4UMIS7w
The next voice on the phone was that of Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.
McDaniel: Skylar.
Thompson: Thank you so much.
McDaniel: Hey, no, thank you. We're excited to not give you the option. You're coming to Miami, dude.
Thompson: Yes sir.
McDaniel: It's a real moment that you definitely deserve. We're all excited to get started. Congratulations, and you know what, let's get to work.
Thompson: Yes sir. Let's do it.
Then at 5:22 p.m. it was formally announced on TV: With the 247th overall pick — the 26th pick in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft — the Miami Dolphins selected Skylar Thompson, quarterback, Kansas State University.
"It was one of the best moments of my life," Thompson recalled during a phone interview Monday night. "It literally paralyzed me hearing it. I literally collapsed and bent over because — I still can't put it into words. My whole life, I've dreamed of getting that call and what that moment would feel like and what it'd look like, all those things. I've dreamed it, especially the past couple months, visualizing what it'd be like.
"It was 100 times better than what I expected."
Here's what Saturday's draft image didn't show. It didn't show that this was one of the busiest moments in Thompson's life. Literally, he was texting with five or six other NFL teams, who were interested in pursuing an undrafted free-agent deal with Thompson, as the 305 area code swept across Thompson's phone. Saturday's image didn't reveal that Thompson initially expected the Dolphins had phoned him to offer him an undrafted free-agent deal like the others. He had mentally accepted that he would go undrafted. He had only spoken with the Dolphins once over the draft process, yet the coaches later made it very clear that they wouldn't have allowed Thompson to go undrafted, because they wanted him that badly. No, Saturday's draft image didn't show any of that, yet the lasting image proved as powerful as the rest of the story.
Thompson flew to Miami on Sunday morning. He met with Miami offensive coordinator Frank Smith and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell. They checked-in Thompson, handed him the iPad with the offensive playbook, took turns showing him some basic offensive installation, all "pretty laid back." Thompson did his homework. He learned that Bevell had worked with Bret Favre, Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson. Thompson called McDaniel "one of the best football minds in the entire world."Mood: 😁
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) May 1, 2022
🤳 @skylarjthompson pic.twitter.com/s4q0ryqSQE
He'll share a quarterback room with starter Tua Tagovailoa and backup Teddy Bridgewater.
"This whole process, I just wanted to go somewhere where I'd be given a chance and where the coaches would believe in me, even if it was just the slightest amount of belief," Thompson said. "That's all I could ever ask for. I got it. I got an opportunity. I'm in a great situation getting to share the quarterback room with Tua and Teddy Bridgewater, two great players and humans. I'm just so excited to get there and to get to work.
"One thing Coach McDaniel said is that their quarterback room is such a great room with two guys who are really trying to get better and just focusing on the process. There are no egos there or anything. Everybody is there for the right reason, for the team, and wants to win. I couldn't ask for a better situation."
Thompson returned home to Independence, Missouri at 2 a.m. Monday. He's still on the go, that post-draft adrenaline still fueling a mind that no doubt will start digesting the Dolphins playbook this week.
"I have a million things going on right now and I don't know my right from my left," Thompson said. "I tell you what, I just spoke with my dad, and everybody is taking a deep breath. I can't even put into words what the past 48 hours have been like. I'm so excited.
"It was surreal. It's crazy. It's just now really starting to hit me, what just happened, you know? It was definitely surreal getting off the plane in Miami and telling myself, 'This is going to be my home.'"
He was the eighth quarterback selected in the draft and second of three quarterbacks taken in the seventh round, as South Dakota's Chris Oladokun went to the Steelers with pick No. 241, followed by Thompson at No. 247, and Iowa State's Brock Purdy went to the 49ers at No. 262.FINS UP @skylarjthompson is headed to the @MiamiDolphins #KStateFB | #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/DUHrckucqy
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) April 30, 2022
Thompson was the fourth and final pick by the Dolphins, who selected Georgia inside linebacker Channing Tindall (third round), Texas Tech wide receiver Erik Ezukanma (fourth) and California outside linebacker Cameron Goode (seventh).
"For me to be one of their four draft picks was awesome," he said. "That's all I could ever want."
He became the first K-State quarterback selected in an NFL Draft since Josh Freeman in 2009. He became the third-consecutive Klieman quarterback to be drafted in the NFL, joining Carson Wentz and Easton Stick, both from North Dakota State.
No quarterback in K-State history endured or enjoyed a career quite like Thompson, the 6-foot-2, 217-pounder with an indomitable will to win, who will go down as one of the most storied signal-callers to ever wear the Powercat. Why, you'll remember that he started out his career as a third-string quarterback and then led the Wildcats to a victory at No. 10 Oklahoma State. Then he was a part of a two-quarterback system. Then Bill Snyder retired and Klieman became head coach. Then Thompson helped beat No. 5 Oklahoma. Then he missed almost the entire 2020 season with a shoulder injury. Then the pandemic. Then he was granted a sixth year. Then the comeback. Then the right knee injury. Then another comeback. Then the riveting finale.
Thompson finished his K-State career ranked top 10 in 15 different game, season and career statistical categories. He completed 162 of 233 (69.5%) passes for 2,113 yards and 12 touchdowns and four interceptions capped with his Texas Bowl MVP performance in which he went 21 of 28 for 259 yards and three touchdowns against LSU. During his career, he threw for 7,124 yards and 42 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and rushed for 1,087 yards and 26 scores on the ground. He finished his career as the only player in school history with 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a career. His 24 career wins and 40 starts were most by a K-State quarterback since at least 1990.
"I hope that I set an example of quarterback play at K-State and that there's great opportunities as a recruit to go to K-State and get drafted," Thompson said. "You look at Coach Klieman's resume and Carson Wentz, Easton Stick and me, his last three quarterbacks have been drafted. If you're a high school quarterback recruit looking to go somewhere, K-State should be high up there. It's not words or talk, it's proof.
"It's in the ground there that we have good quarterback play and Coach Klieman knows how to develop quarterbacks and Coach Klein is one of the best quarterback coaches in the country. I can't wait to see what he does as offensive coordinator."
Thompson showed off his skills at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis in early March. He was the first K-State quarterback invited to the NFL Combine since Klein in 2013. Throughout the process, Thompson was determined to take advantage of every opportunity, saying, "If I didn't experience or learn this or that at K-State, I wouldn't be as prepared as I am."
He believed that the Wildcats' pro-style system would transfer well into the NFL and credited the K-State program for providing the structure and discipline necessary to maximize each moment in preparation. He called the NFL Combine a "non-stop, 100-mile-per-hour start-to-finish evaluation process," with medical and orthopedic exams and meetings and interviews with NFL personnel.
The Dolphins showed their faith in Thompson.
Now he awaits Dolphins rookie camp on May 11.
"My first goal is to make the roster," he said. "I just don't think people understand how hard that is to do in the NFL. Going into this first year, that's what it is, it's for me to get on the active roster and to just be a sponge and really have a year to develop and learn and get my feet underneath me and just be ready for my opportunity, whenever that time comes, and I have no idea, I don't have any control over any of that, and the only thing I can control is just getting better every single day and learning and developing and just finding ways to help the team win.
"That's always been my thought process and focus, and that's always led me in the right direction. That's always been my process to working and maneuvering every day, and when I've done that things just seem to fall into place. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready. That's going to be my focus this whole time is just staying ready and being the best person and player I can be every single day. Everything else will take care of itself from there. My first goal is to make the 53-man roster and be a viable asset to the team and to make the team better and help the team win with whatever that might look like."
Nothing will replace the look Thompson shot his father for the briefest of moments when he announced that he was a Dolphin. Nothing will replace the image of Thompson, his hoodie drawn around his head, covering his face with his cellphone pressed to his ear, trying to digest the enormity of the moment more than a decade in the making. He'll remember the cheers and thunderous clapping and the hugs and how everything seemed to blur together, and he still reminds himself that this is real — "It's real, it's real now, and this is just the beginning!" he said into the phone Monday night, still caught in the haze of post-draft euphoria. There are plenty of moments to remember and to treasure along the way, but they all fall short of one lasting image.
Nothing will ever quite look like Skylar Thompson did Saturday when he received the call.
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