Kenbrell Thompkins
refer to caption
Thompkins with the Oakland Raiders in 2014
No. 10, 85
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1988-07-29) July 29, 1988 (age 35)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:196 lb (89 kg)
Career information
High school:Miami (FL) Northwestern
College:Cincinnati
Undrafted:2013
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:70
Receiving yards:893
Receiving touchdowns:4
Career CFL statistics
Receptions:29
Receiving yards:421
Receiving touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR · CFL.ca

Kenbrell Thompkins (born July 29, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for El Camino College from 2008 to 2009 and for the University of Cincinnati from 2011 to 2012. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots in 2013 and was also a member of the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets.

Early years

A native of the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Thompkins attended Miami Northwestern High School.[1] A classmate of NFL cornerback Anthony Gaitor and Brady Tiggleman, Thompkins started for Northwestern, but was academically ineligible to play as a sophomore and was later expelled for violating school policy. He was allowed to re-enroll prior to his junior football season, only to be expelled again later in the year.[1] After spending his junior year at an alternative school, he re-enrolled at Northwestern for the third time prior to his senior year and finished his high school football career. Not long after the season concluded, Thompkins was expelled for the third time, after being arrested on armed robbery charges.[1]

College career

Thompkins briefly attended Palomar College in San Marcos, California in 2008 before transferring to El Camino College in Torrance, California to play football. At El Camino College, Thompkins recorded two 1,000-yard seasons in a row, being named a team captain as a sophomore.[1] Following his sophomore campaign, Thompkins signed with the University of Tennessee in order to play under then-coach Lane Kiffin; following Kiffin's departure to become head coach of the USC Trojans football team, Thompkins transferred to the University of Oklahoma Sooners, but did not play at either university, as Oklahoma has a strict policy against admitting students with a history of legal troubles, following the tumultuous reign of Barry Switzer in the 1980s. .[1] Instead, Thompkins transferred to the University of Cincinnati, where he played for two seasons from 2011 to 2012.

As a junior in 2011, Thompkins caught 44 passes for 536 yards (12.2 yards per reception) and two touchdowns. As a senior in 2012, he recorded 34 receptions for 541 yards (15.9) and two touchdowns.

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 0+5⁄8 in
(1.84 m) 		193 lb
(88 kg) 		32+1⁄4 in
(0.82 m) 		8+3⁄4 in
(0.22 m)		 4.54 s 1.59 s 2.65 s 4.21 s 6.88 s 33.5 in
(0.85 m)		 10 ft 1 in
(3.07 m)		 8 reps
All values from 2013 NFL Combine[2][3]

New England Patriots

Thompkins signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent on May 3, 2013. In his preseason debut, Thompkins registered 4 receptions for 23 yards with the first-team offense against the Philadelphia Eagles. In the third game of the season, Thompkins caught the first two touchdown passes of his career to help the Patriots win the game 23–3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 6's matchup against the undefeated New Orleans Saints, Thompkins caught the game-winning touchdown on a 2nd down play with 5 seconds remaining in the game.[4] Thompkins was released by the Patriots on October 4, 2014.[5]

Oakland Raiders

Thompkins was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Raiders two days after his release from the Patriots, on October 6, 2014.[6] He caught 15 passes in 12 games for 209 yards with Oakland and was cut by Oakland on September 1, 2015.[7]

New England Patriots (second stint)

The Patriots re-signed Thompkins to their practice squad on September 6, 2015. He was released from the practice squad on September 30, 2015.[8]

New York Jets

On October 2, 2015, the New York Jets signed Thompkins to their practice squad.[9] He was promoted to the active roster on October 20, 2015, after Quincy Enunwa was suspended.[10] On September 3, 2016, Thompkins was released by the Jets as part of their final roster cuts.[11]

On August 16, 2017, Thompkins re-signed with the Jets.[12] On September 2, 2017, Thompkins was released by the Jets.[13]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On May 22, 2018, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) announced they had signed Thompkins to a contract.[14] He was shifted to the team's practice roster on June 28, then promoted back to the active roster on July 26.[15] He was placed on the suspended list on May 19, 2019, then released on July 11.[16]

NFL career statistics

Year Team GP Receiving
Rec Yds Avg Lng TD
2013 NE 12 32 466 14.6 49 4
2014 NE 2 6 53 8.8 16 0
OAK 12 15 209 13.9 50 0
2015 NYJ 7 17 165 9.7 43 0
Total 33 70 893 12.8 50 4

Personal life

Thompkins is the cousin of wide receiver Antonio Brown[17] and also has a younger brother Kendal Thompkins who played in the Arena Football League.

Thompkins was charged by the U.S. federal government with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft on March 26, 2021, after prosecutors alleged that he stole $300,000 in unemployment benefits from the state of California.[18] He pled guilty to these charges in October 2021.[19] In January 2022, he was sentenced to 25 months in prison and was required to return $132,980.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Miller, Joshua A. "Everything To Prove: The Kenbrell Thompkins Story". Newsrecord.org. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  2. ^ "Kenbrell Thompkins Draft and Combine Prospect Profile", nfl.com, retrieved May 25, 2013
  3. ^ "Kenbrell Thompkins, Cincinnati, WR, 2013 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Patriots' Kenbrell Thompkins stayed calm for winning catch".
  5. ^ David Smith, Michael (October 4, 2014). "Patriots cut Kenbrell Thompkins". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "Report: Raiders Claim Patriots WR Kenbrell Thompkins off Waivers | Bleacher Report". bleacherreport.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014.
  7. ^ "Oakland Raiders trim 13 players, including Kenbrell Thompkins". September 2015.
  8. ^ "Kenbrell Thompkins released from Patriots' practice squad". September 30, 2015.
  9. ^ "Kenbrell Thompkins Signed to Practice Squad". www.newyorkjets.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015.
  10. ^ "Reports: Jets Sign Former Patriots Wide Receiver Kenbrell Thompkins". October 20, 2015.
  11. ^ Lange, Randy (September 3, 2016). "Jets Release 18 Players Ahead of Deadline". NewYorkJets.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017.
  12. ^ Lange, Randy (August 16, 2017). "WR Kenbrell Thompkins Returns to Jets". NewYorkJets.com.
  13. ^ Lange, Randy (September 2, 2017). "Jets Reduce to 53 with 23 Player Moves". NewYorkJets.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017.
  14. ^ "Bombers add receivers Thompkins and Randle, DB Priester – Winnipeg Blue Bombers". Winnipeg Blue Bombers. May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  15. ^ "2018 CFL Transactions". CFL.ca. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  16. ^ "2019 CFL Transactions". CFL.ca. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  17. ^ "Patriots Kenbrell Thompkins prepares to take on his cousin, Steelers WR Antonio Brown". behindthesteelcurtain.com. October 31, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  18. ^ "Southern District of Florida Takes Sweeping Action Against CARES Act Fraud". Justice.gov. March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  19. ^ "Former NFL Player Pleads Guilty to Access Device Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft Scheme Involving CARES Act Unemployment Insurance Funds". Justice.gov. October 20, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  20. ^ Westerholm, Tom (February 27, 2022). "Former Patriots player Kenbrell Thompkins ordered to pay back stolen COVID funds". Boston.com. Retrieved May 12, 2022.

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