Chris Thompson scored six touchdowns last season for Gainesville High School. His mother saw every one.
With each score, the Gators wide receiver commit looked up into the stands at his mother’s usual spot. He picked Florida, so he could continue to share touchdowns with her in person. Living just “down the road” from the UF campus, the hometown product couldn’t pass up a chance to play in front of his mom again.
She raised Thompson and his four older brothers. Each played sports and pushed Chris through his early years.
“Growing up, I always wasn’t the most athletic,” Thompson said. “I always worked hard. My brothers and my mom pushed me.”
While Thompson has 4.3 speed and averaged 22.1 yards per catch in 2011, he didn’t always have the game-breaking speed.
Then he found track and field.
He started track at the age of seven and eventually ran events such as the 100m, 200m and 400m. Track made him the athlete he is today, Thompson said.
Now all Thompson does is run.
His personal trainer Tim Shankle, a former running back at North Carolina Central, has trained the 6-foot receiver since December.
Shankle used The Swamp as a motivational tool for Thompson and another Florida target in linebacker Keith Kelsey.
Between his stadium workouts, campus jogs and football camps at Florida, the Gainesville local’s desired college was clear.
Thompson, a Gators fan since childhood, remained committed to Florida “no matter what” after the resignation of wide receiver coach Aubrey Hill.
“When we first started working out, it was about him getting stronger and getting better,” Shankle said. “As we started working out more at UF, you could see in his eyes he loved the atmosphere of working out at UF and talking to the coaches.”
Thompson was always a little brother to Shankle.
Shankle played with Thompson’s next oldest brother, Micguel Johnson at Eastside High School and at North Carolina Central.
The two won a state basketball championship at Eastside in 2006.
“He’s seen the hard work his mom put in with him and his brothers,” Shankle said. “He brings in that same hard work everyday when he is working out. He puts it on his mind that he has to work hard for his mom, and he wants to do that exceptionally well.”
Shankle wanted the flexibility, mental and resistance training to give Thompson an edge on other incoming freshmen. Florida has the third-ranked class for 2013 with 20 verbal commitments, according to Rivals.com.
Friends and family flooded Thompson’s phone with about 100 text messages when he orally committed to Florida on July 30.
Thompson and Shankle realized the territory that comes with a local suiting up for the Gators. While Florida has six Gainesville players on the roster, only two are from Gainesville high.
“With being the hometown kid and finally get that offer, there is going to be a lot of pressure,” Shankle said. “He understands that and that’s why he is putting in the work.”
Thompson didn’t forget where the work ethic came from.
“She’s always pushing me to get better,” he said. “Whenever she doesn’t know about a sport, she would find out and tell me what to do to get better.”
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Chris Thompson waits to run drills during Friday Night Lights a Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
