That kind of leadership is something Thompson has grown into. He also played through some shoulder injuries that kept him from being the best version of himself. Now healthy, he was able to spend enough time in a weight room this year to add 10 pounds, after playing in the 225-pound range last year.
"If you look at Shaq right now, Shaq's added some weight," defensive coordinator Phil Snow said. "I asked him to this offseason, and he's done a terrific job.
"He looks terrific, and he's moving as well or better."
When Snow said that earlier this summer, it got some attention in the media, which Thompson found out one day while buying groceries.
"I was at Harris Teeter," Thompson said with a laugh. "And some guy walks up and like 'Shaq?' And I turned around and he said: 'You put on 10 pounds?' I'm like, what the hell, you don't talk to people like that. At least ask how I'm doing first.
"People don't really know, the last two years I was going through some stuff, shoulder wise, and I wasn't able to lift, I wasn't able to put on weight because I had to get surgeries," he continued. "I finally had a season where I was able to lift, and actually had a spring break, an offseason. So I put on about seven or eight pounds of muscle.
"They don't understand what we go through, what we put our bodies through. The mornings, the tiredness, the blood, sweat, and tears we go through."
Thompson had other reasons for wanting to push through. He was new to Rhule last year, so he was in a position of proving himself to a new staff which hadn't drafted him, and didn't have the same background with him.
"Going off my injury history, they probably didn't know if I could get through a whole season," Thompson said. "But I showed them my grit. I showed them my toughness. I showed them that I'm here to play. I finished the whole season, no injuries, so I showed them that I'm willing to play, and I'm trying to be the guy."
And he's not just the guy on the field. He's the guy who got all the other guys to show up. He's the guy who has become a mentor for a young defense, while still young himself at 27.
So if you see him in the store, be nice to him. He's earned that much.
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Shaq Thompson has grown into a leader, and grown - Panthers.com - Panthers.com
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