by Transfer guided from early age by famous — and once infamous — father.
By Matthew Piper | The Salt Lake Tribune
For now, at least, Kendal Thompson’s (Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma) story cannot begin without a short biography of the man who made him. If we lived in Moore, Oklahoma, where Kendal grew up, it’d be enough just to write his name.
Charles Thompson.
Charles was a wishbone quarterback for Oklahoma in 1987 and 1988. He embodied the heights of Sooners football, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated after leading Barry Switzer’s No. 2 Sooners to a win over Tom Osbourne’s No. 1 Huskers, and he embodied the lows of Sooners football, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a prison jumpsuit after trying to sell cocaine to a federal agent.
For his crime, Charles lost 17 months of his free life and a chance to be a star in the National Football League. Instead, he became a fine running back in the Canadian Football League and NFL Europe.
He became a local radio personality, a quarterback trainer and a sales consultant. He became a father.
In that, fatherhood, lies his shot at absolution. He tells Kendal: “You want to be remembered as more than the son of Charles Thompson. You want to flip the script. You want Charles Thompson to be remembered as Kendal’s dad.”
Read more at:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/utes/58273907-89/kendal-charles-thompson-oklahoma.html.csp
