Kevin James Thompson (born July 27, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL), NFL Europe, and the Arena Football League (AFL). He was a two-year starter playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns following the 2000 NFL draft and played there for one season.
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Early life
Thompson played basketball and football at Damascus High School in Damascus, Maryland. He recorded more than 4,000 passing yards during his career there and helped lead the football team to win a Maryland state championship in 1993.
College career
Thompson was a two-year starter at Penn State University. He passed for six touchdowns as a junior in 1998 and led the Nittany Lions to a win over Kentucky in the Outback Bowl, in which he threw for 187 yards and a touchdown. As a senior, Thompson was a team captain and threw 13 touchdown passes and averaged 159.7 passing yards-per-game. He did not play in the Nittany Lions' 24-0 shutout of Texas A&M in the 1999 Alamo Bowl due to a shoulder injury sustained earlier in the week.