River Thompson

Position:
Defensive Back
Height:
5-9
Weight:
160
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Denver, Colo.
High School:
East

AT COLORADO: This Season (Fr.)—An invited walk-on, he is projected as a defensive back, most likely a corner, in his true freshman year in college.

HIGH SCHOOL—At East, he was a team captain his senior season and was an NUC All-American (National Underclassmen). A three-year letterman at cornerback (two-year starter), he tied for the state lead in interceptions as a senior with eight (an East record) and was likely the state leader or close to it with 19 passes broken up as he did not allow a single completion in man coverage over the 10-game season. He was in on 42 tackles, 30 solo, with a season-high seven against Cherry Creek in their second meeting of the year; in the first game, he returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown against the Bruins. He also recovered two fumbles and caused one. He racked up 40 tackles, 27 solo, his junior year, with three interceptions and nine passes broken up. As a sophomore, he was in on 12 tackles and had two pass deflections. Denver East was 6-4 his senior season under coach Ron McFarland, tying for the 5A Denver Football League title, and was 6-4 his junior year and 7-4 his sophomore campaign with former Colorado linebacker Ron Woolfork (’93) as coach.

ACADEMICS—He is undecided on his major at Colorado. He maintained a grade point average in excess of 3.0 during high school.

PERSONAL—He was born January 20, 1993 in Denver. His hobbies include cars, and he is talented in several areas, including cooking, juggling and trivia (e.g., reciting all 50 states in alphabetical order). He was the recipient of the Brian Dawkins High School Player of the Week Award during his senior year, as the Denver Bronco created the award to honor those players who demonstrate strong commitment to and accomplishment in sports and in the classroom, character off the field and an ability to overcome adversity; Thompson lived in a single-mother home since the first grade and played an important role in raising his younger brother, Pijan. His mother, Kathleen Robinson, is an acupuncturist. River is his true first name and not a nickname.