Hall of Fame
A native of Richmond, Calif., Lamont Thompson was a five-year member of the Cougar football team from 1997-2001. The free safety helped anchor the Cougar defense shortly after arriving on campus, as he led the Pacific-10 Conference with six interceptions in 1997, including one against Michigan in the Rose Bowl. He had eight interceptions over the next two seasons, before setting a school record with 10 interceptions as a senior in 2001. On his way to first-team All-America and All-Pac-10 honors, Thompson added a team-best 93 tackles, a WSU-record four picks in a single game (UCLA), and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. He was named the MVP of the Sun Bowl after picking off two passes against Purdue. He finished his career with WSU and conference records of 24 career interceptions. Thompson was selected in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals where he played for one season before playing four seasons with the Tennessee and later splitting time with the Miami and Jacksonville during the 2007 season. Thompson finished his pro career with 259 tackles, 11 pass breakups, nine interceptions and one interception returned for a touchdown.
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