UNT's Micah Thompson, has been raised by the game

Harry · March 7, 2013

Micah Thompson – a sophomore offensive linesman for UNT – is happy to be playing Division I football, but he, at 21 years old, has experience that many of his teammates do not understand.

From the age of four Thompson was without a father, and relied on his coaches to discipline and teach him. Growing up with a single mother of two rowdy boys, the income was low and food stamps became a way of life for a period of time.

But with his mother’s guidance, coaches’ wisdom and wife’s love, he was able to sustain a full-ride football scholarship to UNT and is now fathering his own seven-month-old son, Kendrix.

“I never had a father figure,” Thompson said. “Football kind of really helped, that was my go-to for a father figure. Every coach I had was like a dad to me.”

Living in the small country town of Jones, Okla., Thompson’s father left the family shortly before his son’s fourth birthday. Never really knowing his father or his reason for leaving, Thompson relied on his coaches, who understood his situation and watched over him like their own son.

Getting government help, having an occasional fight at school and struggling at times in the classroom, Thompson found his escape in sports. He became involved in the athletic program at Jones High School, leaving as a four-year letterman in football, weightlifting and track.

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