Anterio Thompson

Early life

Thompson is the son of Tyshaun Thompson and Areal Greenwood and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. He primarily focused on basketball at Hempstead High School. In his senior year, Thompson joined the football team as a defensive lineman and earned all-region honors with 39 tackles, seven tackles for loss and one sack. He committed to play college football at Iowa Western Community College in June 2021.

College career

Thompson began his college career at Iowa Western Community College. In his freshman season in 2022, he played in 12 games and had 32 tackles and six sacks, helping the team win a junior college title. Thompson transferred to Iowa after the season. He appeared in seven games as a sophomore, and had one tackle and two blocked punts, one returned for a safety. Thompson transferred to Western Michigan for his junior season and recorded 32 tackles in 12 games including 1.5 tackles for a loss and a sack as well as batting down two passes and a blocked kick. In his senior season, Thompson transferred again to Washington. He had three starts in 12 games and tallied 30 tackles including 2.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and batted two passes. Thompson initially sought to get a waiver to play in 2026 but ultimately opted to focus on the NFL.