Source: Earl Zukerman, McGill Sports Info
Name: Ben Thompson
University: McGill
Hometown: Fredericton, N.B.
High school / Cegep: Fredericton HS
Position: Defensive Tackle
Academic program: Marketing
Year of eligibility: 5
Height: 6-1
Weight: 275
Key stats 2010: 45.5 tackles in 9 regular season games (led team, third in league)
Awards & honours (since start of CIS career): All-Canadian (second-team), Two-time Quebec conference all-star, Invited to CFL Draft Evaluation Camp in 2011; co-captain in 2011; voted Team MVP in 2010; two-time recipient of team’s most outstanding defensive player (2009, 2010); named team’s rookie of the year (2007); voted twice as team’s most outstanding lineman (2009, 2010); recipient of a Montreal Alouettes athletic scholarship (2011).
PROFILE
MONTREAL -- Ben Thompson will play a vital role in McGill’s bid for a return to respectability when the Redmen kickoff the CIS season against the Montreal Carabins on Sept. 1, 2011.
The 6-foot-1, 275-pound defensive tackle from Fredericton, N.B., has started every game since earning a starting spot as a 17-year-old freshman during his rookie campaign in 2007.
The 21-year-old marketing senior is coming off a breakout year in 2010, when he earned CIS all-Canadian second-team status and team MVP honours. Despite being double-teamed more of the time, Thompson finished third in the Quebec league with 45.5 total tackles, 36 of them solos. He was also credited with 10.5 tackles for loss, one quarterback sack and two fumble recoveries. Thompson was subsequently invited to the 2011 Canadian Football League's Draft Evaluation camp but was hindered by injury and failed to impress the scouts.
The CFL’s loss was McGill’s gain for a fifth season on the artificial turf at Percival Molson Stadium.
“Ben possesses exceptional motor skills and is equally adept as a run defender and a pass rusher,” says Sonny Wolfe, head coach of the Redmen. “He is versatile can play any D-line position. He leads by example and is coming off a dominating season.”
Over the summer, Thompson received an athletic excellence scholarship from the Montreal Alouettes Bursary Program under the auspices of the Quebec Foundation for Athletic Excellence. It was another feather in the cap of McGill’s most decorated linemen in well over a decade, since the days of Randy Chevrier and J.P. Darche, both of whom went on to play in the NFL and CFL.