Chuck Shute Podcast

Jack Thompson (former NFL QB)

May 24, 2022 Jack Thompson Season 4 Episode 246
Chuck Shute Podcast
Jack Thompson (former NFL QB)
Show Notes Transcript

Jack Thompson, nicknamed “The Throwing Samoan” is former collegiate and NFL quarterback.  When he left Washington State University he was the most prolific passer in NCAA history.  He was drafted 3rd overall by the Cincinnati Bengals and spent 4 years with them and 2 years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In this interview we discuss his Samoan heritage and upbringing, his playing career, his thoughts on the current WSU football team, the Cougs First networking group and more! 

0:00:00 - Intro
0:00:45 - Samoan Heritage & History 
0:06:29 - Immigrating to the United States 
0:09:40 - Jack's Parents 
0:13:17 - Choosing WSU Over UW 
0:18:15 - Learning from 4 WSU Coaches 
0:23:23 - Dan Doornik 
0:26:05 - Drafted into the NFL 
0:28:00 - Time in Cincinnati 
0:31:35 - Time in Tampa Bay 
0:35:00 - Cougs First Networking Group 
0:41:05 - Pac 12 Conference & Commissioner 
0:44:36 - Cougs for 2022 
0:46:38 - Jayden De Laura Vs. Cameron Ward 
0:48:10 - Jack Working with Wide Receivers 
0:50:25 - Players Getting Paid 
0:55:13 - Why WSU is Great & Donations 
0:59:40 - Outro 

Cougs First website:
https://cougsfirst.org

Donate to WSU link:
https://foundation.wsu.edu/give/

Chuck Shute website:
http://chuckshute.com

Support the show

Thanks for Listening & Shute for the Moon!

Chuck Shute:

Today on the show we have Jack Thompson, the throwing Samoan former quarterback for Washington State for college and he also played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the NFL. So we had a great discussion about his Samoan heritage. Why he chose Washington State over University of Washington. What could have been for his NFL career? What he thinks of the new PAC 12 Commissioner compared to the old one, the Kooks football team this year, and some cool stuff that he's doing now with the university. So all this and more coming right up all right. Well, welcome Jack Thompson to my little podcast your thanks so much for doing this.

Jack Thompson:

Chuck. Thank you. I owe you one.

Chuck Shute:

Okay, awesome. Well, I'll remember that. Okay, good. Good. I'm good for usually. As long as I'm on time. Yeah. Well, so I wanted to throw in Samoan obviously, is your nickname. And I hear that word a lot, Simone. I owe this guy, Samoan that guy, so on. And so I was like, you know, I don't really know a lot about Samoan. So I started like doing some research and digging around. And so if we could can we educate my audience on Samoa? Like what did it because it's actually part of America, or there's two parts? Right,

Jack Thompson:

right. It's, I come from the American American Samoa. It's a territory of the United States. And the other part of Samoa is, is the nation island of Samoa and it's it's an independent country. It used to be a territory of Great Britain. It's become independent over the years. It used to be called Western Samoa. And beautiful it's that Samoa is a group of islands, two big ones that are the size of a wahoo, basically. So they're good sized islands, American Samoa, much smaller. And it's like 14 miles wide, 22 miles long. Oh, and I'm from American Samoa, and most all of the well, all of the you know, the guys that played for Washington State University from American Samoa. So it's very unusual. In that we pump out pretty good quarter quarterbacks, but we have quarterbacks too, but for a really good football players from that small spit of island.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, there's a very small part. I thought I saw one time like a documentary or something about it. And there was a bunch of kids are playing football, but they didn't have very good equipment and stuff. Not at

Jack Thompson:

all. I mean, it's it's really very unusual. It's, you know, they a lot of them play with you know, hand me down gear. There are some kids that play barefoot in you know, only in American Samoa, right? Yeah. And but they pump out some pretty tough football players. I will say that and and, you know, on a per capita basis, we think we pump out more football players per capita than, say, Puerto Ricans pump out baseball players. Yeah, it's it's quite unusual.

Chuck Shute:

Last year on the video real quick.

Jack Thompson:

Give me one second.

Chuck Shute:

What happened there? Yeah, no, that is it was so interesting to read. Why do you think or what do you know the history is to why when did the football thing start? Because like, wasn't part of Samoa. They were like playing cricket and stuff in the European games.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, cricket and rugby has always been a man. That's the British influence. And so rugby is the sport that is really popular in the Polynesian islands, in Fiji, in New Zealand, I mean, all blacks and a lot of the players on the All Blacks New Zealand team are Samoan. So, you know, someone's don't shy away from contact, that's for sure. You know, the cricket game is is really much more genteel than than in rugby and rugby begins football and next thing you know, we were playing football on the islands and it really caught when when, you know, TV came around in the late 60s 70s. And, and, you know, football games were being shown down in American Samoa and and he got popular and Now this is where

Chuck Shute:

you part of that influence maybe to.

Jack Thompson:

I was. And I say that was probably because the, the class of someone's that came out that graduating class of 79 we had like five guys, you know, monitor SoCal with the first round to the Seattle Seahawks. I went to Cincinnati Frank, my mom went to Kansas City. And, you know, that was like, just a little wave now. Now it's, it's a veritable tidal wave players. And like I said, we, you know, our, our culture is really, you know, just very pre disposed to, you know, that sport, and we haven't been very coachable culture, you know, it's just the nature of, you know, the way we were raised. So, yeah, you know, there have been, there been a lot of documentaries done over the years. A lot of articles in in, you know, New York Times, you name it, it's been in it. Well, gee, GQ did a big one. This is in like, 1995. So it's, it's a neat thing me thing to be part of, I'm very proud of it.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah. So it's interesting, because I was reading it said, it's one of the Seattle I never understood this, like US territory. So it's like, we it's part of the US, but like, people that live there are not considered citizens. So is that why your parents are like, Okay, we're gonna move to the mainland so we can get, we can become citizens.

Jack Thompson:

Well, they moved to the mainland, because they got a better quality of education for their kids. You know, so that was a, that was the impetus. And my dad came here at 57. I was born in 56. Right, dad, my dad came and 57 My mom came and 58 They sent from me and 1960. And I was staying with my mom's sister. And, you know, I came here in 1960. And my mom, dad raised five kids here, stateside, and all five of us went to college. So, you know, my dad accomplished his goal.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, no, that's amazing. The American dream. I love it. It's just interesting. So they left you there for a few years just to get like a head start, or is that part of the legal thing, they couldn't bring a kid or what's now

Jack Thompson:

now it's just that's just the way it was. It couldn't afford me. You can't afford the other there are two other kids and some more. And, and that's just the way it was back in the day. And yeah, were to be raised by your aunts and uncles that to this day, it's normal. And, you know, again, I was raised by my mom and my mom's sister, and brother in law, my sister. Margaret was raised by my dad's sister on the other side of the island, and my older brother, Gino, he and I were raised by our aunt on my mom's side. It's just, it's a very unique culture. You know, I, I'm just very proud proud of being part of that Samoan culture, and, you know, pretty tough people.

Chuck Shute:

Ya know, that's, it's really neat. It's so inspiring, you know, the parents did such made such a sacrifice, and it was for you guys was for the kids to have a better life have better education. And clearly it worked.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, and they, you know, they did it the right way. I hate to, you know, step outside the boundaries. But, you know, my dad came here to sit, he took him seven years to get his spot, you know, get his citizenship. And it was the best. I mean, that was one of the best days of his life when he got his citizenship. And, you know, he went through the paces, and didn't cut any corners. And it was very proud of being, you know, that he was raising his, his family in the US. And, you know, it hurts me to see people take it for granted. You know, your citizenship and, and all that comes with it, you know, there's a responsibility to the country. And, you know, my dad just never messed around. He, he didn't, he didn't suffer fools well, and when cousins would come and when Ron was being raised by my mom and dad, they, they There was never a time where our immediate family was by that we are by ourselves, we will always had one to as many as 10 other cousins and aunts and uncles living in our house and you No, my, my mom and dad were very happy to help facilitate their moving from, you know, to do what they did. But they didn't take too kindly to those relatives that would come here and abuse the system. I'm talking about welfare and things like that. And you know,

Chuck Shute:

because your parents worked really hard, Didn't your mom 10 houses or something? Yep, she did.

Jack Thompson:

She was they worked really hard. And then ultimately, they both work for Boeing. And my mom was a shop clerk, my dad was a machinist. And he was a union shop. Steward, you know. And when he passed away, we had it at his funeral. He had a lot of people from Boeing guys he worked with, you know, some got got to go up and speak on it. Tell about their experiences with my dad. And one thing they always said about my dad, you don't mess with them. Yeah. And you know, but if he's your friend, he he was as long as can be. And he bet he has your back. And that's just the way I was raised. Yeah, it

Chuck Shute:

was, I thought my parents were strict. But I heard you say your dad, you got a couple B's one time, and then you couldn't play sports? Is that right? Yeah,

Jack Thompson:

he helped me he helped me out for a year. Because there's no way we're gonna you know, not honor what he had done, you know, the sacrifices he and my mom made, you know, by giving a half assed effort in school, you know, he sports is great, that's fine. But it was all about, you know, the education. And so, if you, if you took that lightly, well, guess what you lose. And my sister Margaret. She made it through junior high in high school and think she was just one be myself, you know, I set the bar a lot lower, you know, the worst. The worst report card I ever brought home was three A's and three B's. And one time, I came home with four B's, and that didn't go very well.

Chuck Shute:

But that must have put in a really good work ethic for you. So like, go into wazoo and then later the pros and stuff like that. I mean, that was probably not those workouts were nothing compared to what you were raised with.

Jack Thompson:

That's true. He was very, they were very strict, especially my dad. But you know, as strict as he was one thing he never There was never a doubt was that he loved us and, and that we can always count on him. So

Chuck Shute:

yeah, absolutely. Well, so you grew up in the Seattle area, and everyone thought you're gonna go to U DUB. Now did you see you could see U DUB games on TV? Could you even see WSU games on TV in Seattle then?

Jack Thompson:

Now unless you're playing the Huskies, okay, so, yeah,

Chuck Shute:

yeah, so tell the story about like, why you didn't go to U DUB is because the recruiter kind of disrespected you or your family or

Jack Thompson:

was the head coach was the head coach candidly, you know, I was known, I think the term was I was a lay down recruit. And that that only meant that you know, you can do anything, don't waste any time but don't waste any time energy or effort with him because he's a lay down. He's coming here. And that was true. I was I was a laid down, Husky recruit, you know, when I got off from 1960 when I got off the plane, my dad was you know, he had already watched three years of Husky football and, and that's, you know, he started brainwashing me. All things huskies and every weekend we'd watch the Sundays we'd watch the replays of Husky football. And so, you know, when it came time for my recruited recruitment you know, the Huskies had me pegged as that lay down recruit which is which was true by the way. I was going to be a husky but what happened was, you know, when head coaches make the home visit, right, yeah, as they generally do. Well, I got a call from the head coach and I want to be at your I want to should be at your house and in an hour or so and my dad worked night shift Then I'd had to wake him up and you get showered and shaved and ready to meet, you know, his idol. And, and he didn't, he never showed that happened twice. And, and I was really hacked off. But my mom and dad convinced me to take the trip, you know, I hadn't taken my official trip to U DUB. And so I took the trip and, you know, I those those all, you know, they're pulling on that those heartstrings you know, the complaint used up and, and I was really just so tempted. And then until I got to today that, you know, yours all the players have their final interviews with the head coach on the way out now. And I remember talking to him, he said, Well, you ready to put on your jersey, you know, you performed gold Jersey, and I looked at him and I just I said, you know, sir, I can't come here. And I told them, you know, you could have done anything to me. I'd be here. But when you did that to my folks, he told me get the hell out of my office. Now, you know, that's, but it wasn't as if I you know, I was being really manly in Stanton and standing up to him. I was hurt. I was, yeah, really. You know, it's like my dream. Just coming to a crash right there. And then I realized that, you know, this is this is one thing you can't back back away from, you know. And so that's what happened.

Chuck Shute:

Wow. So then the Skype Bill Kirk, who was just he wasn't a football player. He was just so WSU alum and a big fan. And he was kind of trying to get you to go to wazoo.

Jack Thompson:

Bill Kirk was, was watching me when I was ninth grade. And then when I went to high school, he would come to several my practices. And, you know, he's not the tallest guy. But, you know, after practice and walk into his locker room, and he'd walk over and he'd introduced himself, and he goes, you know, he'd make a great Cougar. And I'm thinking, yeah, right. But, you know, he was Mr. Persistent. He, he pestered. Jim Sweeney was the head coach at the time. And really, you know, those are different days for alarms back back then, you know, they were able to do few things that were not able to do nowadays. And but he pestered them said, You gotta you gotta, you know, recruit this kid. And, and he, I know that he was talking my price price ultimately was the point guy for the Cougs. And, you know, all things went really well. I have to say, and, and I credit a give a lot of credit to build turkey. He's been a mentor of mine since shoot 72. So,

Chuck Shute:

wow. And then so then you go to wazoo, and then you end up having four different coaches in the four years. So yeah, there must have been, that was hard, but then also, maybe you learn something different from each coach.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, you know, what I learned was that head coaches are human beings, you know, they, there's, they have an image to uphold, and, and I was telling you about how coachable we are as a culture, you know, just there. You know, there. When you grow up, you respect your elders, and then there's the chiefs and whatnot. And, and so, it comes natural. And you have you hold them, you know, to a certain, the, you hold them, you know, at a certain bar, a high bar. Right. And, and you give them respect and when I was going through the, you know, the, the turnstile of coaches, I realized that these guys, there's just guys, you know, when I when I look at it now, you know, I was 1920 21 and they were 33. Right? And trying to make it in the world and, and, you know, I kept pissed off at them. And, you know, I, the they kind of fell off, you know, the head coach position kind of fell off the pedestal that I had for it, right? Because how do you do that, you know, you commit to coaching a Washington state, and then you leave after one year. That's BS. You know, and, and I remember after my junior year Again, coach comes in and he leaves. And now as a coach, I really liked his warm powers. And I was so so pissed off, you know, I couldn't see straight. But then I remember, I had a decision to make, you know, do I come back for my senior year? Do I go go to the pros. And I had one. He's one of my best friends. He's like my older brother. Now he was an attorney. His name is Carl Lopez. And I was always talking to Carl. And Carl would always give me sage advice whenever I needed it. And, you know, after Warren powers left, you know, we were seriously contemplating going pros. And I was projected to be like, you know, I'm at pick in the first round. And and so Carl and I, we talked about it, he said, What's your gut and I said, you know, I, I hate it, if people doing this to Washington State. And I said, you know, I want to come back. And he says, You should come back, you should go back. And, and the only way, but one thing that had to happen was that coach Walden, who was my offensive coordinator, and I would, you know, it would have been nice if he got the head coaching job, because I wouldn't have had to change systems. And he got the job. And when he got the job, you know, I was, again, I was talking to Carl, and he says, Well, yeah, he's, he's an attorney. And he, you know, you have all these agents that they want you to grab the money now, not that we had a lot of money back then back in those days for the NFL. But, you know, he, he knew that a special place of Washington state is, and he goes, he told me, You should go back, you know, and, and be loyal to the school. And he says, someday it'll pay off for you. He's right. You know, it's the best decision I've ever made. Love Washington State University. And you know, I love my football program. But I love the school more. And that's just the way it is.

Chuck Shute:

Ya know, that's in your legend at that school. And you go, you go back for you go back for a lot of games, right? Is it ever not every game but a lot?

Jack Thompson:

Well, I haven't missed a home game in 16 years. Wow. So yeah. I go back. And, you know, I don't make all the way games. But I make some, you know, maybe one or two. Every year type of thing.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, I think the last one to ASU game. I think I saw you those a good

Jack Thompson:

game. That was a great. Yeah. But I'll tell you that. You know, my son, Tony, who played at Washington State, he He teaches at the Carson College of Business. So I have a place a free place to stay there. So it makes it it makes it easier.

Chuck Shute:

Nice. Yeah. Well, and then Doesn't your other son work at Mac and jack so you get free beer from that?

Jack Thompson:

Yeah. Yeah, he son Jack is Director of Sales for macking jacks. Yeah, so that's

Chuck Shute:

cool. No, did you when you're at Wazoo Dan Dornoch was he he was your teammate, right? Yes, he

Jack Thompson:

was. He was a great, so

Chuck Shute:

tell me about playing with him because he went on to play for the Seahawks. But they nicknamed him Dr. Dan, because he literally was a doctor. He got it. You got an MD? So like, is he really smart on the field too? Like is he really like diagnosing the plays and things?

Jack Thompson:

Oh, yeah. Here's Dan and I got recruited the same year, is a class of 74 out of high school. And he and I were the two quarterbacks that the sign that year. And so when we went to war, he and I were kind of like Arch Rivals. I mean, we hyper competitive, and he didn't care much for me, and I didn't care much for him. There's just the nature of that, you know, how we were. And he ended up gone, you know, they put him at running back and he became one of the best running backs we've ever had. And he was the best teammate you can ever want. Because it's like having another quarterback in the backfield. And to your point. He was extremely smart. knew all the players knew knew what everyone else was doing, you know, he thought, like a quarterback. And that's what quarterbacks are supposed to know. All the, you know, everything that the players are supposed to do. And he knew it and and I knew that whenever I was in a pinch, I all I had to do was find a doorknob. That was his nickname to us.

Chuck Shute:

Nice. No, that's Yeah, that's really cool. I mean, that was a little bit before my time, but I've definitely like read about him and stuff. And I've seen like, I'm able to find your highlight videos on YouTube and stuff too, which is really cool.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, well, I'm gonna have to try to do that. I haven't. I haven't tried doing that ever and and love to catch some of the games but Dan Dan was a terrific athlete coming out of Wapato he's a great basketball player. Great. He ran track. He did. He is a multi event guy. And but he was a just a great athlete. extremely smart and very dedicated. And he ended up marrying Sharon, the gal that he was dating out of high school. And I think they both moved to Spokane. And that's where we're hoping to go. Oh, you're gonna move to Spokane. That's our That's my wish. I think that is my wife Molly's wish to but I gotta keep pushing her.

Chuck Shute:

Okay, yeah. Yeah. Well see i you been all over the place. So when you got drafted, tell my audience this story like because you were originally supposed to go to the Giants. And that that made me wonder because then I looked and saw and they took Phil Simms and then he went on to win Super Bowls and stuff like do you think if you would have gone to the giants with Bill Parcells, do you think you would have won those Super Bowls?

Jack Thompson:

Well, he was he was drafted the the coach at the time was Ray Perkins. And, and Ray came to Pullman. And he took me and my girlfriend at the time, Molly was not my wife. He took us out to dinner. And he said, you know, have your bags packed because when we have our pick, you're coming after Becky so

Chuck Shute:

froze up a little here.

Jack Thompson:

In one second. There we go. Sorry about that. But, you know, I really like Ray Perkins that being chosen in the third pick by Cincinnati was a complete surprise, surprise everybody actually there. There. They're projected to pick up Kellen Winslow and right. Yeah, you know, I would have, you know, gone to, you know, Ray Perkins, the thing about Ray Perkins, in one thing I know it would have gotten would have been a real strong understanding of, you know, being an NFL quarterback. That's what he coached. And Phil was the direct beneficiary of that. And you know, when I went to Cincinnati, the head coach at the time was Homer Smith. And he was he was on tenuous ground, if you will, and then he gets fired after my rookie year. So that's five coaches in five years. And then force Gray came on board, unfortunately, a love force, Greg, and didn't get along very well with our offensive coordinator. But you know, it's just things happen. You know, you ask the question, do I think I would, you know, it's very situational. I will say this, I had the talent add as much if not more talent than other quarterbacks that were drafted, you know, just being in the right place being the right system. And I frankly, I love being at Cincinnati. The teammates there, Anthony Munoz maximize Toya, you know, just to name a couple you know, I got to go back for our 40 year reunion, Superbowl reunion this past year. And boy, it was great to see those guys again. You know, but it wasn't meant to be I ended up getting traded. Tampa.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah. Well, because they had Ken Anderson, who was he was literally the MVP of the entire league. So that's like a hard person to beat out. I would think,

Jack Thompson:

well, you know, it, it was and the quick story behind that is that I was really given them a run for his money. I think I helped rejuvenate him and his career. And it was very competitive. And that year that we went to the Super Bowl at the fourth game, you know, the last preseason game force Greg told us you know, whoever has the best game in this game will be our starting quarterback for the season. That's how much ground I had. made and he went out and played this first half he did okay did so so. And I started and things were going really well. And I got flushed out of the pocket. And as I was running out of bounds, the linebacker dove at my ankle, and I ended up some severely sprained my, my high sprain on my ankle. And that put me out for four weeks. And so the first game was against Seahawks. And Kenny started, didn't do very well. Our third string quarterback comes in and did a good job, and we ended up winning the game isn't in Cincinnati. Now the second game comes along and those question who's going to start that's how, you know, he's very. He is it was tough sledding for Kenny, at that time. And to Kenny's credit, he went in and talked to Forrest Gregg and said, You know, I deserved to start those question if they should start them and, and Kenny just went in and said, I need to start, you know, this organization owes me that or something of that sort. And Kenny went on to become the MVP that year and took us to the Superbowl. So, yeah, so you know, it just, that's what happens, you know? Yeah. And so, you know, things the following year. So long story, but I ended up getting traded to the Buccaneers and. And that was a that was another whole world experience in and of itself.

Chuck Shute:

Well, yeah, you got a lot more playing time there within that was when they had the creamsicle jerseys, and

Jack Thompson:

yeah. I like the uniforms now. Much more.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, so it's interesting. I was looking at the Bucs roster and stuff. And so they had Wayne fonts was that he was the defensive coordinator. And he ended up it later being the head coach to the lions. And they fired him and they haven't really I don't think they've won a playoff game since he left and I know he was the defensive coordinator. But do you remember what he was like as a coach? I mean, he must have seen him coaching on the sidelines. But here's

Jack Thompson:

a good coach. He's a good defensive coordinator. Buccaneers always had a good defense and I think it starts with Wayne Wayne fonts. And, you know, we had John McKay was the head coach and well, he was he was quite a character, that guy. And you know, it's it was a is a tough experience. Frankly, you know, I I go back to my teammates in Cincinnati. And that's for me, that's where I felt most like home if I had any regret was leaving Cincinnati. Given you know, because the guys on the team, we you know, there's just the chemistry is better. Let's just leave it at that.

Chuck Shute:

Okay. But you did have one really good game at Tampa Bay where you threw four touchdowns against the Oilers?

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, I, you know, my memory slips. But I remember I kind of remember that game. I had a couple of good games. I had another good one against 40 Niners in candlestick I got the crap beat out of me.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, what's it like playing up against those guys? Because that was the the team was stacked at Joe Montana and Roger Craig and Ronnie Lott and

Jack Thompson:

yeah, they had a defensive an All Pro defensive and named Fred Dean. Oh, my gosh, she he got me several times that game and but it was, you know, it took a beating but you know, kept on ticking, you know? And

Chuck Shute:

how hard does it hurt to get a How much does it hurt to get hit at the NFL level, it's got to be a lot more painful than like each step high school to college, the NFL is gotta be crazy.

Jack Thompson:

It is. And you know, the biggest difference in my opinion between NFL and college, but two things one speed and the size. You know, everyone's fast, faster, and they're bigger. And so, you know, you go you play in in college, you have against a really good defensive team. They'll have you know, three really good players but you got to you got a game plan for in the NFL. Everyone's good. So yeah,

Chuck Shute:

that's scary. Well, so then you end up retiring and then Um, now so now you do like mortgages and stuff and then you you do a lot of stuff with this with WSU. So right you're on some boards and things like that and coops first you started that.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, the I'm on the Washington State Board for directors for the foundation. And so I'm very active there. As you mentioned, coops first is a business networking group that I co founded with Glenn Osterhout. And, and Robbie Tobik. You've met Robbie.

Chuck Shute:

I had him on the show. He's great.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah. I love Robbie and his his partner, then Paul dance. And, and, you know, we got together and had this idea of, you know, trying to harness that cougar craziness, you know, the love that we have for our school, you know, for, you know, just this simple act of saying Go Cougs you know, in the middle of downtown Seattle, you don't even know the person you see them wearing, you know, a cougar shirt or something. And it's that the essence of all that we said, you know, we it's time that we have a business networking group and it's taken off now we have now it's about 11 years ago, we would have these dinners and introduce business owners to one another. And that morphed into trade shows. We have a trade show in Seattle and one in Spokane. We had our one in Spokane a couple of weeks ago. And our trade show for Seattle. It's being held that main power center on May the 18th coming up next Wednesday. And it's great because, you know, I just got word that coach Dicker said he's going to be there. Todd Shellenberger or women's soccer. Head coach, Jen Greenie our volleyball head coach, cow Smith, head basketball coach. They will be there cam Ward and our new quarterback. Oh, Robbie's gonna be there just a ton of former Cougar players will be there. And we have I think about 75 exhibitors, Cougar owned and managed businesses, everything from mortgage like mine, to hotels, restaurants, car dealerships, you name it. All the different arenas that Cougars are in and we're in we're in to everything. You know our our tagline is when you're looking to purchase a product or service think Kooks first. The other thing that's that's really come out of these shows is that it's a great recruiting venue for these exhibitors. And great place for coops young cooks graduating to to find their first job. You know, remember Gino Simoni? Know, you played wide receiver for the Cougs he got his first job at one of our cooks for shows. And it's just it's a fun business networking venue. It's like a cougar business party is the best way I can describe it. And at three o'clock on the 18th president Schultz will give the State of the University Address be about 3540 minutes. And then we break from there go in and the show begins.

Chuck Shute:

Oh, that's exciting.

Jack Thompson:

It's fun. It's at the main bar center. Check. You should be there. Where are you?

Chuck Shute:

I'm in Arizona.

Jack Thompson:

Oh, well. You shouldn't you need to fly up.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah. On May 18,

Jack Thompson:

yeah, me next Wednesday.

Chuck Shute:

I was just in. See I was just back there. I need to go.

Jack Thompson:

We have a VIP Reception The night before. You can come as my guest. But wow. If you can make it if you can make it. You have my number call me. Okay. Make sure that you'll have all your credentials. It's fun. It's a great thing. And, you know, the the curves down in Vancouver, Washington banging on our door, you know, we need to have a Kooks for a showdown here. And it's fascinating when you realize all the different business sectors that the Cougs are in, not just in but dominating, you know, in from the high tech world to like I said to the mortgage side, too, you know, we have little mom and pop shops. We have restaurants from Pullman. There'll be there are wineries Goodness gracious right wineries. That's

Chuck Shute:

a big one too, I

Jack Thompson:

think. Yeah, we're in to everything Jew. He was first winery sponsor. When we had our first show.

Chuck Shute:

Andrew Bledsoe. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, he's so it's a great, it's a great place and, and you know what, what I encourage you to do is go on to Kooks first.org. And check us out. We have a very robust social media presence that our website is well done. We have a director of marketing that has done a Lindsay Evans has done a great job for us. And you just navigate or surf that, that website, you'll see what it is that we do and, and it has grown. Our title sponsors VCU USA, the commercial insurance people. One of our key sponsors, the other one key sponsor for us is Washington State University. Thanks to Eric Schultz.

Chuck Shute:

Now, that's great stuff. Yeah, I mean, no, it's interesting, though, like, because I think that's a lot of the exposure. But a lot of that comes through the sports too, obviously. It's weird that they don't show the PAC 12 channel. Do you have any like input on that? Or say on why is the PAC 12 channel not everywhere? Why it's like not on direct TV. So a lot of people miss Cooper games, I feel like that's a huge exposure piece that's missing, not only for WSU, but the whole PAC 12.

Jack Thompson:

Well, I couldn't agree with you more. We can blame the previous Commissioner, who was terrible, he was terrible. And I think we as that set us back, and now our new commissioner George Lakoff, he is the real deal. And, you know, we're, we're subjected to the terrible TV contracts that the previous commissioners signed, you know, on our behalf. And he came in saying he was gonna do this, he's gonna do that we're gonna create our own network and, and lost focus as to number one who we are as a conference. You know, I think he had these this very high brow image. But when it comes to football, man, it's about beating the crap out of the person in front of you. And, you know, that's what they forget. So, you know, in order for us to compete against the other conferences like the SEC, the Big Ten's we got to be better football players. And, and we need to get exposure to your point. Yeah, we you know, you got to do what you got to do to get us exposure, and, and to show showcase our league, our teams, to the starting with the athletes of the West Coast. We've lost way too many athletes to to the other conference in the other leagues. Look who's the starting quarterback for Ohio State. He's from California. You know, one of the best quarterbacks graduating out of high school, BJ young and relay. Was he playing for Clemson? Come on, we got to, we got to keep our own and build from there. And I think, I don't think I know, our current Commissioner. He's got it going on. He knows it. And he knows what we got to do. He's, he's trim the budget. He's got you know, we're not paying stupid rents, for you know, high class offices that we don't need. And I obviously have an opinion on this because I'm on the PAC 12. Committee. Yeah. Former football players and and that he put together myself. You know, obviously, I'm there representing Washington State University. And every every school has two to three players gave gave marks and Ravi Tobik are the representatives.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, I remember I know. I remember gave is a wide receiver. And he's got he's got the most receiving yards from wazoo.

Jack Thompson:

Yep. Yep. He, he had an outstanding career for the cooks and you know, he obviously he represents a younger generation. Me on the on the super old side, and probably somewhere in between.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah. So how do I know you've seen the team this year? Do you go to the spring game? Like what do you think on paper? They look amazing. Like I mean, it's the same coach from last year. They got this quarterback from who's incarnate world like standout and like everything looks great on paper, but you've seen it in person. What do you think?

Jack Thompson:

Well, I think we have a lot of potential. The area that I want to See, you know, development, quick development would be the offensive line. We have a really good offensive line coach and clay McGuire. Yeah. So if anyone's gonna put together a great offensive line unit, you'll be clay. And Eric Marsh, our offensive coordinator is you know, we'll be a head coach and the one school Sunday and the next I want to say the next four years, he is an excellent coach. While frankly coach Dickert has put together one of the best coaching staffs I've seen at Washington State. I mean, these guys are really good. And Brian Ward, our defensive coordinator has really got our our D, you know, Coach stickers. expertises on the defensive side, and those guys, those are the guys that saved us last year, right. So we're gonna, you know, our defense is going to do a great job, they're going to be exciting to watch. We have some really great players on the defensive side of the ball, but cam ward. I've only seen him in spring. He's very impressive. He's got that's what I'm hearing he's, he's he's got the ability. Throw, you know, over the top sidearm, whatever it takes kind of like a Patrick mahomes type. Well, you know, look at Eric Morris. He coached Patrick mahomes as offensive coordinator at Texas Tech. So

Chuck Shute:

right. I'm excited. They made a mistake letting delora go because he was the Freshman of the Year. I mean, he's really talented, too. I mean, not that I'm sure Ward is talented as well did that was ideally what they trying to keep both.

Jack Thompson:

So that was that was Janus decision. And I will say for the record now. I'm happy we got you got cam

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, I mean, if he wanted if he didn't want to compete, that's this. It's interesting that because I thought the plan was the law was gonna play another year or two and Ward was gonna be you know, the QB of the future, but I guess words playing now.

Jack Thompson:

Well, because he can, number one. Yeah, he is. He's a bigger, stronger. I think he has very leadership qualities come natural to him. And the guys on the team have rallied around that. And like I said, he you know, you won't see very many balls under thrown on takeoffs. And he has the ability to fit balls in small holes.

Chuck Shute:

And guys, ya know, I saw some highlights of you doing the same thing that I was like, wow, like, you were doing that back in the day. And I mean, you could you could tell they're like pro throws, you're throwing these throws, and I'm thinking that, where's that going? And then the receiver comes in, like you're timing it right. It's really cool, too. I love watching quarterbacks throw, it's exciting.

Jack Thompson:

I appreciate Chuck, I, you know, I was I was blessed to have to the great greatest receivers to ever play at Washington State, you know, Mike Levin seller and Brian Kelly. We work hard together. You know, we're three different guys. And but we we put in the hours after practice before practice. And, you know, it was all relative because we didn't throw near as many times back then as they do now. It'll have been scary if we were able to put the ball up, you know, as the numbers that these guys are doing this, you know, nowadays, throwing the ball 6070 times a game. Give me a break.

Chuck Shute:

I know but didn't when when you retire or not when you retire. But when you went to the NFL, didn't you hold that? Was it the record for most passing yards? Yeah, and the NCAA. That's crazy. And I mean, that's like now it's like, that's like two seasons worth

Jack Thompson:

or one. One and a half. I'll give him credit. One and a half.

Chuck Shute:

Okay. That's crazy.

Jack Thompson:

But yeah, it's it's it's a thing that you know, it's the evolution of football. And And just before I started playing at Washington State, the offensive choice was the the triple option. And, you know, the throwing the ball was the was last resort. And I was fortunate to have an offensive coordinator name, Bob Leahy, who came in with Jackie Cheryl. And he said we're going to throw the ball and that that fit me. And so or for those days? We threw the ball a lot.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, well now they now they definitely throw a lot. Now they got this cool grade system. I'm excited to see it's gonna be a fun year for football. I think

Jack Thompson:

you got our back and got our tie back. That's awesome. I like that. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. I think that'll help in the running game for sure.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, for sure. Now, what do you what do you think about players now that they get money? Now? How does that work with with WSU? Do you think that's going to hurt them? Or is it going to be pretty much the same like with because some of those bigger schools have more money, but they were getting the bigger recruits anyway. So does that make does even make a difference?

Jack Thompson:

Well, at the end of the day, I think kind of to your point. The we're limited, every team is limited to how many people they can have on the roster. Right. And that's really important. Because if that ever changes, and you know, they open that up, then real problems will happen. Because then the big school is like, you know, when I was a freshman coming up, that's a couple of rules changes I think that's when they start implementing the number of scholarships you can have and and freshmen can play in when I came when I came on board, that was in 1974. And the reason why I say this is because if the if the rosters the number on a roster is expanded or allowed to to expand, then schools like Washington State University would be lacking because USC you know, they have the money to have, you know, a 200 man roster. Now then that that would be really bad. It I think it's already bad. made difficult with the NFL, and the portal. But as long as the, you know, every team can only have let's just say 90 people on the roster. Well, you know, USC can only have 90, Oregon, you know, with Uncle Phil, they can only have 90, you know, and then the rest will just have to be that much better in recruiting.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, well, that's what I think is so cool about WSU is, despite not having all these, like Uncle Phil and all this kind of stuff, they still win a lot of those games like against UCLA, though beat UCLA with UCLA has got all these five star recruits, and who beats him I'm like, that's pretty cool.

Jack Thompson:

Ya know, and, and, and there's no reason why, you know, that should change. You know, we'll see, I don't think that as it exists today, I don't think it's going to stay this way. You know, there's a couple of fundamental differences between talking about people we're talking about, you know, as a free let the free market system, you know, have its way well, okay, a couple things, the NFL, right, that those are owned by private individuals, each team, right. And the profit motive the whole bit the free market system have added? Right? Well, you know, the schools that make up the NCAA, the vast majority of us, you know, are paid by taxpayers. Right. You're, we're not an NBA team. We're not an NFL team. We're not a major league baseball team. And plus a sport like football you know, helps fund all the other sports, you know, the title nine sports. And, you know, it's so it's a it's a different makeup, and then you have something in in NCAA sports that the NBA and the NFL doesn't have we have donors. You know, I mean, I'm going to be really curious as to how donors are going to feel about you know, kids getting paid more than some of their coaches being paid. You know, that's an extreme but I'm just going to be curious to see how it all shakes down. It's going to shake down I don't think it's going to be the one you know exactly what it is today because I don't think it can stay that way. Those are my two bits worth

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see it's yeah, hopefully things the Coos can still compete because I love watching the games are fun to watch. So I just don't I feel like it's already kind of lopsided. And to your point with NFL like at least NFL they have the draft. So the team that finishes last gets the first pick. And so there's a lot more balanced that way they don't have a system like that in NCAA so it's like Alabama just wins it almost like every other year. Yeah. That's kind of crazy.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah. I don't know how that's gonna look and feel like but like I said, I don't think it's going to be the same in two years as looks like today, so we'll see the end of the day check. Look, one thing I learned about Kooks it doesn't matter we'll always compete will always fight our asses off. And, and we won't take a backseat to know, you know someone from LA, you know, we won't have to dodge, you know, drive by shootings, they're like they do. So, you know, I don't care what anyone says, you know, going to Washington State University is a beautiful place for, you know, parents to send their kids, whether they go to school, or whether they go, you know, to Washington State to play sports and go to school. And that they can count on and at the end of the day, that's, that does make a difference. When parents come to Pullman, and they see this and they get it, and that they know that their kids will be relatively safe. For the four or five years they're going to be in Pullman, and they're going to get their education, you know, back to basics kind of things and don't think that's going to change.

Chuck Shute:

No, absolutely. They're part of that community that like the coops first, like you said, like, right, though it's never home and a family with other cooks in this connection. It's pretty neat.

Jack Thompson:

Yeah, well, I'm glad you brought that up. Because, you know, I was talking to Todd Schoenberger. I call them and he's in Florida recruiting. And I said, and I asked him if he can make it. And he said, Well, you know, I'd love to do that. I said, I told him that it can be Etheridge can't make it, but she's going to try to get her recruits, you know, that who've signed to go to Washington State University, to have them come to the show with their parents to see this other side of Washington University that we support our students and student athletes. And I told them that many kids get their first jobs at this and this is a recruiting advantage. And he says, Absolutely, I agree with you. Next thing you know, he called us. I'm coming. Nice. And so these are I think Kooks versus just another example of Kooks coming back together and helping each other in this case, I'll always do whatever I can help our sports programs.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, that's very cool. I love it. I appreciate all the work you're doing. I end each episode with a charity is there is there can people donate money to coops first or is there another charity that you want people to donate money towards?

Jack Thompson:

Donate to Washington State University. Okay, you know, athletic fun or just yeah, you know, ideally the athletic fun, you know, but for me don't need to watch the State University fine, you know, that, that that piece of Washington State University that floats your boat and give you know and that's you know, high tide raises all boats and a lot of great things are happening in Washington state and that's why if you're gonna come next week be there at three o'clock as president Schultz will talk, you know, State of the University address the some of the great things that are happening, you know, the 20 plus million dollars given to wash the state from SEL, the engineers, Schweitzer engineers, the the great things that are happening recruiting wise with Coach dickered and just the you know, I don't know if you know this, but we have six campuses. And, and they have become extremely robust our campus and Vancouver's such a beautiful place. Everett, Tri Cities, you know, our wine school, they're just taken off world worldwide. And our are met medical school in Spokane. It's, you know, the codes are shaking and moving. And then at our Global Campus, it is has become one of the best, you know, internet campuses around, it's just, you know, a lot of great things happening at WSU and, and Trixie, also will will tee it off for us on Wednesday.

Chuck Shute:

Okay, awesome. Well, if I can't make it this year, I'll try to plan for it next year. I'll try to like make a plan for that sounds amazing. Well, thanks so much for doing this. I appreciate it. And we'll be in touch.

Jack Thompson:

Appreciate you hanging with me being my tardiness.

Chuck Shute:

Yeah, no problem. Well, yeah, you just do me a favor. No problem.

Jack Thompson:

I do. I do. And I'm good for it. Alright.

Chuck Shute:

Thanks so much.

Jack Thompson:

Go Kooks take care.

Chuck Shute:

Okay, go Cougs Bye Bye. Well, that was such a fun interview. I want to thank Jack for coming on the show. Make sure to support the Kooks first. You can follow that on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can follow me on there as well. That helps us support the show as does your likes, comments and shares and make sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube or wherever you listen to get updated on future episodes. And if you really want to go out and support the show, I'd love for you to write a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you're listening or give me a rating on Spotify. That stuff helps more people find the podcast, and we only grow through you. We don't have a big corporation backing us up. It's all grassroots. So I appreciate any support you can give me. Thanks so much for listening. Have a great rest of your day and remember to shoot for the moon.