Octavian
8/12/2006, 12:16 PM
from the TW
In Good Hands: Sooners Respect Thompson's Team-First Attitude
NORMAN -- As the only true feel-good story in an Oklahoma preseason that's otherwise gone rotten, quarterback Paul Thompson will have a lot of people pulling for him at Saturday's 6 p.m. scrimmage.
The coaches respect the team-first character he's shown the past five years.
The Owen Field fans respect the fact he's not Rhett Bomar.
And then there are Thompson's partners -- his wide receivers.
"I'm going to go hard for any quarterback that plays for Oklahoma," Juaquin Iglesias said. "But for Paul, just because I'm that much closer to him, that is going to make me go even harder."
The Sooners' offensive linemen may serve as Thompson's bodyguards, but it is the wideouts who have his back.
"Oh, yeah," said Manuel Johnson, who starts along with Iglesias and Malcolm Kelly. "Because he went through everything we did."
Rewind one year. It took a season-opening loss to TCU for Bomar to supplant Thompson and for Thompson to shuttle to wide receiver. Thompson had waited three years for his shot at quarterback, and it took 54 plays for OU's coaches to decide it wasn't going to work out.
So how did Thompson take the news upon switching positions?
"He jumped right in," Johnson said. "He could already catch. He knew the plays already. But it wasn't just that. He spoke up in meetings.
"He knew what read the quarterback was going to make, so he helped us a lot more, let us know what (quarterbacks) were looking for so we could help him. We could all be on the same page."
He spoke up outside of meetings, too.
"Those guys were freshmen, or redshirt freshmen," OU wide receiver coach Kevin Sumlin said of the three starters, and of second-teamers Eric Huggins, Quentin Chaney and Fred Strong as well. "And Paul showed them how to work, showed them how to compete this summer, showed them how to go through spring drills.
"I think they gained an appreciation for him and are eager to play."
There isn't much "think" about it.
"We always were together in meetings and things like that," Iglesias said. "He talked to us all the time."
It went like that right up until Bomar's dismissal, when Thompson was given another shot at quarterback. This one came with a unique perspective.
Just as Thompson helped put the wideouts in the quarterback's shoes, the wideouts put Thompson in theirs.
"Now he knows exactly how we run our routes," Iglesias said. "That can only help with timing."
If nothing else, as Johnson joked, "He understands that the go-up-and-get-it balls aren't any fun."
It is said a quarterback and his receivers must be on the same page. Last September against TCU, Thompson and then-seniors Travis Wilson and Jejuan Rankins were not.
Now Wilson and Rankins are gone. So is Bomar.
In step Iglesias, Johnson, Kelly and Thompson. One year after bunking together, and learning from each other, the feeling is they might be a closer group.
If not, they'll do everything possible to get there.
"A lot of people think we're not going to be able to throw, but they don't know what happens behind the scenes," Johnson said. "Paul helped us, and we helped him. We're going to stick together, make it through and make a run."
.
In Good Hands: Sooners Respect Thompson's Team-First Attitude
NORMAN -- As the only true feel-good story in an Oklahoma preseason that's otherwise gone rotten, quarterback Paul Thompson will have a lot of people pulling for him at Saturday's 6 p.m. scrimmage.
The coaches respect the team-first character he's shown the past five years.
The Owen Field fans respect the fact he's not Rhett Bomar.
And then there are Thompson's partners -- his wide receivers.
"I'm going to go hard for any quarterback that plays for Oklahoma," Juaquin Iglesias said. "But for Paul, just because I'm that much closer to him, that is going to make me go even harder."
The Sooners' offensive linemen may serve as Thompson's bodyguards, but it is the wideouts who have his back.
"Oh, yeah," said Manuel Johnson, who starts along with Iglesias and Malcolm Kelly. "Because he went through everything we did."
Rewind one year. It took a season-opening loss to TCU for Bomar to supplant Thompson and for Thompson to shuttle to wide receiver. Thompson had waited three years for his shot at quarterback, and it took 54 plays for OU's coaches to decide it wasn't going to work out.
So how did Thompson take the news upon switching positions?
"He jumped right in," Johnson said. "He could already catch. He knew the plays already. But it wasn't just that. He spoke up in meetings.
"He knew what read the quarterback was going to make, so he helped us a lot more, let us know what (quarterbacks) were looking for so we could help him. We could all be on the same page."
He spoke up outside of meetings, too.
"Those guys were freshmen, or redshirt freshmen," OU wide receiver coach Kevin Sumlin said of the three starters, and of second-teamers Eric Huggins, Quentin Chaney and Fred Strong as well. "And Paul showed them how to work, showed them how to compete this summer, showed them how to go through spring drills.
"I think they gained an appreciation for him and are eager to play."
There isn't much "think" about it.
"We always were together in meetings and things like that," Iglesias said. "He talked to us all the time."
It went like that right up until Bomar's dismissal, when Thompson was given another shot at quarterback. This one came with a unique perspective.
Just as Thompson helped put the wideouts in the quarterback's shoes, the wideouts put Thompson in theirs.
"Now he knows exactly how we run our routes," Iglesias said. "That can only help with timing."
If nothing else, as Johnson joked, "He understands that the go-up-and-get-it balls aren't any fun."
It is said a quarterback and his receivers must be on the same page. Last September against TCU, Thompson and then-seniors Travis Wilson and Jejuan Rankins were not.
Now Wilson and Rankins are gone. So is Bomar.
In step Iglesias, Johnson, Kelly and Thompson. One year after bunking together, and learning from each other, the feeling is they might be a closer group.
If not, they'll do everything possible to get there.
"A lot of people think we're not going to be able to throw, but they don't know what happens behind the scenes," Johnson said. "Paul helped us, and we helped him. We're going to stick together, make it through and make a run."
.