Atlanta Falcons rookie Anterio Thompson has been told he will never step foot on a football field again after being diagnosed with a genetic mutation of his spinal cord.
The defensive tackle, 24, was drafted out of Washington ahead of the 2026 NFL season to complete his dream of getting to the NFL.
In heartbreaking news though, it appears he won’t play in a game after he revealed the diagnosis in a post on Instagram this week.
He wrote: ‘Mentally, I’ve been better than anyone would be in my situation. I was told I would never play football again due to a genetic mutation in my spinal cord that I had no idea about.
‘As a football player you know one day you’ll have to hang up your cleats but you just hope it’s on your own terms. It’s hard to explain what it feels like to go through the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the [sic] matter of seconds.’
ESPN went on to report that Thompson has been on the reserve/non-football injury list since training camp and he has not been with the team since the spring.
Anterio Thompson, pictured with his girlfriend Savannah, was given a devastating diagnosis
The defensive tackle was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski was also asked about the young player on Friday, telling the media he had ‘no update,’ shortly before news of Thompson’s diagnosis became public.
Wisconsin native Thompson has since posted again on Instagram, noting: ‘The post I posted Thursday wasn’t a cry for help or me asking for sympathy. I just wanted to lay that part of me to rest.
‘Football was everything to me, I just knew regardless how bad the world was around me I had football. This is my last post talking about this publicly as I don’t want to bring any more attention to this [than] it needs. I have no further comments.’
At the University of Washington last season, Thompson had 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
Prior to his senior season at Washington, he had played a season at each of Iowa Western, Iowa and Western Michigan.
