Fatherhood and NFL football balance for SWFL native

One Southwest Florida native is preparing to make it to the NFL playing alongside seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady while balancing fatherhood.

Deven Thompkins, un-drafted out of Utah State, is getting the chance of a lifetime to play with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Thompkins a Dunbar native, wants to be more than just the best football player he can be. For Thompkins, becoming the best father he can be is incredibly important. But, balancing fatherhood with trying to make the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 53-man roster for the upcoming season is no easy task.

“It’s kind of like a sacrifice in a way and it tears me apart,” Thompkins said.

Thompkins’s two young children, Nyomi and Messiah, live in Fort Myers. Thompkins, like any proud dad, lights up when he thinks about them. Thompkins’s eldest child, Nyomi, is only four-years-old but he sees a lot of himself in her.

“She’s my wild child, you know, she’s like a mini version of me,” Thompkins said.

While his youngest, Messiah, is just two-years-old, and his dad sees him as a strong fighter. Messiah has been diagnosed with Down syndrome, and while Thompkins said he has his challenges, there’s no quit in him. “He’s my angel child,” Thompkins said. He’s been a blessing to me.”

“He hasn’t really been able to walk yet. But you know he’s standing pretty good,” Thompkins said. “He’s taking little steps. He’s doing the little things and he hasn’t been able to speak. But you know other than that. It’s just like a regular baby honestly.”

Being away from your children is hard for a lot of fathers. Also, Thompkins isn’t one of those dads who when he takes the field his children are out of sight, out of mind. While he was playing at Utah State, Thompkins juggled fatherhood, football, and school.

“I had a Professor for psychology, and when I had my daughter Nyomi the whole summer and I’d bring her to class and you know the professor would hold her during the lectures,” Thompkins said.

Thompkins high school head coach, Sam Brown, at Dunbar High School, shared some thoughts about Thompkins and his fatherhood role.

“He’s taken on the role of being a great father. He understood what it called for and then he did it,” Brown said. “Him and his son and daughter, they all graduated from Utah State.”

“He’s small in stature but he’s got a heart of a giant,” Brown said.

Thompkins explained to WINK News that proving himself to coaches and critics is not his priority. “I’ve proven what I’ve proven and now it’s about me getting better,” Thompkins said.

And, just like two-year-old Messiah, there’s no quit in Thompkins either. Thompkins is determined to beat the odds and make it to the NFL, but his mission in life is to be the best he can be for Nyomi and Messiah.

“I want them to be like one day like yeah that’s my daddy,” Thompkins said. “You know my daddy did all these different things you know in order to make sure we had a great life.”

Thompkins’s mother saw her son play three times in college but now that Thompkins is closer to home that will change. The family will be in the stands seeing Thompkins take the field in his first NFL preseason game on Aug. 13 facing the Miami Dolphins.