Drew Thompson, on the right with broadcast partner Michael Wright, offer a unique angle on Valley football among their broadcast for RTC-4. Thompson gave up his football managerial job to take on the broadcasting role. InkFreeNews photos by Mike Deak

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

AKRON – It really does seem like everywhere that Tippecanoe Valley finds success, Drew Thompson is around somewhere. Or maybe Drew Thompson is just setting himself up for success and it’s finding him.

He doesn’t have the quickdraw history of a Micah Lukens, or even the networking ability that of the great Val Tsoutsouris. He’s not quite Forrest Gump-esque as, say, Valley superfan Ben Adams, with the penchant for instant deep dives of the past on command. But you have to admire the hustle that Thompson puts into his approach. And the kid is slowly figuring out how to make it come together.

Thompson is maybe best known in the Valley community for his association with Death Valley athletics. He’s been a manager seemingly his entire high school career, though he has had some time off. His first couple years could be seen living and dying, sometimes painfully and other times jovially, with Death Valley football. He’d run the sidelines, smack shoulder pads, cheer on the team up 40 or down 40. While it doesn’t amount to much for those afar, Thompson was actually building his own leadership model.

Drew Thompson loads up for a pass during the 2021 Unified Flag Football Regional at Wawasee.

In 2018, Tippecanoe Valley introduced its first Unified Flag Football team. Thompson liked the concept and decided to give it a go. Little did he know that the short regular season would turn into a long playoff run, Valley making it all the way to the state championship game. For three more years, Thompson slowly became not just a consistent face in the program, he became the captain, and soon became the de facto spokesperson for the sport in his own school hallways.

“It feels great to have that role,” Thompson said. “I figured everybody would go to the coaches. The football guys would come to me. How did Unified go? I’d let ’em know. It showed me about family. It showed me that we’re all together at Valley. We built a program to be proud of in the community.”

Thompson was a four-year starter for Valley’s Unified team, a three-time sectional champion and four-year captain. While official stats aren’t kept for Unified, Thompson likes to joke that he’ll go down as the all-time leader at quarterback, ‘at least until the next guy comes in.’

“It’s all about mentality, teammates and community,” Thompson said. “Our Unified team isn’t about one player, it’s about a team. The Chicago Bulls, the New England Patriots, it took a team, not just Michael Jordan or Tom Brady. I think that’s how we built the team that we have at Valley.”

Looking to expand his sporting horizons, Thompson joined with the radio and TV class in school which works with RTC-4 out of Rochester. The idea of being able to talk sports was already appealing to one of the biggest sports talkers on campus. Getting out and sharing his passion for the game was hard to turn down.

“I can do camera, broadcast and get paid? Sign me up!,” noted Thompson.

The class, taught by Valley teacher and multi-sport coach Nick Kindig, teaches the foundations and styles of sports broadcasting, but also touches on professionalism, ethics and the art of the presentation.

“The radio broadcasts with WRSW, that’s the only place to get the game. I felt like there was another angle,” noted Thompson, but quick to laud Tim Kefabber, Rita Price and Lukens for what they do and all the support they give him. “Maybe the perspective from a kid makes it more valuable. If I got on TV, thought that aspect would give me the opportunity with RTC to do well.”

Thompson relinquished his managerial duties with the Vikings to work on the game broadcasts, and ultimately focus on his senior of Unified, which culminated in a Final Four appearance a few weeks ago. He also did basketball last winter and has been loving every minute of his work this fall broadcasting his friends on the field as they look to win 10 in a row this weekend in the sectional semi-finals against Marian.

It’s the only place Thompson would be.

“I played football so others in the future could play after me,” Thompson said, laying out a framework for his predicted legacy at Valley. “I hope they play like me. Play hard. Play for your team. I look forward to continuing to see the sport thriving.

“I don’t think me at Valley now is my legacy. I think it’s the next group. The foundation I laid, my teammates left.”