‘Instead of trying to tackle ball carriers, Thompson runs through them. The 11th-year linebacker, who’d spent his first 10 NFL seasons in Carolina, plays with the same brand of controlled violence that defined the position for generations. This isn’t a headhunting veteran. Thompson has been through enough to know the toll football can take on a man’s body and mind. He drives his shoulder into the torso, with a ferocity that can be conjured only by the sport’s fiercest competitors.’