In 2024, Dempsey was named at Number 94 in Don The Stat’s Top 100 Essendon Players since 1980.
[1] Dempsey was born in Mount Isa[2] and has Indigenous Australian heritage and his ancestry can be traced to the Kalkadoon, a tribe from Queensland's South/Central West region.
[3] Dempsey's first sport was rugby league which he played as a junior before trying Aussie Rules in Cairns.
[2] He played with the Manunda Hawks in the AFL Cairns competition.
[7] In August, he tore his hamstring tendon[8] and missed the remainder of the season.