He played college football at the University of Florida, where he was a member of a BCS National Championship team.

As a senior in 2006, he helped lead the Raiders to a Class 3A state football championship with 30 receptions for 504 yards and eight touchdowns, despite missing five games with a foot injury.

[5] Thompson was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2012 NFL draft.

[8] He made the team and caught five passes in the regular season, and handled kick return duties for the first five games.

[23] He also caught a 34-yard pass during a blizzard game against the Indianapolis Colts to set up LeSean McCoy's game-winning touchdown in overtime.

[24] Thompson finished the season with career highs in receptions, targets, and receiving yards, also helping Buffalo make the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

[26] He was limited with an Achilles strain from the start of training camp and worked back into practice for the last 2 preseason games.

[27] Thompson was expected to be a starter as part of a wide-receiver-by-committee approach, that was put in place after the Cowboys released their main wide receiver Dez Bryant on April 13.

He was named a starter alongside Terrance Williams in the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, making 3 receptions for 27 yards.

In the sixth game he returned to a reserve role, after being passed on the depth chart by rookie Michael Gallup.

On October 22, the Cowboys traded a 2019 first round draft choice to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for Amari Cooper, to take over the number one receiver role, which also limited Thompson's targets moving forward.