He played college football at Southern Miss, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft.
He has also been a member of the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, St. Louis BattleHawks and Toronto Argonauts.
He did not qualify academically for the NCAA standards, leading him to spend one year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia.
[1] After originally committing to South Florida, he had not been approved by USF's academic committee, despite meeting the NCAA standard.
[2] At the end of the season, he was selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman team as voted on by the league's head football coaches.
[2] In his final year with the Golden Eagles, Thornton started 11 games and was voted a team captain by the other players.
[2] Thornton missed the final contest of his collegiate career due to a deep bone bruise that caused some internal bleeding he sustained the week before against Middle Tennessee.
[12] During the game, he was noted up as "frequently taking up multiple blockers" and that he showed fast hands and an ability to pressure the quarterback.
[13] To prepare for the NFL Combine, Thornton reportedly worked out at the EXOS facility in Gulf Breeze, Florida at the recommendation of former teammate Jamie Collins.
[14] During an interview at the facility, Thornton said that scouts had told him he needed to work on keeping his pads low, but he was more focused on running a fast forty yard dash and his bench press.
[9] Scouts said that he had great strength and quick hands, and was very versatile on the defensive line with good bursts of speed.
[19] Thompson has said that Khyri kept catching the Packers' eye even though he didn't play on a team that won a lot of games.
[13] He was not projected to star in the scheme, but was expected to be part of the defensive rotation[18] Thornton signed his rookie contract on May 19, 2014.
[20] His former defensive coordinator at Southern Miss, Derrick LeBlanc commented that Green Bay was going to get a guy who would work hard every day and that he has the talents for a long career in the NFL.
[15] During training camp, Thornton noted that he had played in five schemes in five years while in college and believed that that experience would allow him to fit in anywhere on the defensive line.
[23] On August 30, 2014, Thornton was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a hamstring injury in the final preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
[40] Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com Thornton's cousin attended high school with him and is now a wide receiver at Florida International University.
[3] While in college, he volunteered at Dubard High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi where he worked with special needs children.