Kenbrell Thompkins

Kenbrell Armod Thompkins (born July 29, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at El Camino College from 2008 to 2009 and for the Cincinnati Bearcats from 2011 to 2012. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots in 2013 and was also a member of the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Early life A native of the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Thompkins attended Miami Northwestern High School. A classmate of NFL cornerback Anthony Gaitor and Brady Tiggleman, Thompkins started for Northwestern, but was academically ineligible to play as a sophomore and was later expelled for violating school policy. He was allowed to re-enroll prior to his junior football season, only to be expelled again later in the year.

New England Patriots (first stint)

Thompkins signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent on May 3, 2013. In his preseason debut, Thompkins registered 4 receptions for 23 yards with the first-team offense against the Philadelphia Eagles. In the third game of the season, Thompkins caught the first two touchdown passes of his career to help the Patriots win the game 23–3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 6's matchup against the undefeated New Orleans Saints, Thompkins caught the game-winning touchdown on a 2nd down play with 5 seconds remaining in the game. Thompkins was released by the Patriots on October 4, 2014.

Oakland Raiders Thompkins was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Raiders two days after his release from the Patriots, on October 6, 2014. He caught 15 passes in 12 games for 209 yards with Oakland and was cut by Oakland on September 1, 2015.

New England Patriots (second stint) The Patriots re-signed Thompkins to their practice squad on September 6, 2015. He was released from the practice squad on September 30, 2015.

New York Jets On October 2, 2015, the New York Jets signed Thompkins to their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 20, 2015, after Quincy Enunwa was suspended. On September 3, 2016, Thompkins was released by the Jets as part of their final roster cuts.

On August 16, 2017, Thompkins re-signed with the Jets. On September 2, 2017, Thompkins was released by the Jets.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers On May 22, 2018, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) announced they had signed Thompkins to a contract. He was shifted to the team's practice roster on June 28, then promoted back to the active roster on July 26. He was placed on the suspended list on May 19, 2019, then released on July 11.

NFL career statistics Year Team GP Receiving Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 2013 NE 12 32 466 14.6 49 42014 NE 2 6 53 8.8 16 0 OAK 12 15 209 13.9 50 0 2015 NYJ 7 17 165 9.7 43 0 Total 33 70 893 12.8 50 4

Personal life Thompkins is the cousin of wide receiver Antonio Brown and also has a younger brother Kendal Thompkins who played in the Arena Football League.

Thompkins was charged by the U.S. federal government with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft on March 26, 2021, after prosecutors alleged that he stole $300,000 in unemployment benefits from the state of California. He pled guilty to these charges in October 2021. In January 2022, he was sentenced to 25 months in prison and was required to return $132,980.