Four Downs With Panthers Linebacker Shaq Thompson

First Down – Golf

 

BV: You started getting into golf a bit last summer. Are you going to give it another go this offseason?

ST: I'm definitely going to give it a go. It's been a long, rough season, so I'll get my mind off lifting, getting in shape and all that. I think I'm going to go back to play some golf. I'm not good; I think I've told you that before.

BV: You have. But who is good? Very few people are.

ST: That's the fun of it.

BV: What are some of your golf goals for the offseason?

ST: To get my swing down and to keep my ball going straight. I have a tendency of slicing and it either goes wide right or right in front of me. When I swing, I come with all my force.

BV: You just want to hit it as hard as you can?

ST: Right. So that would be my biggest thing, plus getting down what to use and how far you're out? A nine iron or an eight? What do those do? To pop up the ball – to do pop-up distance. And putting. Putting is pretty hard.

BV: It's all hard.

ST: You've got to know the green, I guess. You've got to know how the course is, where the hills are at. That's a lot. 

BV: You got new clubs last summer, right?

ST: Yeah, I got some from Nike. 

BV: How are they?

ST: They're good, but I've got to put them to use again. They're kind of rusty right now.

 

Second Down – TV

 

BV: What's your favorite TV show?

ST: I'm a big HGTV guy. 

BV: Really?

ST: It's interesting how they flip the houses. How they take something that's dirty, rusty, nasty and turn it into a beautiful, modern house. That may be something I want to do after I'm done playing. 

BV: You'd want to flip them?

ST: Yeah, like a way of giving back. Fixing up a house and selling it to a family who's probably on their second time buying a house, first time buying a house. 

BV: Is that something you can do now?

ST: It probably is. It's something I'd have to talk to my financial guy about. I've got a new kid, so it's kind of hard to play out.

 

Third Down – Fatherhood

 

BV: So how old is your little one?

ST: She's two months.

BV: And how's that going? 

ST: It's going great. Really great.

BV: What'd she get for her first Christmas?

ST: Some stuffed animals and clothes. She was sleeping when we opened presents. 

BV: What's her name?

ST: Kya.

BV: Pretty name. Has anything surprised you yet in the early stages of being a day?

ST: Nothing.

BV: You're not calling your mom saying, "What do I do?"

ST: No, I have nine nieces and nephews and took care of three of them, or just helped out when they were young and growing up. So I have a little bit of experience. But they're my nieces and nephews, not my child. So that's what's kind of different. But I just use what I did with my nieces and nephews and apply that to my fatherhood.

 

Fourth Down – Fan Submitted Question 

 

BV: So this week's question from a fan comes from "DBC52" on Twitter. He wants to know if you have a post-game ritual.

ST: I just go home and chill. 

BV: Do you watch Sunday Night Football?

ST: No. When I get home, I don't watch sports. No football, no basketball, no nothing. 

BV: So no sports, but HGTV. 

ST: HGTV, movies. 

BV: Win or lose, you just go home and watch "House Hunters."

ST: No, I don't like "House Hunters." I like "Fixer Upper." "Flip or Flop," they broke my heart. 

BV: Why's that?

ST: They're getting divorced.

BV: Oh, that's right. I've seen that big news.

ST: After I heard about that, I can't watch it anymore cause I just see his face. But the houses are ridiculous. 

BV: How can we believe in true love when they're not together anymore?

ST: But "Flip or Flop," "Fixer Upper," "Love It or List It," and that's really about it. I don't mess with "House Hunters."

BV: Don't blame ya.