Inside The Huskies

Shaq Thompson Has No Use for Fair-Weather Panthers Fans

The former Husky linebacker had a message for his critics.

Dan Raley

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Shaq Thompson plays a tough brand of football, so it's not surprising that the former University of Washington linebacker might hear what his NFL critics are saying and bark back at them.

Having just completed his eighth season for the Carolina Panthers, he took to social media on Monday with the following stern directive:

"Fans love the interaction. The real fans I love y'all and thank y'all for the support [for] the team and myself. To the fake ones and the ones that want me 'cut,' remember to keep God in your life and get that hate out [of] your blood. Not doing anything for you in life!"

Thompson probably wrote that message while icing any number of aching body aches and reading someone's suggestion that his time in Charlotte should be done. 

For a 7-10 team, the 6-foot, 230-pound Thompson changed things up by swapping out numbers, going from 54 back to his Husky number 7 once the league relaxed its requirements of who could wear what.

He comes off a season in which he piled up a career-best 135 tackles by a wide margin, which is best illustrated in different images in the accompanying photo gallery here:

MAN OF STEEL :: Bob Dornan/USA TODAY Sports

The hard-hitting Shaq Thompson delivers a blow to the Steelers' defenseless Jaylen Warren.

PANTHER IN HIS PRIME :: Bob Dornan/USA TODAY Sports

Shaq Thompson just completed his eighth NFL season for the Carolina Panthers and had a career-best 135 tackles.

WORD TO THE WISE :: Bob Dornan/USA TODAY Sports

Shaq Thompson shares some insight with temporary Carolina quarterback Baker Mayfield. 

BENGAL BATTERING :: Albert Cesare-The En/USA TODAY Sports

Shaq Thompson runs into Cincinnati running back Joe Mixon with a full head of steam. 

KITTLE CRUNCH TIME :: Bob Dornan/USA TODAY Sports

The ball and Shaq Thompson arrive at the same time for 49ers tight end George Kittle. 

PITTSBURGH PAVING :: Jim Dedrnan/USA TODAY Sports

Shaq Thompson drops the Steelers' Diontae Johnson with a full-body hit during their game in Charlotte. 

QUICK RECOVERY :: Jim Dedman/USA TODAY Sports

Shaq Thompson prepares to pounce on a fumble by Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray on the road.

STRIDE FOR STRIDE :: Jim Dedman/USA TODAY Sports

Shaq Thompson will enter the final season of a four-year, $54.2 million contract, which he has reconstructured once to help his team.

Yet fans see the losses and the four-year, $54.2 million contract extension he signed in 2019 and they become convinced that money could be spent on multiple players who could help make the franchise a winner again.

It's sort of like what the Seattle Seahawks did a year ago with linebacker Bobby Wagner, by letting him and his salary go as they did a reset.

Certainly Thompson is a battle-worn NFL player for Carolina after appearing in 117 games and starting all but 11 of them. 

Yet he's already done one salary restructuring with the Panthers, agreeing to take less money to free up the franchise to add more bodies.

Meantime, he hears the discontent and has no problem shooting it down.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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