Falcons rookie defensive tackle Anterio Thompson, who has been on the non-football injury list since the start of training camp, has disclosed that his career is over.
Via Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Thompson recently disclosed on social media that he has been told he’ll never play football again, due to a genetic mutation of his spinal cord.
Coincidentally, Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski was asked about Thompson on Friday, before Thompson’s Instagram post circulated.
“Mentally, I’ve been better than anyone would be in my situation,” Thompson wrote. “As a football player you know one day you’ll have to hang up your cleats but you just hope it’s on your own terms. It’s hard to explain what it feels like to go through the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the [sic] matter of seconds.”
Thompson, who played college football at Washington in 2025, was a sixth-round pick in the 2026 draft.