Former UNC football players remember star defensive tackle Donnell Thompson

Donnell Thompson, a star defensive tackle on North Carolina's 1980 ACC championship team and 11-year NFL veteran, died on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. He was 65.

Thompson — or “Foots” as he was known to his Tar Heel teammates due to his size-16 shoe — played alongside Lawrence Taylor as part of a fear-striking defensive line that was a linchpin to UNC's success. The Tar Heels went 11-1 in 1980 and 6-0 in the ACC, marking their last overall ACC title.

Foots was named third-team All-America and first-team All-Conference in 1980. He is one of 25 first-round NFL draft picks in UNC history. He was selected 18th overall by the Baltimore Colts in the 1981 draft and spent his entire career in a Colts jersey. Foots started 143 of his 147 NFL games, racking up 41 sacks and eight fumble recoveries.

Phil Ragazzo played offensive line for the Tar Heels in the mid 1970s. He was teammates with Foots for one season in 1977. It was his senior year and Foots' first year. Ragazzo had the tough assignment of blocking the 6-foot-5, 270-pound phenom in practice. 

“I can still see him standing on the defensive line, hitching his pants up, and thinking, ‘That's not good,’” Ragazzo said. “‘He's looking pretty damn serious.’”

Foots traveled with the 1977 team that won an ACC championship. He played mostly on special teams as a first-year, but Ragazzo said he could tell Foots was going to be great. 

And Ragazzo was right. Foots became a dominant force up front for the Tar Heels. 

“He had great size, but he was strong,” former teammate and defensive back Ricky Barden said. “Very seldom did you see Foots get handled by the opposing tackle or guard.”

Off the field, Foots was a bright student and attentive to his studies. Ragazzo said he was squared away and did all the right things. 

Foots was quiet and unassuming. He did not talk trash. He was a great teammate, and his teammates loved being around him. Barden said the UNC defense in the late 1970s was a tight-knit group.

“We had fun off the field, just like we did on the field,” he said. “[Foots] was just an all-around great, easygoing guy.”

Foots was born in Lumberton, North Carolina. He attended Lumberton High School, where he played defensive end and fullback. After his senior season in 1976, Foots was selected to the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas — a high school all-star game.

After his retirement from the NFL, Foots moved back to North Carolina and started a career in business as a restaurant franchise owner. He owned nine Checkers and Rally's restaurants across the southeast, according to an interview with him by Nation's Restaurant News last year. 

Ragazzo said that Foots was always humble and generous. In the interview with NRN, Foots said he sponsored the Lumberton High School football team. He organized hamburger-eating contests to raise money and fed the team for free after games.

A few years ago, Ragazzo called Foots. There was an upcoming charity golf event in Lumberton sponsored by a friend of Ragazzo's. Several former Tar Heel football and basketball players were going to be there, and Ragazzo wanted Foots to come and play. Foots said he didn't really play golf.

“He decided what he would do is just pay for all the food for the entire golf tournament,” Ragazzo said. “That's pretty strong.”

That's who Foots was. And Barden summed him up best in just two words:

“Gentle giant.”

dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com