Seven years ago, quarterback Casey Thompson earned his first snaps as a quarterback for the Texas Longhorns.
After backing up Sam Ehlinger for two years, he was the heir apparent for the Horns' offense until Quinn Ewers transferred back to the Lone Star State, and Thompson ended up transferring to play for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Now, Thompson is set to take his talents overseas, signing a contract with the Dresden Monarchs, a team in the German Football League, before they kicked off their hopeful run through the GFL Playoffs.
Casey Thompson's vast array of college experience will help overseas
He spent just one year at Nebraska and then played a season for the FAU Owls before closing out his collegiate career as a backup quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners.
While his time on the 40 Acres didn't work out how he had imagined, and even though he ended up playing for one of Texas's fiercest rivals, Thompson built quite a resume while playing for the Longhorns during his one season as the starter.
All of that experience, starting for three different teams in three different conferences over a five-year career, has set Thompson up for success, even if that's in the GFL instead of the NFL.
Between his time at Texas, Nebraska, and FAU, Thompson amassed 5,338 career passing yards for 52 touchdowns. He also earned 10 touchdowns on the ground with 191 rushing yards to his name. While he threw 24 interceptions, he completed over 63% of his pass attempts throughout his collegiate career.
While Thompson likely won't start for the Monarchs, playing a supporting role to Dresden quarterback Rocky Lombardi, who threw for 248 yards and four touchdowns in their last game, it is yet another opportunity for the former Longhorn QB to gain invaluable experience.
Thompson wasn't the only player that Dresden signed this week, joined by wide receiver Michael Breuler, who has a handful of years of experience in European football leagues.
As touted by American Football International, the pair arrives "with extensive experience and provide additional options as Dresden looks to keep its offense among the league’s most dangerous units heading into the playoffs."
As a four-star prospect, Thompson was initially recruited to Texas by former head coach Tom Herman and signed with the Longhorns out of the class of 2018, choosing them over his home-state team of the Sooners, despite his father having played QB at OU.
After the 2024 season, backing up then-OU quarterback Jackson Arnold for his final year of college football, Thompson went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft and, until now, had yet to sign a contract with a professional football team.
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