Posted on Wed, Jun. 04, 2008

All Navarus Thompson wanted to do was play the bass drum.

Only his brothers wouldn't let him.

'We were always teasing him -- `You can't be in the band,' '' said his brother Glenis, a running back at Western Michigan.

So finally, after middle school, Thompson dropped the bass drum and put on some shoulder pads, at last convinced to play football instead of -- Oh wait. That's not how the story really goes?

''Nah,'' Navarus Thompson said with a laugh, when told of his brother's version. Instead, the younger Thompson actually played both -- football and bass drum -- in middle school. And when high school rolled around. . .

''I just liked football more,'' he said.

However it happened, there's no disputing this: Thompson, a senior-to-be at Palm Beach Lakes, is a leader, a force on the defensive line and a Division-I prospect, drawing interest from South Florida, North Carolina State, Temple and Troy. And he already has an offer from Arkansas State.

''He's probably one of the best-looking kids, for his size [6-2, 250], that I've seen in a long time,'' new coach Alonzo Jefferson said. ``He can move. He's got great feet. He's got great instincts.''

And, Jefferson added, ``Defensively, he's tenacious.''

Maybe that's because he was raised around defensive players.

Although he plays offense now, Glenis Thompson also played linebacker at Palm Beach Lakes. Another brother, Clevan Thompson, played linebacker and defensive end for Glades Central before moving on to Savannah State. Even uncle Oliver Starline was a talented safety at Glades Central.

So when some colleges approached him about playing offensive line at the next level, he thought: Why go against the family? Why switch from his first love, defense?

''I'm a headhunter,'' Thompson said. ``I like the contact. I like to get physical with people.''

Thompson has that chance next year. But to Jefferson, he's been doing more in the month-plus since the new coach arrived at Palm Beach Lakes.

His biggest contribution: leadership.

''The young kids see a senior with his type of ability willing to accept [a new system] and willing to change,'' said Jefferson, who took over at Palm Beach Lakes after serving as an assistant at his alma mater, Cardinal Newman. ``That makes it a lot easier.''

It's also an example, Jefferson said, of Thompson's football character and intelligence. Where some of his younger players lack in understanding, Thompson excels.

That, Jefferson said, will make Thompson a quick contributor on whichever campus he chooses in 2009.

''He's really absorbing everything and taking everything in,'' Jefferson said. ``He'll be able to formulate that into a nice critical and mental practice that I think'll be real good in college.''

But first, his senior year -- about which Thompson has high hopes.

For his team, he wants what most desire: ''To go out with a bang,'' he said, by making the playoffs out of a tough District 7-6A.

For himself, he's not shooting any lower. Off the field, Thompson wants to extend that leadership from the football team to the school to the community.

On the field, he wants ''to be the best player in Palm Beach County,'' he said. And he wants records -- sacks, sacks in a game, things like that.

Sure, he doesn't know those exact numbers yet. But, free of band practice, he'll find out.

''As the season comes on,'' he said. ``I'll do a little Googling.''