Thompson Living Out A Fairy-Tale Football Life
September 10, 2025 | Football, Joel Coleman
Mississippi State receiver realizing dreams on and off the field.
STARKVILLE – In the middle of chaos, there was quiet.
It was a few moments after Mississippi State took down No. 12 Arizona State last Saturday night. Wide receiver Brenen Thompson, not long after he'd made himself a Bulldog legend with his game-winning 58-yard touchdown reception, held his wife McKenzie's hand and knelt to pray in the south endzone of Davis Wade Stadium while thousands of MSU fans wildly celebrated a historic win on the field.
"I like to pray before and after every game, win or loss," Thompson said. "We give all the glory to Him…Yeah, I'm just blessed. I'm beyond blessed."
Thompson unquestionably has so much to be thankful for. In many ways, he's living out a fairy tale.
He's quickly cemented himself as a star in Starkville. Back in May, he was wed to the girl that was first by his side way back when Thompson was only six or seven years old.
The avid outdoorsman even recently picked up something he's longed for – his own bass boat, fully customized to his liking.
Yeah, it's good to be Brenen Thompson.
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So how did Thompson get to this point, where his life seems like an ideal fit for the silver screen? It all started in the Lone Star State.
They say things are bigger in Texas, but Thompson's roots grew in a small foundation.
Early, Texas. Current population: around 3,000 folks.
Thompson could often be found running around with the football in his hands down in Early. Even then, it was quickly apparent he had a special trait.
"We came to the realization in flag football that nobody could touch me," Thompson said.
His blazing speed was already too much for opponents.
"So then, when you're really good at something, you just kind of start to fall in love with it even more," Thompson said.
Thompson's football life was, quite literally, off and running.
By high school, Thompson had moved to Spearman, Texas, and was a shining star at Spearman High. You've got to be special to stand out in football-crazed Texas, and Thompson certainly was.
He was an All-America, All-State and two-time All-District award winner. He was a four-star prospect rated as high as the No. 11 receiver in the country.
It made Thompson a wanted man. Offers came from all over the nation. He had more than 30 of them in fact. Oregon, Alabama, Texas A&M and many more came calling.
"My head was all over the place," Thompson said. "I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. I'd grown up in a small town my whole life, so I decided I wanted change. In order for me to grow, I had to figure out who I wanted to be, not just as a football player, but a man."
Thompson finally made his choice. He put on the burnt orange of his home-state Texas Longhorns and his college journey began.
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After one season, Thompson made the decision to transfer from Texas to Oklahoma. Hindsight now offers some perspective for Thompson.
To be clear, he's thankful for his time at Texas.
"I left Texas with good times," Thompson said. "I took what I learned there and just kept moving."
The word 'fit' gets thrown around a lot in college athletics. Fact is, this outstanding athlete that's as home out on the lake or in the woods as he is on the gridiron simply realized he was more at home away from big-city lights. So, Thompson went to the other side of the Red River Rivalry, transferring to Oklahoma.
"It was a no-brainer for me at the time," Thompson said. "It was actually closer to home for me. Even though I'm from Texas, [Norman, Oklahoma] was actually about four hours closer to home.
"So, I wanted to go there and get back to my roots, get back into some of the outdoor stuff. I wanted to focus on myself more as a man, too. So, I got back into church when I got to Norman. I got close to my pastor there and started to settle down and find out who I really am."
Thompson built another strong relationship in his first season with the Sooners. It was with then-Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.
No one knew it at the time, but Thompson's path to Starkville was being paved.
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Thompson had a pair of strong campaigns in Oklahoma. Despite missing most of the first half of the 2023 season due to injury, Thompson still totaled 241 yards and two touchdowns and showed his explosiveness by averaging 34.4 yards per catch in Lebby's offense.
After Lebby left to become the head coach at Mississippi State, Thompson became a starter for Oklahoma and again showed flashes of how good he can be in 2024.
So, when Thompson started looking for a place to play his senior season and when Lebby was searching for playmaking pass catchers to restock his receiver room at State, everything lined up perfectly for Thompson to put on Maroon and White.
"[The relationship I'd built with Coach Lebby] was the biggest influence [in choosing MSU]," Thompson said. "I knew what I was getting offensively. I knew what I was getting as a coach. I knew what I was getting as a man. Ultimately, everything just made sense."
Everyone is seeing exactly how much sense it made. The results through just two games are loud and clear.
Thompson already has 13 catches for 225 yards and two scores. He's had a catch of 50 or more yards in both MSU contests this season, including his game-winner last Saturday night that'll live on in State highlight reels for eternity.
Those are the obvious things that prove how valuable Thompson is to the State football program. But Lebby says there's even more.
"I think [Thompson] has set the standard for how you should operate inside of the building as a transfer," Lebby said. "There's not a better teammate. There's not a guy that spends more time, is more accountable or is as serious about being great at everything that he does.
"He's got a really mature personality. He's an old soul, and this guy has done an unbelievable job of being a great teammate. He has really set the expectation for transfers and what it's supposed to look like."
There is no statistical measure for the value Thompson brings to the Bulldog locker room. However, for a team that added a total of 65 new players over the offseason including 37 from the transfer portal, Thompson's maturity, and just the person he is, is invaluable.
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It's been said many times before that behind every great man is a great woman. Thompson certainly won't argue against the old adage.
"She makes my life so much easier," Thompson said of his bride. "I'm busy all the time, but I get home and the laundry is done. The house is clean. She always keeps my head on straight.
"She'll help me with homework, or say, 'Hey, let's go fishing.' She loves to fish. She loves to hunt. Ultimately, she likes to do all the things I love to do."
Like football, McKenzie came into Brenen's life back in Early. Brenen was a first grader. McKenzie was a couple of years older. The two lived in an apartment complex where Brenen and his mother were on one side of a duplex. McKenzie and her mom were on the other.
"We always just hung around," Brenen said. "We went to the park. We went swimming at the apartment complex. We did stuff little kids do. We swung on the swing set. We played with Nerf guns.
"But we just made a great friendship so early on in my life and it just stuck and stuck."
It stuck when Brenen moved to Spearman, even though his contact with McKenzie wasn't quite as often during the high school days. But by Brenen's senior year at Spearman, the lifelong friends reconnected and became more.
Committed to Texas at the time, Brenen and McKenzie went to the 2021 Texas-Oklahoma game together.
"It was our first date – well, I guess you can call it a date now," Brenen said. "That's kind of where it all kicked off. It was really our first time being back together since middle school and we just clicked right where we left off. I think we immediately knew it could be something for sure."
It absolutely was.
When Brenen went to Austin, McKenzie went to Austin.
When Brenen went to Norman, McKenzie went to Norman.
When Brenen came to Starkville, McKenzie came, too….and took Brenen's last name.
"She's the head of our household and I always tell her that," Brenen said. "When we have kids down the road, she'll always be the head of the household. She makes my life easy and fun. I can't thank her enough."
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Brenen Thompson's story is far from complete. As good as it's been already, he's young enough and talented enough you can easily say his tale is really only in the early chapters.
But for as fast as Thompson's feet can be (and he is legitimately one of the fastest in all of college football), he's pretty good at staying right where his feet are, and right now that's in Starkville, Mississippi – where the fairy tale keeps rolling on.
"Starkville means a lot to me for sure," Thompson said. "I've gotten married while I was here. My senior year is here. I'm linked back up with Coach Lebby here. It's meant everything to me up to this point.
"I know God brought me here for more reasons than just football. I'm not really sure what all those reasons are yet, but I'm here for a reason and couldn't be more blessed to be a part of Starkville's community."
