He plays with his local club Naomh Conaill and has been a member of the Donegal senior inter-county team.
Thompson's virtuoso performance in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was highlighted by The Irish Times which noted how he "seemed to shepherd the play exactly to his liking and moved through the fare in that unhurried, three-quarters pace style of his", at one stage "loitering in front of David Clarke's goal, a de facto full forward doing what good front men do: keeping quiet as a church mouse and waiting to be spotted".
He has been considered by national media to be "an invaluable leader" and "one of the most iconic number 5s in the county's history".