Lyle Thompson (born September 9, 1992) is a Haudenosaunee professional lacrosse player from the Hawk Clan of the Onondaga Nation. His native name is Deyhahsanoondey ('He is Flying Over Us'). He plays both indoor and outdoor professional lacrosse. In professional outdoor lacrosse, he plays at the attack position for the Cannons Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League. In professional indoor lacrosse, he plays at the forward position for the Georgia Swarm of the National Lacrosse League. He also competes internationally in both indoor lacrosse for Haudenosaunee men's national indoor lacrosse team, and outdoor lacrosse for the Haudenosaunee men's national outdoor lacrosse team.
He played lacrosse in college at the University at Albany. In his junior year he shared the 2014 men's Tewaaraton Award with his older brother Miles. In the same year, that attack line consisting of those two and their cousin, Ty Thompson, dubbed the Thompson Trio, shattered multiple NCAA Division 1 records, and is widely considered one of the greatest attack lines in college lacrosse history.Lyle Thompson. (n.d.). The MY HERO Project. https://myhero.com/L_Thompson_trinity_US_2016_ul In his senior year, he won the award again alone.Archived copy , Indian Country TodayInside Lacrosse As a professional indoor lacrosse player, Lyle has won the 2017 NLL MVP award, championship and championship MVP. He was first-team all-pro in 2019. As a professional outdoor lacrosse player, he was named the 2022 PLL Attackman of the Year. As an international player, he won the 2015 and 2019 world box lacrosse medals being named first-team all-world honors in 2015, and won the 2014, 2018 and 2023 bronze world field lacrosse medals, being named first-team all-world honors in 2014.
Lyle Thompson is widely regarded as one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, and the greatest lacrosse player of his generation. He is renowned for his creativity, extraordinary stick skills, vision and keen playmaking ability. The USA men's outdoor lacrosse team head coach, John Danowski, stated of Lyle Thompson that "he transcends the sport."McDonald, Thomasi (2023, November 16) | Duke Today.Recapturing the Indigenous roots of lacrosse
Lyle pioneered backhand play, especially in shooting, also known as the shovel shot, which is the salient component of his signature move, the Deyhaus Dunk.Keegan, J. (2021). Players Top 50: #3 Lyle Thompson. Premier Lacrosse League. https://premierlacrosseleague.com/articles/players-top-50-3-lyle-thompsonPremier Lacrosse League. (n.d.). Lyle Thompson Archives. https://premierlacrosseleague.com/articles/tag/lyle-thompsonLyle Thompson with the Deyhaus Dunk FAKE. (2023, February 16). OurSports Central. https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/lyle-thompson-with-the-deyhaus-dunk-fake/n-5925471 Together, the Thompson collective has popularized the traditional Indigenous American style of playing lacrosse, involving a more inspired, freestyle, versatile approach that incorporates a wider variety of stick handling, passing and shooting techniques, previously considered more unorthodox in mainstream codified lacrosse. They have been an inspiration and served as role models to the next generation of lacrosse players, especially within the Indigenous American community.
He cofounded the lacrosse company Thompson Brothers Lacrosse, which engages in event speaking, lacrosse development projects, and community building initiatives, while emphasizing the indigenous roots of the sport.
Lyle Thompson is also an active humanitarian, using his platform for positive change, and has won humanitarian awards multiple times for these ventures. Among these pursuits are his participation in the #everychildmatters movement and spreading awareness about the atrocities of the residential schools that were designed to indoctrinate Indigenous children into Christian Canadian culture.
Early life
Lyle grew up on the Native American reservation, Onondaga Nation, NY. He is the second youngest of the five children of Jerome "Ji" Thompson Sr., a Mohawk father from Akwesasne and third generation ironworker with 'Ironworkers Local 60', and his wife, Doloris Thompson, an Onondaga mother.Korver, L. (Director). (2013). The medicine game. Vision Maker Media. His three older brothers Jeremy Thompson, Jerome (“Hiana”) Thompson and Miles Thompson are also professional lacrosse players, along with his cousin Ty Thompson, who is from the Mohawk Nation. In accordance with Haudenosaunee tradition, he and his brothers were each given a wooden stick as a newborn. He began playing lacrosse from a very early age as lacrosse carries spiritual and cultural significance with the Onondaga nation. Growing up, he and his brothers would spend much of their time playing lacrosse in the backyard, often with their father coaching them for hours.
In 1999, the Thompsons moved from St. Regis Mohawk Reservation south to the Onondaga Reservation. The Onondaga house that they grew up in was built by Ji himself, and had no electricity or running water until about 2003. This was a factor in the amount of time they spent playing backyard lacrosse, as they did not have things like television or video games. Lyle had not grown up doing strength training, and developed those attributes later in his career.
Growing up, Lyle admired his eldest brother, Jeremy, as he served as a role model for Lyle. Also, the Thompson brothers have an extensive lacrosse heritage, as their father played lacrosse and their grandfather played lacrosse. Their father, Jerome Thompson Sr. played men's Senior B lacrosse until he was 37, playing on the Akwesasne Thunder Sr. B squad, winning the 1995 and 1997 President's Cups, Canada's national second-division box lacrosse championships. He also played with the 1990 Iroquois Nationals international lacrosse team.
Early in grade school, Lyle would often get into physical altercations with anti-Indigenous students, who were ignorant of Indigenous people and culture, especially his traditional hair braid.
High School: 2007–2011
Lyle Thompson's high school lacrosse career spanned two different teams, Salmon River High School lacrosse team and LaFayette High School lacrose team. He played a total of five years of high lacrosse, as he was on Salmon River's high school varsity team as an eighth grader. Paul Rabil stated that Lyle was "the #1 High School recruit in the country...as a sophomore".
Salmon River High School: 2007-2008
Lyle Thompson played for Salmon River High School during his eighth grade year. He scored 50 points that season before he injured his collarbone, shortening his season. After the injury, one arm was in a sling, but Lyle would still attend lacrosse practice wielding his lacrosse with the one arm that was healthy. During this time, he developed an advanced skill set of one-handed lacrosse play, particularly bottom-hand one-handed play. This technique was integrated into his style of play, Lyle becoming noted for his "uncanny ability to wield the stick with one hand under immense pressure". It was later popularized in the sport overall, despite being previously viewed as unorthodox, and generally discouraged by lacrosse coaches, including his father.
In his freshman year of high school, he scored 114 points. He received first-team Times All-North honors and was named the section’s most valuable player as a freshman.
LaFayette High School: 2009-2010 Lyle Thompson played for LaFayette High School for his sophomore and junior years. In his sophomore year, he scored 59 goals 52 assists leading his team to the Class C State Final against Manhasset. He had a breakout performance in the state title game that year, scoring five goals.
In his junior year, he totaled 111 points. This was second-most in Section 3. He was awarded first-team All-CNY honors for the second time.
Salmon River High School: 2011
For his senior year of high school, Lyle re-transferred back to Salmon River High School. There, he scored 66 goals and 54 assists and received All-American honors.Vock, C. (2012, July 23). IL's No. 1 Senior Lyle Thompson to transfer to Salmon River (N.Y.). Inside Lacrosse. Retrieved September 10, 2023, from https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/il-s-no-1-senior-lyle-thompson-to-transfer-to-salmon-river-n-y/8554
College: 2011–2015 Lyle Thompson attended college at the University at Albany, majoring in sociology, although he initially pursued an art major as he has a passion for drawing. Inside Lacrosse ranked him as the #1 recruit for the 2011-12 high school graduating class. Lyle committed to play for the Albany Great Danes men's lacrosse team under head coach, Scott Marr. Typically, Indigenous American lacrosse recruits would play for Syracuse University. The Thompsons choosing UAlbany over Syracuse University was a landmark decision, stating that they wanted to make their impact on their own.
Lyle Thompson is widely considered the greatest lacrosse player in University at Albany history and one of the greatest college lacrosse players of all time. He has also been referred to as one of the greatest college athletes of his generation. ESPN lacrosse analyst, Paul Carcaterra, has referred to Lyle as the most prolific passer in NCAA lacrosse history. Another ESPN lacrosse analyst, Anish Shroff said about Lyle in a 2015 Sportscenter episode:
"He's been more than just the best player in college lacrosse. He's been more than just a generational player. Lyle Thompson has been transformative and transcendent."Belmont, M. (2022). Play: A Normative Theory of Agency and Culture.
In a decade-retrospective piece for 2010s college lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse referred to Lyle Thompson as "the biggest “hit” of a No. 1 recruit this decade".
Lyle won the University of Albany 2024 Stoneman Distinguished Alumni Award.
Freshman season: 2012 Initially, he started at midfield in his freshman season in 2012, scoring 22 goals and 16 assists along with 32 face-off draws. That was his last collegiate season scoring less than 100 points.
Sophomore season: 2013 Moving to attack in his sophomore year, Thompson had 113 points. In this season, Albany defeated Syracuse for the first time. Miles Thompson scored the winning goal in double overtime.
Junior season: 2014 In 2014, Lyle, along with his brother Miles were the first Native American players to win the Tewaaraton Trophy; tewaaraton being the Mohawk term for the precursor of modern lacrosse. In the same year, Lyle was nominated for the 2014 Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award. He was also named the Lacrosse Magazine 2014 'Person of the Year', and is the only person to do so as a college player.
Senior season: 2015 In his last season of college lacrosse, Lyle won the Tewaaraton Award a second consecutive time. He is the only college men's lacrosse player to win the award twice consecutively, and one of only two to win the award twice, the other being Mikey Powell.
Lyle also set a new career points record of 400 points, which was later broken by Chris Gray, who scored 401 points (which was across an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID pandemic).
Professional career: 2015–present