By Patrick Ervin
Five years ago, Jackie Thompson received a letter from her alma mater, Alcorn State University bestowing the highest athletic honor that will be a perpetual reminder of her groundbreaking talent, tireless work ethic and athletic upbringing. Alcorn State University named Thompson to its Athletic Hall Hall of Fame as a volleyball player. “I was part of the first team that Alcorn established in 1986,” she recalled. “Back then, the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) and HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) began instating women’s volleyball as a regular sport.” As a striker for the Lady Braves, Thompson achieved All-SWAC Conference first team and led her team deep into tournament play. Not only was she athletically gifted, but she also possessed a competitive spirit that was second to none. “I always wanted to line up in front of the other team’s best player,” she said.
In order to get a full grasp of how this Leland native ascended to the highest heights of her sport, one must go back to her roots. Back then and to this day, Delta schools don’t really have organized volleyball programs. So, what made her excel at a sport where she really had no formal training? “Some people may know that Cedric Bush is my brother and a former professional football player,” Thompson said. “My dad, Andrew Bush (better known as Hozzie Bush) trained me the same way that he trained Cedric. If Cedric was pulling tires, then I was pulling tires. He had me playing football and I was one of the fastest out there whether it was among boys or girls. When I played softball as a pitcher, he would tell me to either catch the ball or it will beat you up! When we played basketball, he would block my shot. So, he instilled a toughness in me that I took with me in every sport that I played whether it was basketball, softball or cross country.”
“He was a great athlete in his own right,” Thompson continued. “He was invited to workout for the Yankees around the same time George Scott went to the Red Sox. But he didn’t want to leave his family in Mississippi and decided to stay and continue farming instead.”
Thompson has had a long career as administrative assistant for the McTeer Law Firm and its subsidiaries and works as Washington County’s District 1 Election Commissioner. She has been married to her husband Carlos for 28 years and the couple have two children, Carlos Jr. and Raven. Her son is a free agent linebacker/defensive end who has played professionally for the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams. “A lot of kids who participate in athletics have moms who may appeal to the softer side of the ups and downs of playing,” she said. “But I’ve always told him that he should finish what he starts and don’t quit.”
“I was overjoyed when he made the NFL because he had achieved a level that neither I nor his father had achieved. I always tell him that he gets his athletic ability from me. I’m an athlete, and his father is just a football player,” she joked.
Thompson is a huge Games of Thrones fan and finds relaxation sewing, traveling with her husband or talking with her daughter. “Raven is the fashion design queen who is very mature for her age,” Thompson said. “She and I are not just mother and daughter, but really good friends. She calms everybody down in the house. She’s quiet and reserved but speaks with great wisdom whenever she says something.”
