NORMAN - Finally reaching the front of the autograph line, Matt Meyer extended the football across the table and stared wide-eyed at Paul Thompson.
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"You like playing quarterback or wide receiver?" the youngster asked.
"Both," Thompson said. "Which one do you like me at?"
Meyer hesitated none.
"Quarterback."
Oklahoma football fans everywhere should agree. Rhett Bomar's dismissal earlier this week left the Sooners scrambling, their reputation shambling. Thompson, a wide receiver when the week began, stood as the starting quarterback Friday at the team's media and fan appreciation day.
The Sooner Nation couldn't have asked for a better human being to replace Bomar.
Better player, maybe.
Better person, no way.
"You can't say enough about him," wide receiver Malcolm Kelly said. "He's going to be the one to lead this team. I have total confidence in him."
Before practice started earlier this week, Kelly made a point of pulling Thompson aside.
"I'm going to ride with you, man," Kelly told him. "We've got to get it done."
It's easy to see why teammates have such faith in Thompson. He has an aura about him. A vibe. A presence.
Listen to his voice, deep and smooth. Pay attention to his words, thoughtful and smart. Watch the way he carries himself, shoulders back but nose not stuck up. Right down to his shaved-bald head and well-groomed mustache, he seems older than his 22 years.
Clint Ingram, the former Sooner linebacker, explained Thompson best a year ago.
"He's kind of like an old dude trapped in a young guy's body."
Thompson stirs memories of Spencer Tillman and J.C. Watts, two of the all-time good guys to ever wear crimson and cream.
Players with that kind of impressive character are the ones you want front and center a few days after your starting quarterback is booted for taking paychecks for hours he never worked. Lest you've been trapped under something heavy the past few days, you've no doubt heard that the Sooners are taking a beating in the national court of public opinion. Pundits and prognosticators are coming down hard on the program. The coaches. The players. The athletic department, too.
One person cannot completely stem that tide, but for the Sooners, Thompson is a good place to start.
He burned a redshirt season as a true freshman, seeing only mop-up duty behind Nate Hybl. Then he spent the next two seasons behind Jason White, opting to redshirt as a junior. Then he engaged in a quarterback battle with Bomar, eventually won the starting job only to lose it after one game and switch to receiver a few weeks later.
Then came the events of the past week. Thompson was asked to move back to quarterback, leaving behind a position he'd shown great promise, surely sacrificing his best opportunity to play in the NFL.
The reason now and always: it was best for the team.
Going through all of that takes maturity that few college players possess.
"The things that he's been through in his previous four years here says a lot about his mental toughness, the type of character that he has," OU quarterbacks coach Josh Heupel said. "Those are the type of things that show through during the course of 12-, 13-, 14- game schedule when times aren't going well."
Still, Thompson has to make plays.
Right up until the ball is snapped, we know Thompson is as solid a college football players as you'll find. After the snap? How he does from then on has yet to be determined.
Last season's one-game dress rehearsal was a disaster. A loss in the season opener. At home. Against TCU.
Gack.
Even though Sooners coach Bob Stoops insists that the offense will look the same with Thompson as it would've looked with Bomar -- "We're going to do everything we were going to do," he said -- that's wishful thinking. Bomar started 11 games last season, then spent all spring and summer at quarterback. Thompson spent the past 11 months at wide receiver. If the offense will be the same with Thompson, doesn't that mean game experience is worthless? Or off-season workouts are meaningless?
We know that isn't the case.
Thompson isn't as talented as Bomar, otherwise he would've been the returning starter. But what the Sooners have lost in flash and flamboyance, they've gained in character and candor.
"I feel like I will be able to" make the transition back to quarterback, Thompson said, "and I feel like I will be able to help this team a lot."
In many ways, he already has.
Jenni Carlson: 475-4125, jcarlson@oklahoman.com
