As 70 or so kids at a "Day of Champions" football camp at Hilldale High School were getting their feet wet Saturday, literally due to the soggy surface and figuratively in building character and developing skills, you'd imagine Paul Thompson could well relate.

The former Oklahoma quarterback was among several former Sooners — two of which were his own teammates, wide receiver Malcolm Kelly and linebacker Rufus Alexander -- who can understand the process better than anyone.

Between working at camps organized by Muskogee resident Ken Heupel, father of former OU quarterback Josh Heupel, all three are in the hunt for an NFL career. But no one knows more about battling the obstacles like Thompson.

When Jason White decided to stay for a sixth season of eligibility in 2004, it not only delayed the expected starting role for Thompson, it pushed him into a battle the following year with newcomer Rhett Bomar. It was one he eventually lost, but regained as a senior in 2006 after Bomar was dismissed from the team for accepting payments from an employer beyond the work he actually performed. Thompson took over and led OU to a Big 12 championship.

But it wasn't worth NFL draft consideration and Thompson wound up signing a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers. He was cut after Green Bay decided to keep only two quarterbacks -- Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Still, he's not done. He signed with the Tennessee Titans in January.

The Packers experience was strikingly similar to his OU experience, when White, the 2003 Heisman Trophy winner, wanted one more shot at a national championship in 2004. Flirting with calling it a career for several seasons, Favre took one more shot at a Super Bowl, and the Packers almost got there, losing in the NFC championship game in January.

Had Favre's retirement come a year earlier than March, one would figure the

Packers would have kept three quarterbacks on the 2007 roster. Thompson had outlasted Ingle Martin, who was waived last August. That left him, Rodgers and Favre.

"Sometimes a lot of stuff doesn't seem like it adds up, and that was one of those times," Thompson said. "I felt comfortable there, I had learned the system and had gotten some positive feedback and it was down to three of us. “But there's a part of the game at this level that people playing the game don't like, you know, things that don't have anything to do with football and being out on the field -- contracts, money, that kind of thing. It's a business. Being a free agent is like a college walk-on. You can't assume anything because it's probably not going to happen. What you do know is that first-and second-round guys are going to play no matter whether they're worth a kick or not. They're drafted, there's investment there just like a guy on scholarship."

Now he's in Nashville, where Vince Young is the established No. 1 - yeah, that Vince Young, who won that national championship playing 26 miles south of where Thompson drew up in Leander, Texas.

"That was the first team I worked out with after Green Bay," he said. "That bodes well with how people perceive me. All along it's probably been the best situation I could be in. Since I signed in January I've had more time to work and learn and get comfortable."

Behind Young is 14-year veteran Kerry Collins and Martin, the second-year player from Furman who Thompson outlasted at Green Bay.

"Knowing what I do, I have confidence in it and what I'm doing myself, I think, I'm reflecting that on the field," he said. "That and the kind of dedication I have toward my teammates gives me a shot and that's all you can expect."

As if Thompson didn't already have enough on his plate, Young is joined on the team by fellow ex-Longhorns Ahmard Hall (fullback), defensive back Michael Griffin and tight end Bo Scaife, all of whom passed through UT while Thompson was at Norman. Wide receiver Brandon Jones is the lone ex-Sooner to keep him company.