Career
He entered the league undrafted in the 2011 Canadian Football League Draft after playing three years in the Canadian Junior Football League with the Burlington Braves, and Brampton Bears. He also played one season of National Collegiate Athletic Association football for the Virginia State University Trojans in 2009, and club football with Toronto Thunder of the Ontario Varsity Football League. He attended Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute for high-school in Toronto, Ontario.
Jemal Thompson is also the first cousin of Tristan Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers who was taken 4th overall in the 2011 National Basketball Association Draft.