With their first pick on Day 3 of the 2017 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks selected strong safety Tedric Thompson in the fourth round, grabbing the Colorado product with the draft's No. 111 overall selection. 

"It felt great," Thompson said via conference call of what his reaction was when Seattle called. "I enjoy watching Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor and just knowing that I'm going to a team with those guys and learn from those guys, it's just a blessing. The 12s are an extremely great fanbase, so it's a blessing to go to an organization like that. Pete Carroll was a great head coach when I was growing up in Los Angeles, California, to see him and the stuff he did at USC, so it's just a great feeling."

Thompson finished his career at Colorado with 13 interceptions, tied for fifth-most on the Buffaloes all-time list as well as tied for the most over the last 23 seasons. Thompson ended his collegiate career tied for sixth in pass deflections (34) while racking up 246 tackles (172 solo). Thompson also took part in the 2017 East-West Shrine Game, recording seven tackles, including one for loss in the West team's 10-3 win.

"I played in the box a lot," Thompson said of the defensive scheme he played at Colorado. "I played center field a lot and I played a lot of special teams. I think those are the three biggest things I did while I was in college."

[wysifield-embeddedaudio|eid="495179"|type="embeddedaudio"|view_mode="full"]

Thompson's older brother, Cedric, played safety at the University of Minnesota and was a fifth-round draft pick by the Miami Dolphins in the 2015 NFL Draft. The younger Thompson relayed the pre-draft advice he received from his older brother, who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings.

"He just broke it down to me from being in high school and then going to college and about the pros he has told me about the business side of the NFL," Thompson said. "To treat it as a professional and to go out there and have fun because it's the game we've been playing since we were little kids."

Thompson comes to Seattle following an eventful Day 2 of the draft for the Seahawks that saw general manager John Schneider and coach Carroll come away with six players in Rounds 2 and 3.

Seattle tabbed Michigan State defensive end Malik McDowell (No. 35 overall) and LSU offensive lineman Ethan Pocic (No. 58 overall) in the second round before taking Central Florida cornerback Shaquill Griffin (No. 90 overall), Michigan strong safety Delano Hill (No. 95 overall), North Carolina defensive tackle Nazair Jones (No. 102 overall), and Michigan wide receiver Amara Darboh (No. 106 overall) in round three. To go along with Griffin and Hill, Thompson is the third defensive back Seattle has added to its secondary this draft.

"I'm just trying to go ahead at whatever I'm needed or wherever they want to put me at," Thompson said. "I'm going to try to the best of my ability to make sure they're happy with the pick they got."

Thompson marks the Seahawks' first of five picks on the draft's third day. As it stands right now, Seattle is also slated to pick twice in Round 6 (Nos. 187 and 210 overall) and twice in Round 7 (Nos. 226 and 249 overall). The Seahawks do not own a pick in Round 5.

RELATED

• Seahawks Pick Six On Day 2 Of 2017 NFL Draft
• Seahawks Pick No. 35: Michigan DE Malik McDowell
• Seahawks Pick No. 58: LSU OL Ethan Pocic
• Seahawks Pick No. 90: Central Florida CB Shaquill Griffin
• Seahawks Pick No. 95: Michigan SS Delano Hill
• Seahawks Pick No. 102: North Carolina DT Nazair Jones
• Seahawks Pick No. 106: Michigan WR Amara Darboh