Long before Seattle Seahawks rookie Tedric Thompson knew how to play football, he looked up to safety Earl Thomas.

Thompson, who was selected by the Seahawks in the fourth round of the NFL draft last month, told reporters after the second day of rookie minicamp he’d been watching film of the Seattle safety since the ninth grade.

LIVE Tedric Thompson #SeahawksRookies press conference from VMAC. https://t.co/E3E8pgkhdx — Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) May 13, 2017

“I used to watch his film a lot when I started getting recruited and was trying to learn how to actually play football and learn a lot about defenses,” Thompson said. “Just to see how he gets from one hash to another, just to see how he leads his teammates, the passion he plays with on the field. You can just see the excitement he brings to his teammates, so I’ve been watching since I was like a freshman in high school or something like that.”

Thompson, who is expected to help lead the Seahawks next generation of Legion of Boom, says he wanted to model his game after Thomas because of his dedication on the field.

“You never see him lagging on the field,” Thompson said. “He’s always running to the ball, giving 100 percent effort.”

While Thompson will surely get the opportunity to learn from Thomas, right now he is focused on building a connection with his new teammates, especially the team’s defensive backs.

“We’re getting to know everybody, not just on the defensive side, but on the offensive side as well,” Thompson said. “But the DB’s, we just try to push ourselves just like Coach Carroll and the rest of the coaching staff and the rest of our teammates are trying do, we’re just trying to find that bond for ourselves.”

The third day of rookie minicamp begins Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Here’s to hoping we’ll get some Thompson, Thomas ‘bromance’ photos soon.