Local football star Xavier Thigpen begins career in law enforcement

SOSO, Miss. (WDAM) – Xavier Thigpen was once a terror on the football field.

Now he’s all about keeping the peace as the Jones County Sheriff’s Department’s newest patrol deputy.

”Always watching Law & Order and all those shows with my dad on the sofa and just growing up it was something that always interested me,” Thigpen said. “When I got to college I decided to study it a little bit.”

When he wasn’t deep in those criminal justice books, “PawPaw” was making a name for himself as a Southern Miss defensive end at “The Rock.”

Though he typically goes by Deputy Thigpen these days, what he learned between the lines has helped him in the line of duty – like how to handle pressure situations.

”Yeah sometimes on third down you don’t want to control your emotions but you’ve gotta be able to settle down to make the play,” Thigpen said. “So, it’s the same out here. You don’t want to have your emotions make you make a bad decision.”

Thigpen misses football just a little bit.

A quick conversation with his West Jones High School coach Scott Pierson rushes back a wave of memories from Friday nights in Soso.

The place that prepared him for life.

”Any time adversity hits, you gotta keep fighting,” Thigpen said. “That’s just like sports. You may be down but you gotta keep clawing and scratching. Coach Pierson, he instilled it in all his football players and take it to college, take it to the next level. As far as you want to go and you can revert it back to life. Any time something bad happens, you can’t stop and let that beat you down. You gotta keep going.”

The worst happened to Thigpen in 2017 when he lost his father, Terry, a pastor for many years at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.

His mother Deanna still teaches with over 30 years in her profession.

Now Thigpen’s found a way to make an impact in his community.

”Any time I see kids out in the yard throwing the football or shooting hoops, I get out my car and get with ‘em,” Thigpen said. “It’s an honor and a privilege just that opportunity to be a deputy of the county you were born and raised in. I don’t take that opportunity lightly.”

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