Don Thorp

{{Short description|American football player (born 1962)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Don Thorp

| number = 96, 62, 71

| position = Defensive end

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|07|10}}

| birth_place = Buffalo Grove, Illinois, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 4

| weight_lb = 260

| high_school = Buffalo Grove

| college = Illinois

| draftyear = 1984

| draftround = 6

| draftpick = 156

| pastteams =

• New Orleans Saints ({{NFL Year|1984}})
• Chicago Bears ({{NFL Year|1986}})*
• New York Jets (1987)*
• Indianapolis Colts ({{NFL Year|1987|1988}})
• Kansas City Chiefs (1988)
• Miami Dolphins ({{NFL Year|1989}})*

| highlights =

• First-team All-American (1983)
• Big Ten Most Valuable Player (1983)
• Big Ten Player of the Year (1983)
• First-team All-Big Ten (1983)

| statlabel1 = Sacks

| statvalue1 = 3.0

| pfr = T/ThorDo20

}}

Donald Kevin Thorp (born July 10, 1962) is an American former professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs.

Thorp was born in Chicago, Illinois and played scholastically at Buffalo Grove High School. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, where he was named a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America in 1983.{{cite web |title=FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team |editor=Ted Gangi |access-date=March 8, 2016 |url=http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304073432/http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf |url-status=dead}}

Thorp was selected by the Saints in the sixth-round of the 1984 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1984 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1984/draft.htm |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=Pro Football Reference}} He appeared in five games for the Saints during the 1984 season, then was out of professional football in 1985 and 1986. He resumed his career as a replacement player with the Colts during the 1987 NFLPA strike, playing sparingly through 1988.