Deionte Thompson makes it official, he’s headed to the NFL.

Clearly a tough decision for Thompson, his postgame comments following Alabama’s national championship game loss to Clemson indicated he was leaning on returning for his senior season in Tuscaloosa.

“It’s going to be motivation, just having the confetti fall on someone else and not you, that’s one of the hardest pills to swallow in the world. There’s going to be extra motivation for us. We’ll be ready,” Thompson said after the tough loss to the Tigers.

In the end, the allure of playing in the NFL proved to be too much for the standout Crimson Tide defender. The redshirt junior took longer than some of his teammates to make his decision, but in the end, he decided to join five of his Alabama teammates and declare early for the draft.

Thompson joins running back Josh Jacobs, tight end Irv Smith, fellow defensive back Savion Smith, left tackle Jonah Williams and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams as early entrants into the upcoming draft.

Alabama now leads the SEC with six early departures for the 2019 NFL Draft.

Thompson was named First-Team All-American by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated and the AFCA. Walter Camp and the FWAA named Thompson Second-Team All-American this season after finishing second on the team in tackles in only his first season as a full-time starter on Nick Saban’s defense.

Thompson made his declaration official on Sunday with the following graphic on social media: