Ex-MLB OF Monte Harrison set to play college football at Arkansas

Former Major League Baseball player Monte Harrison is trying his hand at college football.

A team spokesperson told Rivals' Hawg Beat that the 28-year-old is set to be a preferred walk-on at Arkansas in 2024. Harrison played both football and baseball in high school in the Kansas City area and was a four-star recruit in football.

Harrison was the No. 5 player in the state of Missouri in 2014 and the No. 33 wide receiver in the class. He signed with Nebraska out of high school to play football but chose professional baseball after he was a second-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2014 MLB draft.

Harrison was traded to the Marlins in 2018 as part of the team’s return for Christian Yelich. He made his Major League debut with the team in August of 2020 and appeared in 32 games that season.

He appeared in nine games in 2021 and was released by the team in March of 2022. Harrison signed with the Angels weeks later and played in nine games in 2022. He re-signed with the Brewers ahead of the 2023 season and played in 88 games for the team’s AAA affiliate. Harrison batted .208 and had an OPS of .593 with five homers in 269 at bats.

Harrison joins a sizable list of players who have played college football after their baseball careers were over. Heisman winner Chris Weinke played baseball before he joined Florida State and won a national title with the Seminoles. Brandon Weeden pitched in the New York Yankees’ farm system before he played college football at Oklahoma State. Weeden was then taken in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft as a 28-year-old. Weinke, meanwhile, was a fourth-round pick in the 2001 NFL draft when he was 28.