Major League outfielder Bubba Thompson is going back to school at 26.
As reported by AL.com, the former first-round pick of the Texas Rangers is stepping away from the diamond to enroll at South Alabama, where he plans to walk on to the football team.
This isn’t entirely out of left field. Thompson was an All-State quarterback at Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic School in 2016 and reportedly received scholarship offers from the University of Tennessee and Ole Miss.
However, he’s focused entirely on baseball over the last eight years, reaching the majors in 2022 before bouncing from the Rangers to the Kansas City Royals to the Cincinnati Reds. Thompson was even given a World Series ring from the Rangers, although he was in Cincinnati by the time Texas actually beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in October of 2023.
Thompson opted for free agency last May when he was demoted to Triple-A Chattanooga with his lifetime MLB average sitting at .232. He’s been out of baseball ever since.
A spokesman for South Alabama did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for confirmation.
Bubba Thompson, 26, has played parts of two MLB seasons with three different teams
Bubba Thompson puts his name card on the draft board after being selected 26th overall by the Texas Rangers during the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft in Secaucus, New Jersey
The South Alabama Jaguars are coming off a 7-6 season that included a win over Western Michigan in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl.
It’s interesting that Thompson chose South Alabama, where incoming starter Gio Lopez is coming off a strong season and has already announced his intention to stay with the Jaguars rather than transfer to a major program.
For the season, Lopez completed 66 percent of his passes for 2,559 yards, 18 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He also added another 465 yards and seven touchdowns on 83 carries.
If there is a reason to join South Alabama, it could be up-and-coming head coach Major Applewhite, the former Texas quarterback who was let go by Houston in 2020 but has since helped to improve the Jaguars program.
Previously, when Applewhite served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at South Alabama, he helped then-quarterback Carter Bradley become the winningest signal caller in school history while setting several records along the way.
Bradley was ultimately picked for the Hula Bowl and Senior Bowl.
Thompson is hardly the first baseball player to opt for football.
Current Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth pick of the 2018 MLB Draft.
What’s more unique is seeing a baseball player return to college in an effort to find success on the football field.
However, Josh Booty did exactly that in the 1990s and early 2000s. A two-sport star at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana, Booty first reached the majors with the Florida Marlins before enrolling at LSU, where he played quarterback for the Tigers.
Booty ultimately played three NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
