Former MLB player Bubba Thompson joins South Alabama as walk-on

Former Major League Baseball outfielder Bubba Thompson is making a career change, taking his talents from the diamond to the gridiron.

Thompson has spent the last eight seasons playing professional baseball with the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds, but he has experience in the realm of football, where he was an all-state quarterback at the high school level. Now, Creg Stephenson of AL.com is reporting that Thompson is changing gears, deciding to join the South Alabama Jaguars as a walk-on.

“Bubba Thompson has enrolled at South Alabama and has joined the Jaguars football team as a walk-on, AL.com has learned,” Stephenson reported. “Thompson, who will turn 27 in June, was an all-state quarterback at Mobile’s McGill-Toolen Catholic School in 2016, but has spent the last eight seasons playing professional baseball.

“He was a first-round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2017, and played parts of the last three seasons as an outfielder at the major-league level with the Rangers and Cincinnati Reds.”

Moreover, Stephenson noted that Thompson posted a video on social media over the weekend, which showed him throwing a football inside the Jaguar Training Center practice facility. Additionally, South Alabama head coach Major Applewhite confirmed to AL.com that the former MLB outfielder is set to join the team for offseason workouts and their upcoming spring practices.

As for his eligibility moving forward, “Because Thompson never enrolled in college, he has a full five years to play four seasons at the college level,” Stephenson wrote. “Various other former professional baseball players have later moved on to football over the years, including Hoover native Josh Magee, who played three seasons in the Houston Astros’ organization before becoming a standout wide receiver at UAB and South Alabama.”

It’s hard to disagree with Thompson’s decision to play baseball, as he did make it to the major leagues, but he was rated fairly high in football coming out of high school as well. According to Stephenson, the 6-foot-2, 197-pound athlete was a 3-star football recruit coming out of McGill-Toolen, and had scholarship offers from the likes of Tennessee and Ole Miss at the time.

Perhaps this is a new beginning for Bubba Thompson. Time will tell how far he can go, but he’s hoping to become a part of South Alabama’s present and future, after making a name for himself at the highest level of professional baseball.