Monte Harrison was first recruited to play football as a teenager in the Kansas City area more than a decade ago. Now, after joining Arkansas Razorbacks last year as a walk-on, he’s ready to make major impact as a wide receiver at 30.
‘When you put up on the board all our players and their size, strength, speed, jumping ability, he just pops off the board,’ Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino recently told reporters.
‘You’re going, “This is unbelievable how talented this young man is, or old man is.” I don’t know what you call him, young or old. He’s still young to me, I can tell you that. But he is an unbelievable talent. Now he understands football.’
As for that gap in his gridiron resume, Harrison spent 10 seasons chasing his dream of playing Major League Baseball — something he accomplished, albeit briefly over parts of three seasons.
Harrison was once so promising that he was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft ahead of future All-Star pitchers Logan Webb and Justin Steele.
Monte Harrison was first recruited to play football as a teenager in the Kansas City area more than a decade ago. He made his college football debut as a walk-on at Arkansas in 2024
Monte Harrison is seen preparing for the upcoming season in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Harrison spent a decade chasing his dream of playing in the majors, which he did accomplish
And given the choice between a $1.8 million signing bonus and a ticket to the Arizona Fall League or a football scholarship to the University of Nebraska, Harrison took the former.
The problem was, minor league pitching proved to be a different beast than the hurlers Harrison was feasting on in high school. Over parts of nine minor-league seasons, Harrison hit just .240.
He did, however, offer some value on the base paths and in the outfielder, which led to 50 games in the majors across stints with the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels. Harrison found his way back to the Brewers organization, but was ultimately released in September of 2023 with a career average of just .176 to go with a pair of home runs.
Since then, Harrison has returned his attention to the gridiron, where he’s gone from special teams to competing for a starting receiver position.
‘I didn’t put the pads on until fall camp around this time last year, and that was my first time in 10 years,’ Harrison told reporters earlier this month. ‘Rust is kind of an understatement. I needed more than WD-40 to be able to get through it. When I got through probably the fifth or sixth game of the year, I felt like I started to transition and started to feel more fluid.’
Previously a head coach with the Razorbacks, Louisville Cardinals and the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Petrino has been around plenty of talent over his career, including current Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
So when he praises Harrison’s ability to compete with top SEC talent at Arkansas training camp, it’s something to keep in mind as the Razorbacks open their schedule against visiting Alabama A&M on August 30.
‘Monte still had another big game, or big day out there,’ Petrino told reporters of a recent scrimmage. ‘Made a lot of catches, did a good job of running routes, ran after the catch, so I was happy with him.’
Harrison primarily played special teams as a rookie, but now is threatening to stat at receiver
Harrison’s baseball career ended in 2023 after he rejoined the Milwaukee Brewers
Harrison is hardly the first college football star to take a detour through baseball’s minor leagues. In fact, several Southeastern Conference stars initially tried to make it on the diamond, including quarterbacks like LSU’s Josh Booty and Georgia’s Quincy Carter, both of whom would ultimately reach the NFL with middling results.
Pitcher Brandon Weeden was a first-round selection by the New York Yankees in the 2002 MLB Draft, where he was taken over potential future All-Star Curtis Granderson. But, after struggling to get out of Single-A amid a series of injuries, Weeden returned to football with a scholarship to Oklahoma State.
Weeden would go on to earn all Big-12 honors in 2010 and 2011 before becoming the oldest player ever taken in the first-round of the NFL Draft at 28. Unfortunately for the Browns, who probably would have done better to take Russell Wilson or Kirk Cousins, Weeden was inconsistent for two seasons before bouncing around the league for a few years and ultimately retiring in 2018 at age 35.
Perhaps the most famous example of someone coming to college football after playing baseball is that of quarterback Chris Weinke, who spent six years in the minors before going to Florida State and winning both the Heisman Trophy and a national championship.
He was later drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft before spending five seasons in the league. These days Weinke is the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia Tech.
