Ex-MLB player Monte Harrison joins Arkansas football at 28

Monte Harrison has played pro baseball for a decade, but now he's committing to Arkansas to play on the Razorbacks football team.

Ex-MLB center fielder Monte Harrison is going back to college to play football with Arkansas. / Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Monte Harrison is going back to school. The former Major League Baseball player, and a one-time four-star wide receiver prospect, has committed to play football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, according to Richard Davenport of WholeHogSports.com.

The 28-year-old Harrison originally committed to Nebraska as a recruit back in the class of 2014 but was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers that same year as a second-round selection.

Playing wideout for Lee Summit High School in Missouri, Harrison caught 60 passes for 1,007 yards and scored 13 touchdowns in his senior year and emerged as the No. 5 overall player in the state and the No. 50 ranked wide receiver according to a consensus of the major recruiting services.

He also ran for 198 yards, scored an additional 12 times on the ground, and also threw a touchdown pass during his senior outing.

At the time, Arkansas also recruited Harrison, but the school never offered him a scholarship and he pledged to the Cornhuskers in 2013.

But he elected to play baseball instead, joining the Brewers initially for four seasons before a trade to the Miami Marlins.

After playing most of his career in the minor leagues, Harrison made his MLB debut in 2020, and played for the Angels in 2022, when he had a .176 batting average with two home runs and six RBI as an outfielder.

Should he earn a spot on the Razorbacks' roster as a walk-on, Harrison would be one of the oldest players in Division I college football, ranking behind East Carolina punter Luke Larsen and Illinois punter Hugh Robertson, who are both 31.

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