Look: Rangers, Cowboys Rookies Swap Jerseys

Texas outfielder Bubba Thompson and Dallas receiver Jalen Tolbert were high school teammates in Alabama.

Kelly Gavin / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers

A pair of former McGill-Toolen Catholic High School stars who are now playing professionally in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex exchanged jerseys on Saturday at Globe Life Field.

Texas Rangers outfielder Bubba Thompson and Dallas Cowboys receiver Jalen Tolbert posed for pictures on the field, each holding the other’s jerseys. The Rangers were set to play the Detroit Tigers, while the Cowboys wrapped up their preseason Friday by beating the Seattle Seahawks across the street at AT&T Stadium

Thompson played both football and baseball at McGill-Toolen in Mobile, Ala. As a senior, threw for 3,173 yards and 38 touchdowns, helping lead the team to a 7A state title.

Tolbert was a member of title team, and also played baseball and basketball for McGill-Toolen.

Rangers rookie outfielder and Cowboys rookie receiver Jalen Tolbert jersey swapped before today’s game

They both attended McGill–Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, Alabama, where they played football and baseball together pic.twitter.com/Ndgo9vJ9Qn

— kennedi landry (@kennlandry) August 27, 2022

They took different paths after graduation. Thompson had offers to play football at both Auburn and Alabama, and baseball offers at Tennessee and Ole Miss. But the Rangers drafted Thompson in the first round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft.

Texas called him up to the Majors on Aug. 4.

Tolbert was considered a two-star football player coming out of high school and ended up at South Alabama, where he played four seasons for the Jaguars. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving years in 2020-21. He finished with 171 career receptions, with 3,140 yards and 22 touchdowns. He was the Sun Belt Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year last season.

The Cowboys selected him in the third round of the NFL Draft.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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