Arkansas Razorbacks’ 30-Year-Old Sophomore Monte Harrison Will Be A Weapon For Hogs, After 10-Year MLB Career
From professional baseball to college football, Harrison is already turning heads before the 2025 season.
Monte Harrison is certainly making the most of his opportunity to shine in a different sport, after playing ten years of Major League Baseball. Last year, he traded a baseball glove for football pads, and now he's creating plenty of noise for the Arkansas football team as the season rapidly approaches.
In 2014, Monte Harrison committed to play football for Nebraska, as the two-sport athlete was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. But, there was one gigantic twist in his plans, thanks to his talent on the baseball field.
The Milwaukee Brewers took serious notice of his athletic abilities on the diamond, offering him a $1.8 million contract after being selected in the second round of that year's draft. Knowing that he could always return to football if his time playing baseball did not pan out, Harrison started his professional career that ended up spanning nearly a decade.
After working his way up through the minor leagues, playing for the Single-A Carolina Mudcats in 2017, he was traded to the Miami Marlins. This spot was his path to the big-leagues, making his debut for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Triple-A team for the Marlins.
Even though it took longer than he might have wanted, or expected, Monte finally made his major league debut in 2020 against the Baltimore Orioles. During his eleventh game with the team, he hit that sweet spot on the baseball, sending it out of the park for his first home-run on the grandest stage of them all, which he followed up with one more homer and six RBIs during his time in Baltimore.
For some, it would have been heartbreaking to know that one's dream was ending. Harrison was sent down to the minor league system once again, though he did get one final shot with the Los Angeles Angels, before his time playing baseball would come to an end. But, that did not mean his career in sports had to end.
No, it was only getting started, though he would trade in the bat for a different kind of helmet.
The Arkansas Razorbacks Took A Chance On Monte Harrison
Even though he committed to Nebraska in high school, the now 30-year-old athlete was given the opportunity to walk-on at Arkansas, which is another challenge he would have to overcome if he wanted to continue pursuing this other dream.
It took Harrison a while to adapt to the game of football once again. Heck, he hadn’t actually played in over ten years, so it was going to take a minute for him to acclimate once again to the rigors of the game. And while he showed flashes during his freshman season for the Razorbacks, and yes, I said freshman because he still had four years of eligibility, the Arkansas coaches had already seen potential in the two-sport athlete.
While offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was still getting used to having this talented playmaker on his roster, there were times during the 2024 season where he showed enough flashes that he could end up contributing in a big way for this Razorbacks football team.
"I did go back and watch his high school tape and very, very impressive the different things he did on high school tape," Bobby Petrino told reporters about Harrison. "He was a good punt returner in high school. He lined up at quarterback a little bit in high school. All those things were exciting. Then this summer when you put up on the board all our players and their size, strength, speed, jumping ability, he just pops off the board.
"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. He’d been away from it for a long time, so he’s done a great job for us so far. We got to keep it going."
Oh, and don't worry about his engine. Even though he is twelve years older than the current freshman on the roster, he's already shown the young pups what his speed looks like down the field.
Former MLB Player Monte Harrison Could Be A Gamechanger For Arkansas Razorbacks (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
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Obviously, this is one of the most fascinating stories in college football. Even after previously reporting on Harrison before the 2024 season, it was still going to be a challenge for him to get on the field. But it wasn't because of his lack of ability.
"I didn’t put the pads on until fall camp around this time last, and that was my first time in 10 years," Monte Harrison told reporters during the beginning of Fall Camp. "So, I think rust is kind of an understatement. I needed more than WD-40 to be able to get through it. I think when I got through probably, I’ll say, like, the fifth or sixth game of the year, I felt like I started to transition and started to feel more fluid."
What did you expect? Straight off the baseball field and taking hits on special teams, while working his way up the roster from a walk-on spot. This was always going to be a challenge, but one that Monte fully grasped, and clearly had no plans of holding back.
Judging by the reactions from coaches over the summer and into fall camp, the Razorbacks are counting on Harrison to be a key contributor on offense this season.
All he needed was a little grease on the joints to get things rolling again, this time on the football field.
"I think rust is kind of an understatement. I needed more than WD-40 to be able to get through it," Harrison joked.
Pay attention, college football fans. You could be hearing a lot of noise around a 30-year-old sophomore for the Arkansas Razorbacks.