Former Cincinnati Red Bubba Thompson now plays quarterback for South Alabama

Apr 7, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds center fielder Bubba Thompson (12) steals third base in the third inning against the New York Mets at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Chris Weinke, Josh Booty, Brandon Weeden, and Drew Henson were all baseball players who eventually gave playing quarterback in college football a try. We can add another name to the list.

Bubba Thompson appeared on the opening roster for the Cincinnati Reds in 2024. Now the 27-year-old is giving college football a try. The Mobile (Ala.) McGill-Toolen product has returned home and has joined the South Alabama football team as a walk-on.

Former MLB outfielder Bubba Thompson is joining South Alabama's football team as a walk-on.

Thompson was on the Reds Opening Day roster last season. pic.twitter.com/fjdZtQKYEb
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) January 14, 2025

Bubba Thompson was a first-round pick of the Texas Rangers in the 2017 MLB Draft. The outfielder made his first big league appearance in 2022 and played for the Rangers and the Reds over three season. Thompson appeared in 109 MLB games and slashed .232/.273/.295 with 10 doubles, one triple, one RBI, and 27 stolen bases.

The baseball player was a three-star football recruit in the 2017 cycle who had multiple power conference offers to play on the gridiron. Now we could get to see another former MLB player make the college football quarterback transition in the Sun Belt.

This former Red will be one of the oldest players in college football this fall.

The Cincinnati Reds are one-game back in the wild card race

The Cincinnati Reds have not participated in the MLB playoffs since 2020. This NL Central franchise has not won a playoff game since 2012 and has not won a playoff series since advancing to the NLCS in 1995.

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It’s time to end this waiting game.

We are not sure if the series losing streak will be snapped this year but the playoff drought certainly has a great chance to end. After a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Reds moved within one game of the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild card spot.

Team	Record	Playoff Path	Overall Seed
Milwaukee Brewers	61-42	NL Central	1
Los Angeles Dodgers	61-43	NL West	2
New York Mets	60-44	NL East	3
Chicago Cubs	60-43	Wild Card	4
Philadelphia Phillies	59-44	Wild Card	5
San Diego Padres	55-49	Wild Card	6

The Reds (54-50) are now just one game back of the final wild card spot. The San Francisco Giants (54-50), St. Louis Cardinals (54-51), and Arizona Diamondbacks (51-53) are also still involved in this race. There are some heated division battles occurring in the NL East and NL Central.

Cincinnati is very much in the postseason conversation in year one under manager Terry Francona.

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