Former MLB outfielder to play college football at Arkansas

Harrison, who’ll be 29 next fall, will be the oldest player in college football when the season gets underway. A three-sport star at his Missouri high school, he’d committed to play football for Nebraska before the Brewers selected him in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft (No. 50 overall) and offered a $1.8M signing bonus. Harrison opted to forgo his NCAA commitment and turn pro in baseball.

Riley Boehm, Harrison’s high school coach, tells Mitch Sherman of The Athletic that even at the time he was being selected in the second round of the MLB Draft, “My whole thought back then was that he’s an NFL player, but he was stuck on baseball.” 

Sherman spoke to Boehm and University of Nebraska baseball coach Will Bolt about Harrison’s long-shot football bid and freakish athleticism.

Though Harrison came to professional baseball with plenty of pedigree, drew ample top prospect fanfare and ultimately reached the majors, his MLB career certainly did not pan out as he’d hoped. 

After Harrison coupled his preternatural athleticism with a .272/.350/.481 line between two Class-A levels in 2017, he emerged as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport. 

Then 21 years of age, Harrison was one of the key pieces sent from the Brewers to the Marlins in the Christian Yelich blockbuster that significantly altered the trajectory of both franchises.

Yelich broke out with an MVP showing in his first season in Milwaukee, finished second in NL MVP voting his second year there and signed a franchise-record $215M contract ($188.5M in new money) that runs through the 2028 season. 

The Marlins saw all of the prospects acquired in that trade — Harrison, Lewis Brinson, Isan Diaz and Jordan Yamamoto — struggle immensely in Miami. None of the four are with the organization anymore.

Harrison played parts of two seasons with the Fish (2020-21) and had a nine-game cup of coffee with the 2022 Angels as well. He tallied just 76 major league plate appearances across those three seasons and batted .176/.253/.294 with a 48.7 percent strikeout rate. 

His bat never fully broke through even at the Triple-A level, where he slashed .238/.322/.398 with a 36.5 percent strikeout rate in parts of four seasons (1179 plate appearances). 

His speed was still on display, however, as he swiped 90 bags in 105 tries (85.7 percent success rate). Overall, Harrison stole 210 minor league bases and was caught only 39 times — an excellent 84.3 percent success rate.

Even though his baseball career has fizzled out, Harrison still checks in at an imposing 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds. An eventual NFL emergence is an obvious long shot, but Harrison’s journey will be a fun story to track in the months ahead as he fights to keep his professional sports dream alive.