Quick Facts
Biography
McLeod John Baltazar Bethel-Thompson (born July 3, 1988) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Sacramento State. He is the grandson of the 1948 Olympic shot put champion Wilbur 'Moose' Thompson.
High school
Bethel-Thompson graduated from San Francisco's Balboa High School in 2006, where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He was the City's Football Player of the Year in 2006 and its Back of the Year in 2005. In 2004 and 2005, he led his team to the Turkey Bowl, the City's annual championship, held on Thanksgiving Day in Kezar Stadium.
College career
After a redshirt year at UCLA in 2006, Bethel-Thompson shared the Bruins' quarterback duties in 2007. He started in the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl where the Bruins lost to BYU. Bethel saw action in five games for UCLA in 2007, completing 23 of 55 passes for 293 yards, with one touchdown and five interceptions.
Bethel-Thompson played at California State University, Sacramento from 2008 to 2010. In three seasons at Sacramento State, Bethel-Thompson appeared in 12 games, completing 113 of 197 passes for 1,322 yards, with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Statistics
| Year | Team | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2007 | UCLA | 23 | 55 | 41.8 | 293 | 5.3 | 1 | 5 | 74.4 | 15 | -32 | -2.1 | 0 |
| 2008 | Sacramento | 28 | 49 | 57.1 | 415 | 8.5 | 2 | 1 | 137.7 | 16 | 33 | 2.1 | 1 |
| 2009 | Sacramento | 64 | 110 | 58.2 | 746 | 6.8 | 4 | 5 | 118.1 | 25 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2010 | Sacramento | 21 | 38 | 55.3 | 161 | 4.2 | 1 | 2 | 89.0 | 6 | -5 | -0.8 | 0 |
| Career | 136 | 252 | 54.0 | 1,615 | 6.4 | 8 | 13 | 108.0 | 62 | -3 | 0.0 | 2 | |
Source:
Professional career
San Jose SaberCats
After going undrafted in 2011, Bethel-Thompson joined the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League.
San Francisco 49ers
Bethel-Thompson played for the San Francisco 49ers for a short time, and was expected to be the third string quarterback for the 49ers after Josh McCown was cut, but was later cut himself.
Sacramento Mountain Lions
On September 3, 2011, Bethel-Thompson signed with the Sacramento Mountain Lions. Bethel-Thompson competed with Jordan Palmer, former Fresno State quarterback Ryan Colburn, and Trevor Harris for the starting job. Bethel-Thompson ended up starting the last two games at quarterback over Colburn (Palmer was released and Harris signed with the Orlando Predators).
Miami Dolphins
Later in 2011, Bethel-Thompson signed to the Miami Dolphins practice squad.
Minnesota Vikings
Bethel-Thompson signed a future contract with the Minnesota Vikings on January 13, 2012. He was named to the 53-man active roster just before the start of the 2012 regular season after beating out veteran Sage Rosenfels for the third-string quarterback job. He was released on October 8, 2013, when the Vikings signed Josh Freeman.
Second stint with 49ers
Bethel-Thompson was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco 49ers from the Minnesota Vikings on October 9, 2013. He was put on waivers by the 49ers on November 26, 2013, then signed to the practice squad a day later. He was signed to a reserve/future deal and was activated to the active roster on January 23, 2014. The 49ers waived Bethel-Thompson on August 25, 2014.
New England Patriots
He was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad on August 31, 2014. He was released by the Patriots on September 9, 2014.
Second stint with Vikings
He was signed by the Vikings on September 22, 2014 to the Vikings' practice squad. The signing came in part due to the injury to Matt Cassel, leaving the Vikings with only two healthy quarterbacks on the roster, in Teddy Bridgewater and Christian Ponder. After Bridgewater's week 4 injury, Chandler Harnish was signed to the practice squad and eventually the active roster to back up Ponder in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers, leaving Bethel-Thompson on the practice squad. He was released from the team on October 7, 2014.
Second stint with Miami Dolphins
On October 15, 2014, Bethel-Thompson was signed to the Miami Dolphins' practice squad. He was released on September 5, 2015 as part of the Dolphins' final roster cuts. On September 6, 2015, Bethel-Thompson was signed to the Miami Dolphins' practice squad. On September 9, 2015, he was released by the Dolphins.
Third stint with 49ers
On November 23, 2015, Bethel-Thompson was signed to the 49ers' practice squad.
Philadelphia Eagles
On February 18, 2016, Bethel-Thompson was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. On May 17, 2016, Bethel-Thompson was released by Eagles. He was re-signed by the team on July 24, 2016. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Eagles.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Bethel-Thompson was signed to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' practice roster on September 20, 2016. He was released by the team on October 19, 2016.
Personal life
He is the grandson of the 1948 Olympic shot put champion Wilbur 'Moose' Thompson. He is also of Scottish and Salvadoran descent through his grandmother.