1. McLeod John Baltazar Bethel-Thompson was born on July 3,1988 and is an American professional football quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
58 Facts About McLeod Bethel-Thompson
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was a member of the Toronto Argonauts, winning two Grey Cup championships with the team: one as a back-up quarterback in 2017, another as the team's starter in 2022.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson played college football at UCLA and Sacramento State.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson is the grandson of the 1948 Olympic shot put champion Wilbur 'Moose' Thompson.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson graduated from San Francisco's Balboa High School in 2006, where he played football, basketball, and baseball.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was the City's Football Player of the Year in 2006 and its Back of the Year in 2005.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson relieved Osaar Rasshan in the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl where the Bruins lost to BYU.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson saw action in five games for UCLA in 2007, completing 23 of 55 passes for 293 yards, with one touchdown and five interceptions.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson started the following week against Weber State where he would suffer a season ending knee injury.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson led the Hornets to a come-from-behind victory over UC Davis in the season finale, throwing a game-winning touchdown pass in the twenty seconds.
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In three seasons at Sacramento State, McLeod Bethel-Thompson appeared in 20 games, completing 113 of 197 passes for 1,322 yards, with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson appeared in 12 total games, mostly as a holder.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson relieved starting quarterback Mark Grieb in three games, completing 20 out of 43 passes for 220 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception, as well as 2 rushes for 24 yards.
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McLeod 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.
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On September 3,2011, McLeod Bethel-Thompson signed with the Sacramento Mountain Lions.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson competed with Jordan Palmer, former Fresno State quarterback Ryan Colburn, and Trevor Harris for the starting job.
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Later in 2011, McLeod Bethel-Thompson signed to the Miami Dolphins practice squad.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson signed a future contract with the Minnesota Vikings on January 13,2012.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson 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.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was released on October 8,2013, when the Vikings signed Josh Freeman.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco 49ers from the Minnesota Vikings on October 9,2013.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was put on waivers by the 49ers on November 26,2013, then signed to the practice squad a day later.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad on August 31,2014.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was released by the Patriots on September 9,2014.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was signed by the Vikings on September 22,2014, to the Vikings' practice squad.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was released from the team on October 7,2014.
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On October 15,2014, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was signed to the Miami Dolphins' practice squad.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was released on September 5,2015, as part of the Dolphins' final roster cuts.
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On September 6,2015, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was signed to the Miami Dolphins' practice squad.
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On November 23,2015, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was signed to the 49ers' practice squad.
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On February 18,2016, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was re-signed by the team on July 24,2016.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was signed to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' practice roster on September 20,2016.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was released by the team on October 19,2016.
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Players were scouted by numerous NFL and CFL teams during the practices and two games played, and McLeod Bethel-Thompson earned an invite to workout at a minicamp for the New York Jets.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was not offered a contract following the Jets minicamp, and on May 23,2017, Bethel-Thompson signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was named the Argos' starting quarterback in Week 8 of the 2018 season after Ricky Ray was out for the season with a neck injury and backup quarterback James Franklin was ineffective in his first four starts.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed a 23-yard pass to Armanti Edwards for the game winning score with one second left in the game.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson began the 2019 season as the Argos' backup quarterback behind James Franklin.
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However, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was announced the starting quarterback after Franklin was placed on the six-game injured reserve list following the team's Week 3 loss.
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Nevertheless, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was promoted to starting quarterback again for the team's Week 18 match against the Redblacks after the team lost both matches with Franklin at the helm.
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All four wins by the 2019 Argos came with McLeod Bethel-Thompson starting at quarterback, and by the end of the season, McLeod Bethel-Thompson's career year had produced a CFL-best 26 touchdown passes.
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The day before he defended his thesis, McLeod Bethel-Thompson signed an extension with Toronto.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was selected by the Aviators of The Spring League during its player selection draft on October 12,2020.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson started the first two games of the season, before being replaced by Arbuckle who started the next four games in the middle of the season.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was reinstated as the team's starting quarterback in Week 8 and confirmed again in Week 10 after the team's second bye week.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was fined by the league for his actions.
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In 2022, McLeod Bethel-Thompson began the 2022 season as the Argos' starting quarterback, with Chad Kelly serving as backup.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson led the league in pass completions, attempts, and passing yards.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson sustained a hand injury in the 4th quarter and was replaced by back-up Chad Kelly.
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On February 22,2023, McLeod Bethel-Thompson signed with the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson started all 10 regular seasons games for the Breakers, and was the leading passer in the USFL with 2,433 yards.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson was released after the season on July 11,2023.
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On January 7,2024, it was announced that McLeod Bethel-Thompson had signed with the Edmonton Elks.
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On December 17,2024, it was announced that McLeod Bethel-Thompson's rights had been traded to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for Cody Fajardo.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson is the grandson of the 1948 Olympic shot-put champion Wilbur 'Moose' Thompson.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson is of Scottish and Salvadoran descent through his grandmother.
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McLeod Bethel-Thompson is in a longterm partnership with Chinaka Hodge, a poet and writer for theatre, film, and music.