To be a professional in 2 sports takes more than just hard work and patience. Rather, an athlete also requires an immense amount of heart and courage. Deion Sanders is one such name that immediately comes to your mind when it comes to excelling in both the NFL and MLB. He is the only player in history to have won both a Super Bowl and play in the World Series. Now, it looks like the Razorbacks’ WR, Monte Harrison, is on track to fulfil the same sort of destiny but with coarser hardships.

Monte Harrison, the WR for the Arkansas Razorbacks, recently caught a lot of eyes when he became only the second player in NCAA history to record a statistic in an official FBS game following his MLB career. From having an accolade-filled MLB run, Harrison is marking the beginning of his football career. If his athleticism is to be considered, then Arkansas might see a rise in the overall team performance this season. But being so good at various types of greens doesn’t come easy and definitely doesn’t come without grit and motivation. One must handle the ups with humility and overcome the downs with strength. We can see all these traits in Harrison’s journey.

Monte Harrison and the tragic demise of his father

Throughout the 10 years of his baseball career, Harrison has tackled severe injuries. They curtailed his progress at various points, but Monte came through. However, nothing was harder for Monte Harrison than going through the grief of losing his father at the tender age of 6. Just imagine the sheer gravity of the loss! You have all these dreams, and there are two people in your house who guide you through life until you start making sense of the world. Then you lose one of them! The void that such a tragedy leaves behind can’t be filled. In Monte’s case, his coaches and people around him helped to fill the void- however much they could!

While talking about his father’s demise, Harrison said, “Not having to deal with a father growing up, I tended to really get in trouble a lot because I really didn’t have anybody in my life who was like, ‘Yo, you really need to stop doing this,’ a father figure, you know what I mean. Until I really got older and really grasped it as a seventh- or eighth-grader. It kind of just went from there, and it really started turning around.” Thus, he’s gone from lacking a figure of inspiration in his life to becoming one himself as he sets on a new journey in the world of college football. That said, here’s how Harrison’s story inspired none other than the GOAT of the NBA, LeBron James.

LeBron James wants to take a page out of Harrison’s book!

The thought of a 29-year-old freshman becoming a wide receiver does sound bizarre, but only because Harrison never went to college since he was drafted right out of high school in 2014 by the Milwaukee Brewers. It was in 2023 that Harrison decided to finally hang up his cape. Evidently, he chose not to stop being a sportsman. Now, he’s inspiring LeBron James, who might just follow in his footsteps after he chooses to retire from basketball.

While sharing the story of Monte Harrison on his official Instagram account, James captioned it with, “Me when I retire from the league! Haha!” Every NBA fan dreads the day when James chooses to retire, but they know it’s coming soon. But could this caption subtly indicate an entry into a different sport altogether? Who knows? All we know is that he is taking a leaf out of Monte Harrison’s story.