I was genuinely surprised to get McLeod’s autograph back on his parallel card after such a long wait. It had been so long that I had just given up in general on it after I had seen a few successes on him trickle in but nothing for me. Maybe he thought he mailed it out or the mailman lost it at the facility and delivered it months or a year later.. Who knows? But he was kind enough to drop the extra UD CFL card in for me.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson played one year at QB for UCLA back in 2007.
He completed 23 of 55 passes for 293 yards and 1 TD to 5 picks.
MB-T hopped up to Sacramento state in 2008, where he played QB through 2010.
His time for the Hornets was pockmarked by injuries.
Still in 3 years, he managed to throw for 1322 yards and 7 TDs (8 INT) on 113 of 197 passes.
Undrafted, he played in 2011 for the San Jose Sabre Cats of the Arena Football League, seeing mop up duty.
After a short stint with the 49ers, McLeod signed with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the original UFL in September of 2011.
He’d throw for 355 yards completing 32 of 58 passes against the Virginia Destroyers.
To close out the year MB-T signed with the Dolphins and was placed on their practice squad.
His next stop saw him on the roster of the Minnesota Vikings, where he’d remain through October of 2013.
This led to a series of short stops over the next 3 years as a practice squad or off-season member of the 49ers, Patriots, Vikings, Dolphins, 49ers, and Eagles.
Ultimately this led MB-T to the CFL where he was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2016.
Played in 2017 with The Spring League.
Signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in mid 2017.
After battling his way up the roster from the literal bottom, he became the starting QB in Week 8 of 2018.
Led the CFL in passing rating (105.4) and TDs (26) in 2019.
Played in The Spring League in 2020 for the Aviators after opting out of his contract due to the COVID pandemic.
Returned to the Argonauts in 2021 where he again was involved in a QB battle.
In 2022, led the Argos to a Grey Cup win in the 109th game.
Ultimately his best season as a pro, racking up 4731 yards on 387 of 579 throws with 23 TDs.
The Argonauts decided to go in a different direction at QB, so he signed with the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL.
Finished as the league’s leading passer with 2,433 yards in 2023.
Returned to the CFL in 2024 to play for the Edmonton Elks.
UFL (Original) Offensive Player of the Week Honors
CFL East All-Star 2021, ’22
NOTES:
Joe had passed me along an address for MB-T so I popped a card out to him. I was a bit dismayed not to get anything back. Well after a successful UFL season, and getting lucky on a few autographs that I sent to Joe, he returned the favor by sending me back McLeod and a few others that he’d gotten doubles of. It was quite the shot in the arm!
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
