London Again

In the span of a month, quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson will likely have made two trips to London for an NFL game. He was a backup quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings when they played the Pittsburgh Steelers in London on September 29. The San Francisco 49ers claimed Bethel-Thompson off waivers from Minnesota last week. If he's still on the 49ers roster next week, he'll travel to London again when they play the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 27. Being on the 49ers roster for another week is pretty likely at this point but is no certainty. Since August 31, the team has cut quarterbacks Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzein, B.J. Daniels, and John Skelton. I think that the 49ers will keep Bethel-Thompson around for a while. He should make his second trip to London for an NFL game. It's considered historic because it's never been done before. That should be no surprise as the league has never played two London games in one season before.

For a backup quarterback, McLeod Bethel-Thompson got quite a bit of attention from the British media when he was there with the Vikings. His 93-year-old grandfather, Wilbur "Moose" Thompson, won the gold medal in the shot put in the 1948 Olympics at Wembley Stadium. "I got some interviews for sure," Bethel-Thompson said of his September trip, "They love their Olympics over there." I wonder if the British pay him the same kind of attention the second time.

The 49ers are McLeod Bethel-Thompson's hometown team. I first became aware of him in college when he led his Sacramento St. football team against Cal. He was one of the best football players on the field that day. At 25, he's still got a bright future in the NFL. It's rough being the backup to equally young Colin Kaepernick. I hope that he gets a chance somewhere. His right arm is a cannon.