I wonder if the Mangum household is similar to the show Blue Bloods. In Blue Bloods, Tom Selleck plays character Frank Reagan who sits at the head of dinner table as the Police Commissioner with a family that has law enforcement as the family business. It seems like the Mangum family business is football. John Mangum Jr. played for the Chicago Bears during the 1990’s. His father, the original John, played defensive tackle for the Boston Patriots, who at the time resided in the AFL before the merger with the NFL. Then John Mangum’s brother Kris played tight end for the Carolina Panthers for 10 seasons in the NFL. Along came John Mangum Jr.’s son Jake who elected to play baseball over football. He followed his own path in life and has made it to the MLB. I’m sure Jake is not sentenced to the kids table at Sunday family dinners.

At the age of 30, Jake Mangum has had a very interesting path to the MLB after spurning football his freshman year of high school to concentrate on baseball. In 2025, Jake made his MLB debut with the Tampa Bay Rays. This season he is on the Pirates in year two of his career as he has already been traded three times in his career. Mangum was drafted three times by both New York teams. He avoided the Yankee Death Star by playing college ball instead of wearing storm trooper pinstripes. The Mets drafted him two years in a row in 2018 & ’19. He played his college ball at Mississippi State University where he earned a degree in business administration. In 4 seasons at Mississippi State, he helped the Bulldogs get to the College World Series in back-to-back years in 2018 & ’19. In 4 seasons he racked up 383 hits which ranks him number 1 all-time in the Southeastern conference. Those 383 hits rank him number 4 all-time in NCAA Division 1 history. He would finally sign with the Mets to begin his journey to the MLB. In 2020 due to the pandemic, he did not play as all minor league seasons were cancelled completely that year. The Mets traded him to the Marlins for that famous player to be named later deal. Then about a year later the Marlins flipped him to get that famous player to be named later. Finally Mangum had a break out camp with the Rays while being protected from any other team poaching him in the rule 5 draft. Mangum is switch hitting outfielder with remarkable defensive skills. With the lumber last year he racked up 120 hits in 118 games. His batting average was a impressive .296. Not much power with the bat only 3 long balls but he drove in 40 runs. The Rays had a fire sale during the off-season as they work on another quick rebuild on the fly, they threw in Mangum in the deal with second baseman Brandon Lowe who was headliner of the deal.

John Mangum Jr. presently 59 years of age. He was born and raised in the state of Mississippi. John was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 6th round of the 1990 NFL draft from Alabama University. John was defensive back and played 9 seasons in the NFL all with Da Bears. In 105 NFL games he tallied up 5 interceptions. He recorded 4.5 sacks and racked up 272 solo tackles. When John played for the Bears this was after those great 1980’s teams they had when they won the Superbowl in 85. The Bears still had some Hall of Fame players that played with John in the 1990’s.

Steve “Mongo” McMichael and Richard Dent were on their last legs when Mangum Jr. was patrolling the Bears secondary. The Bears did make it to the post-season three times with John Mangum Jr. In 5 post-season games, Mangum did record an interception and fumble recovery on his playoff resume.

John Mangum Jr.’s younger brother Kris is 52 years of age presently. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 7th round of the 1997 NFL draft from Alabama University. He helped the Crimson Tide win a National title in 1992. Before transferring to Alabama he played for Ole Miss. Kris did not play defense like his brother and father. He was an offensive player whose position on the gridiron was tight end. He played 10 seasons in the NFL all with the Panthers. He played in 126 NFL games and racked up 151 catches for 1,424 receiving yards. He also hauled in 9 touchdown passes. He played from 1997 until 2006.

Jack Mangum was way too young to see his father play professional football. In 2025 for a Monday football game between the Bears and the Vikings, Jack was in town with the Rays. It was an alumni game for his father John, at Soldier field. Jack had the day off as the Rays were going to be playing both Chicago baseball teams during the week starting on Tuesday. Jack got some perspective about his father and all his Bear chums that night. The stories that were told. Along with watching the game together, it had to have been special for the Mangum football family.

When John Mangum Jr. was playing for the Bears, I always liked how he played the game. He was not your All-Pro defensive back out on the field. He played hard every down and had a high football IQ which you have to respect. In sports, guys like John Jr. are some of the unsung heroes of these teams you watch every Sunday. You need these guys on the roster to win games. You can tell that about his son Jack, who carved his own path in life. He may have been good playing football until he gave it up. He was committed to Alabama but backed out in the last minute to go to Mississippi State which was close to home. It was a school he visited multiple times before going there because he knew people there. By the time he went to school there, he knew many people and everyone knew his name earning himself the “Mayor” nickname. I was watching the Pirates game yesterday, his new team, as they were in New York playing the Mets, the team that drafted him and traded him away. He was playing center field and on one play he tracked down a ball that was destined to be off the wall for extra bases. He got on his horse and tracked it down for one hell of a catch. He looked like a defensive back like a safety ball hawking a ball thrown deep by a quarterback. His father would be proud that Jack has taken some football into his sport of baseball. The Mangum family toughness with the game high IQ is what this family is all about. Jack was late getting to the big leagues, but he certainly looks like he should be an everyday player as I hope the Pirates give him plenty of playing time. You hope he can get 8-10 good years in the MLB like his father and uncle got playing on the gridiron.