Bruce Tyrone Maxwell III[1] (born December 20, 1990) is a German–born American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent.

Maxwell is the first MLB player to join other US athletes protesting racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem.

[2] Maxwell was born on a U.S. military installation in Wiesbaden, Germany, while his father, Bruce Jr., was stationed there with the U.S. Army during a tour of duty.

[1] He is biracial, his father being African-American and his mother being Caucasian[3] Maxwell played first base at Sparkman High School in Alabama.

[6] He made his debut that year with the AZL Athletics, and was promoted to the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Low-A New York-Pennsylvania League after six games.

Maxwell began 2017 with Nashville and was recalled and optioned multiple times before he was called up to Oakland for the remainder of the season on June 22.

[10] Maxwell's actions came in response to President Donald Trump's comments that professional football franchise owners should fire players who knelt during the anthem.

On Twitter and through his agent, Maxwell said his decision to kneel represented concern for racial injustice as well as freedom of speech and exercise of peaceful protest.

[11] The Oakland Athletics immediately issued a statement saying the team "pride[s] ourselves on being inclusive" and supports "players' constitutional rights and freedom of expression.

Maxwell was also selected to the LMB All-Star Game and won the Serie del Rey with the Acereros, which was the first-ever championship for the team.

On July 27, 2020, the New York Mets signed Maxwell to a minor-league deal, pending a physical and a negative COVID-19 test.

[30] Maxwell has represented team Germany at the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers for three cycles (2016, 2020(Canceled),and 2022).