Complete List/Bios of EWU Past and Present Professionals
 
Five former Eastern Washington University football players – double more than any other team in the Big Sky Conference -- are expected to be in uniform this week when the National Football League season begins, including a pair of starters with the Los Angeles Rams.
 
Cooper Kupp is listed as a starting receiver for the Rams after bursting onto the scene last year with 62 catches for 869 yards and five touchdowns to earn All-Rookie honors by the Pro Football Writers Association. Samson Ebukam is listed as a starter at outside linebacker after finishing with 31 tackles, a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in 16 games (two as a starter). The Rams, the defending NFC West champions, open the season on Monday, Sept. 10 versus the Oakland Raiders on ESPN.
 
Kendrick Bourne, also a rookie last year, is a backup wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers. He had 16 receptions for 257 yards as a rookie, all coming in the last eight games of the season. Veteran running back Taiwan Jones remains on the Buffalo Bills roster as he enters his eighth season in the NFL, and Aaron Neary is with the Cleveland Browns after spending his rookie season with the Rams.
 
In fact, Eastern had four rookies play in the regular season in the NFL in 2017 – certainly extremely rare if not unprecedented by a FCS school. Last weekend STATS reported there are 157 players from 71 different FCS schools on regular season rosters, but Eastern is the only Big Sky school with more than two. Eastern has the sixth-most in FCS, trailing only Harvard (8), North Dakota State (6), James Madison (6), Illinois State (6) and Delaware (6).
 
Veteran Jake Rodgers, who last played for EWU in 2014, was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and rookie Albert Havili was released by the Bills after starting the preseason with the San Diego Chargers.
 
Eastern also has five Eagles active in the Canadian Football League, including quarterbacks Bo Levi Mitchell (Calgary), Matt Nichols (Winnipeg) and Vernon Adams Jr. (Montreal). Linebacker J.C. Sherritt (Edmonton) and T.J. Lee III (British Columbia) are also active in the league, but released in 2018 were Victor Gamboa (Ottawa), Shaq Hill (Edmonton), Cassidy Curtis (British Columbia) and Tevin McDonald (British Columbia).