#NextLevelBU: Nine Bears active on NFL Opening Day rosters

5 Sep 2024

Baylor University

L-R, action photos of Terrel Bernard, Andrew Billings, and Jalen Pitre

It’s now been more than 100 years since the first Baylor alum appeared in an NFL game. That would be Russ Blailock, an offensive lineman who made his debut with the Milwaukee Badgers in 1923 — just three years after the league was founded, and only a year after it changed its name to the National Football League.

At least one Baylor Bear has played in the NFL every year for almost 90 years. You have to go all the way back to 1936 to find the last time an entire NFL season was played without a Baylor Bear.

This year, there are 14 Bears in the league to start the season: nine on active rosters, one on the injured list, and four more on practice squads. Here are the Bears we’ll be cheering on Sundays (plus the occasional Monday, Thursday and December Saturday):

Terrel Bernard, Buffalo Bills (linebacker) Andrew Billings, Chicago Bears (defensive line) JaMycal Hasty, New England Patriots (running back) Ross Matiscik, Jacksonville Jaguars (long snapper) Xavier Newman-Johnson, New York Jets (offensive line) Jalen Pitre, Houston Texans (safety) Ben Sims, Green Bay Packers (tight end) Tyquan Thornton, Patriots (wide receiver) Jon Weeks, Texans (long snapper)

Those nine Bears will begin 2024 on their team’s active roster. Bernard, a leader in Buffalo as he was in Waco, was recently named a team co-captain. Weeks, in his 15th season in Houston, moves into second place behind kicker Matt Bryant for the longest-tenured Baylor alum in the NFL.

Five more Bears are close to getting that shot. Offensive tackle Connor Galvin begins the year on the injured list for the Detroit Lions, and four others are on their team’s practice squad: Will Bradley-King with the Miami Dolphins, James Lynch with the Tennessee Titans, and two Philadelphia Eagles practice squad members in defensive tackle Gabe Hall and safety JT Woods.

As they take the field this year, these Bears are part of a Baylor Line through pro football that goes back more than a century, and makes us all proud in the process.

Sic ’em, NFL Bears!