The numbers have been tabulated, and only Harvard has more players in the National Football League than Eastern Washington University among schools at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision level.
 
Six former Eagles are on rosters in 2019 as the NFL regular season begins in September, including a trio of players with the Los Angeles Rams. The six former Eagles are one less than Harvard with seven, and equals the six FCS powerhouse North Dakota State has. Eastern has more than fellow Big Sky Conference member Idaho (5), as well as Delaware (5), James Madison (5), Montana (1) and Montana State (1).
 
A total of 167 players from 67 current FCS schools are part of the 32 opening-day rosters for the NFL's 100th season, which kicks off Sept. 5. Add in 43 players currently signed to practice squads (which go through frequent changes) and the FCS haul in the NFL is 210.
 
In 2019, rookie wide receiver/kick returner Nsimba Webster made the 53-man roster for the Rams, joining former Eagles and NFL veterans Cooper Kupp (wide receiver) and Samson Ebukam (outside linebacker). Also making NFL teams were Kendrick Bourne (wide receiver) with San Francisco, Jake Rodgers (offensive lineman) with Denver and Taiwan Jones (running back) with Houston.
 
Offensive lineman Aaron Neary had an excellent chance to make the Rams 53-man roster, but suffered a fractured ankle in late August which required surgery. Two former Eagles were released at the end of the preseason, including Jay-Tee Tiuli with the Seattle Seahawks and Ketner Kupp with the Rams.
 
Webster was an undrafted free agent, but caught 15 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown in four preseason games in 2019 for Los Angeles. He also returned three punts for 28 yards (long of 12) and three kickoffs for 70 (long of 28) to show his versatility. In his 44-game career (26 as a starter) at Eastern, Webster caught 156 passes to rank 15th in school history, good for 2,233 yards to rank 17th and 18 touchdowns to equal the 16th-most all-time at EWU.
 
Still looking for his first regular season action in the NFL, Rodgers enters the 2019 season on the roster of the Denver Broncos after originally joining the league in 2015. He has had two stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and has also been a part of the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons organizations.
 
Bourne saw action in all 16 games for the San Francisco 49ers in the 2018 season, finishing with 42 catches for 487 yards and four touchdowns. Bourne scored his first NFL touchdown on Sept. 16, 2018, against the Detroit Lions in a 30–27 victory. In Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers, he recorded his second touchdown in the 29–27 loss. He had a career-high seven catches for 71 yards versus Arizona on Oct. 28, then had a season-high 73 yards on four catches in the final game of the season on Dec. 23. 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 enters his ninth year in the NFL in 2019 and is with his third team. Jones signed a contract with the Houston Texans on May 14, 2019, as a free agent. In his eight-year NFL career entering 2019 as both a running back and cornerback, Jones has played in 80 total games with career totals of 183 yards rushing, 18 receptions for 251 yards and a touchdown, 82 kickoff returns for 1,890 yards (23.0 average) and 52 total tackles. He signed with the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 2, 2017, after getting released from the Oakland Raiders on July 28, 2017.
 
But it's the Los Angeles Rams who have captured the hearts of EWU Eagles fans since the NFL Draft in spring of 2017.
 
Cooper Kupp was a starting receiver for the Rams in 2018 after bursting onto the scene in 2017 with 62 catches for 869 yards and five touchdowns to earn All-Rookie honors by the Pro Football Writers Association. His second season was cut short with a knee injury, and he missed the team's march to the Super Bowl. Kupp caught 40 passes for 566 yards and six touchdowns in the first eight games of the 2018 season for the Rams, who would go on to finish 15-4 after losing to the New England Patriots 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII.
 
Before he was injured, he and his wife, Anna, and their newborn son, Cooper Jamison, actually attended the MSU game on Sept. 29, 2018, to watch his brother Ketner Kupp play. Cooper returned to a venue he caught nine passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore in 2014, and 13 for 154 and a score in his senior year in 2016. In all, Kupp caught 42 passes for 617 yards and seven touchdowns in four victories versus the Bobcats. It was the first time in two years with the Rams that Kupp was able to see the Eagles play. Just two days prior to attending the EWU-MSU game, he caught nine passes for a career-high 162 yards and had the first two-touchdown day of his career versus Minnesota. He had a 70-yard TD reception in the 38-31 victory, giving him 24 catches for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the first four games – all wins – for the Rams.
 
After his 2018 injury, Cooper, Anna and Cooper Jr. (nicknamed "June") watched Ketner play his final collegiate game on Jan. 5, 2019, at the NCAA Division I Championship Game in Frisco, Texas. After receiving a tryout with the San Francisco 49ers, Ketner Kupp reunited with four fellow former Eagles by signing a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Rams on May 15, 2019. Cooper was present at the signing, which was headlined by the Rams as a "Kupple of brothers living the dream." Ketner Kupp finished with 267 tackles in his career to rank 14th all-time at EWU, and started 27 of the 48 games he played as an Eagle.
 
Ebukam was a starter for the Los Angeles Rams at outside linebacker in the 2018 season, finishing with 40 total tackles, three sacks, an interception, three forced fumbles and a pass broken up. In Week 11 on Monday Night Football, Ebukam scored two defensive touchdowns off turnovers (one fumble, one interception he returned 25 yards) and forced another interception with his pass broken up in a 54-51 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, earning him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. In the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints, he recorded three tackles and a forced fumble in a tough 26-23 overtime victory. He had four tackles in a 13-3 loss in Super Bowl LIII to the New England Patriots. Ebukam had 31 tackles, a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in 16 games (two as a starter) as a rookie.
 
Neary signed a reserve/future contract on Feb. 8, 2019, to remain with the Los Angeles Rams after spending the 2017 and 2018 seasons as a practice squad player. He went with the team to Atlanta, Ga., for Super Bowl LIII where the Rams lost to New England 13-3. He did not play in a regular season games in 2018, and originally signed with the Rams on Sept. 3, 2017. He made his NFL debut on Dec. 31, 2017, versus San Francisco in the final game of the regular season for the NFC West champions.
 
With Kupp, Ebukam, Bourne and Neary, Eastern had four rookies play in the regular season in the NFL in 2017 – certainly extremely rare if not unprecedented by a FCS school. As NFL 53-man rosters were announced for 2018, STATS reported there were 157 players from 71 different FCS schools on regular season rosters, and Eastern had five to lead the Big Sky and rank sixth in FCS, trailing only Harvard (8), North Dakota State (6), James Madison (6), Illinois State (6) and Delaware (6).
 
Eastern also has five Eagles active in the Canadian Football League in 2019, including quarterbacks Bo Levi Mitchell (Calgary), Matt Nichols (Winnipeg) and Vernon Adams Jr. (Montreal). Defensive backs T.J. Lee III and Victor Gamboa both play for British Columbia. D'londo Tucker and Albert Havili were also both with British Columbia but didn't make the team.
 
Mitchell led the Calgary to the 2018 Grey Cup title after leading the Stampeders to the title back in 2014. He was the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 2018 after throwing a league-best 35 touchdowns passes. He was 24-of-36 passing for 253 yards and two TDs in a 27-16 victory over Ottawa in the Grey Cup on Nov. 25 in Edmonton, Alberta. J.C. Sherritt, a veteran of eight CFL seasons, announced his retirement on Jan. 16, 2019.

 
 
Eagles in the Pros
 
Since 1984, when Eastern became a member of the NCAA Championship Subdivision (FCS), 90 Eastern football players have either signed free agent contracts or have been drafted by National Football League (NFL) or Canadian Football League (CFL) teams. Eleven have been drafted by the NFL and five drafted by the CFL to go along with four NFL draftees between 1965-74. Eastern has also enjoyed a recent influx of players into other existing or now-defunct leagues. They include Arena Football League (AFL) and arenafootball2 (af2), as well as in the United Football League (UFL) and Indoor Football League (IFL). Prior to that, several played in the World League, which became NFL Europa before it folded. The list below shows EWU's current professionals and the team they are currently with.
 

Professionals in 2019 (most recent team listed)

Los Angeles Rams (NFL) – Nsimba Webster – Wide Receiver – EWU Letterwinner in 2015-16-17-18
Los Angeles Rams (NFL) – Cooper Kupp – Wide Receiver – 2013-14-15-16
Los Angeles Rams (NFL) – Samson Ebukam – Outside Linebacker – 2013-14-15-16
San Francisco 49ers (NFL) – Kendrick Bourne – Wide Receiver – 2013-14-15-16
Denver Broncos (NFL) – Jake Rodgers – Offensive Tackle – 2013-14
Houston Texans (NFL) – Taiwan Jones – Running Back/Cornerback – 2008-09-10
***Los Angeles Rams (NFL) – Aaron Neary – Offensive Guard – 2012-13-14-15
***Seattle Seahawks (NFL) – Jay-Tee Tiuli – Defensive Line – 2014-15-16-18
***Seattle Seahawks (NFL) – Josh Lewis – Cornerback – 2015-16-17-18
***Los Angeles Rams (NFL) – Ketner Kupp – Linebacker – 2015-16-17-18
British Columbia Lions (CFL) – Victor Gamboa – Cornerback – 2014-15-16-17
Montreal Alouettes (CFL) – Vernon Adams Jr. – Quarterback – 2012-13-14
British Columbia Lions (CFL) – T.J. Lee III – Cornerback – 2010-11-12-13
Calgary Stampeders (CFL) – Bo Levi Mitchell – Quarterback – 2010-11
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) – Matt Nichols – Quarterback – 2006-07-08-09
***British Columbia Lions (CFL) – D'londo Tucker – Cornerback – 2013-15-16-18
***British Columbia Lions (CFL) – Albert Havili – Defensive End – 2013-14-16-17
***Not on 2019 active roster as of 9/1/19.