CHENEY, Wash. — The journey through college can be transformative for people. They grow as a person and their goals change throughout the journey. Going into his fifth and final year,
Efton Chism III has changed as a person and built a legacy with Eastern Washington football, but keeps his goals right in front of him.
"My goals in my notebook everyday are: NFL, All-American, Walter Payton, and then Legend at the end of my time at Eastern. Those are my four [goals] that I see every day."
Chism earned AP and Stats Perform All-American third team honors in 2023. Prior to the season, Chism was listed on the Walter Payton Award preseason watch list, along with being a preseason first team selection by Stats Perform. He was also listed on the Reese's Senior Bowl watchlist and included in the East-West Shrine Bowl's top 1000 NFL prospects.
"I dedicated myself to the process, and not getting caught up in the results, being okay with taking it day by day, and opportunity to opportunity. Then as a team, growing year in and year out, regardless of the record. I still feel like we're getting better as a team," described Chism.
To achieve what he wants, Chism has a consistent strategy to follow, "I'd say it was a lot of hard work, but also a lot of goal setting. You have to realize what you want to do, how you're going to do it, have a plan, and how you're going to follow that plan. You can't achieve any goals without a plan of what you want to achieve."
Chism's goals are what defines his legacy at Eastern. Legacy is the lasting impact that a player or individual can have on their university. The legacy of being a wide receiver at Eastern Washington is no easy standard to live up to, but Chism embraces that challenge.
"Hopefully people will remember me as one of the greats, and I've been chasing that since I got here," Chism explained. "I want to go down in the same conversation as Cooper Kupp, Kendrick Bourne, and all those great receivers. I have the opportunity to and hopefully I can keep playing the way I'm playing. You go out to Roos Field and see Coop's records all over the place. People compare me to him, but I just want to be in the same conversation, not known as just another receiver."
After five seasons, Chism has posted the numbers that place him in the EWU record books. He currently has 273 career receptions and averages 5.59 receptions per game, both ranking second on the all-time lists. Chism has amassed 3054 career receiving yards and 31 touchdowns, both of which are sixth all-time.
The stats speak for themselves, but there are numerous people who have impacted Chism and helped him to achieve success during his career. Since his first season in Cheney (2020-21), Chism has been guided by three wide receiver coaches: Pat McCann, Greg Hardin and currently, Jeff McDaniels. All three have helped Chism build his legacy.
"I think Coach Pat initially first taught me how to go about the process to be a receiver, not just being athletically gifted, or just go out there and run around. Coach Hardin taught me how to deal with different situations. If I wasn't in the spot where I wanted to be, if I wasn't happy with certain situations, he just taught me to keep grinding through it, not to get frustrated with those challenges. McDaniels helps me with a little bit of everything, including the challenges and receiver play. I feel like he's really helped me with football knowledge, seeing coverages and seeing different defenses. All three have helped me tremendously and I couldn't thank them enough."
As a receiver, the relationship with the quarterback is key for both to be successful. Chism has learned what works best for him to be developing that relationship.
"It's definitely different when you first get to play with them, but I think that getting to play with Eric [Barriere] when I first got here was a blessing, because he's one of the best to ever play here. Getting to learn from him and see how he went about his way. With Gunner [Talkington], for someone who didn't play for five years, to see his process, and how he grinded through that, being behind EB. Then Kekoa [Visperas] with his ability to be great, and to be a really good player; you got to learn how to get along with them differently. They are all different players and humans, and I think for me, the best thing that I've done is gotten to know them as a human before as a football player."
The receivers coaches and quarterbacks make their impact, but the guys that Chism spends a lot of time with, in the receiver room, make their impact too.
"When I first got here, having the group we had in the room, obviously I wanted to play and wanted to do all this. I saw the talent we had in there, and Coach Pat gave me the opportunity, and I made the most of it. But seeing those guys take me under their wing, and being accepting of me is a huge blessing because I wouldn't be the receiver I am without them. They helped me grow, not just as a football player, but also as a human too. Looking back, we had four all-conference receivers in one year, which is crazy. I don't know the last time that's been done, or I haven't been paying attention, but that's pretty unheard of I feel like. Then, seeing how the room has changed with Jakobie [Keeney-James] and [Anthony] Stell leaving, which were all awesome teammates. I loved playing with them and they're doing great things where they're at now. Now Nolan [Ulm] and I are the leaders and being the captains where we're at. It's definitely different from when we first got here, because we had no captains in the receiver room my whole career until Nolan and I. It's definitely a cool experience that we don't take for granted."
Throughout his career, Chism has seen changes in his position coach, quarterbacks and receiver room. A consistent presence, though, is his head coach, Aaron Best, who has led the Eagles for Chism's entire career.
The relationship between the two has only become stronger after five years, "It's special because when you think of Coach Best, or any head coach, someone with a hard head, someone that's really going to push you. I know that, for me personally, I can always rely on him and I know he's going to push me. It doesn't matter if it's a good rep or a bad rep; he's always going to let me know what he thinks, or if I'm doing something wrong. He's going to coach me like everyone else. That relationship I have with him is special and I'm not going to take that for granted at all. He's one of my favorite coaches I've ever had and I'm very blessed to have him."
Through five games in 2024, Chism leads the Big Sky with 47 receptions for 513 yards and seven touchdowns. The senior leads the FCS with 9.4 receptions per game, ranking 10th in yards and 3rd in touchdowns. Earlier this season, Chism earned his first Big Sky offensive Player of the Week award after a career-best 173 receiving yards and matching his career best with 13 receptions and 3 touchdowns in the win over Monmouth.
One new achievement for Chism this season was attempting his first pass against Montana two weeks ago.
"I absolutely wanted to [throw a pass]. In high school, I played a little bit of quarterback my senior year, and actually, when EB was here I had two passes called. I got them, but I didn't throw because the coverage wasn't there. I got to throw it [against Montana]; it wasn't a great ball. There was a lot of traffic going on, but it felt good to just get a throw out there. My passer rating is zero which is not awesome, but it was cool."
Starting at Eastern in the 2020-21 year, Chism excelled at balancing football with academics.
"When I first got here, it was tough because with COVID and everything with the online school and going through that process. I've always been the type of guy that when I get work, I want to get it done, and get the best grades. That came with my sister being valedictorian in high school. I was always living in her shadow with grades, and my parents were always challenging me to get good grades. That always stuck with me, and I will do whatever I can to get a 4.0 or the highest grades I could get."
Chism earned the FCS ADA Academic All-Star award in 2023. He's earned Big Sky All-Academic honors the past four years.
Looking past all of the awards and statistics, football is still personal for Chism. He reflected on his favorite memories at Eastern.
"I think for sure, beating UNLV in 2021 was my favorite memory. That was awesome and just the atmosphere in the stadium. The Montana game that year, the night game. It was the first night game I've ever played here, sold out, and we beat them. That was another moment. There have been a lot of great memories, hanging out with the guys in the meeting rooms have always been great, not taking that for granted. Living in the moment this last year, and just understanding you don't get any of this time back."
That sentiment leads into what Chism will miss the most as an Eagle,
"The guys in the locker room are what I'll miss most. The football games I'll miss a lot, but you don't get back the laughs or the time spent with the guys, even if it's not in the room. It can be at the house, just hanging out. You know guys will graduate, move on or leave. There is a lot of unknown in the future, so just trying to live in the present and cherish these moments with these guys."
The Eagles travel to play Sacramento State on Saturday (Oct. 12) with kickoff at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
Season and single game tickets for the 2024 football season are now available! Ticket packages can be purchased online via your Paciolan account, over the phone at 509-359-6059, or by emailing tickets@ewu.edu.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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