CHENEY, Wash. — On March 14, 2025, Eastern Washington football alumni Cooper Kupp signed with the Seattle Seahawks, returning to his home state and where he became the FCS all-time receiving leader.
But Kupp is not the only Eastern alumni who is a part of the Seahawks' quest for their second Super Bowl in franchise history.
Ben Reich, Caden Sheneman, Easton Hudson and Chris Whitehead all be on sidelines at Levi Stadium this coming Sunday. All four are Eastern alumni with Reich, Sheneman and Hudson also working as Eastern athletic employees. Whitehead attended Eastern as an undergraduate and walked onto the football team in 2010.
The four have moved from collegiate to the professional ranks, now working for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Reich and Sheneman work as videographers for Seahawks, while Hudson works on Seattle's equipment staff. Whitehead works as a communications assistant for the team.
All four former Eagles honed their skills studying at EWU, with Reich, Sheneman and Hudson all working for EWU athletics as well. The experience helped set them up to pursue their dreams in professional sports.
"Collegiate athletics was the biggest preparation. It taught me the behind-the-scenes on how programs are run and function, and most importantly how to organize and manage workload," Reich explained. "The main thing I embody every day that I took from EWU is professionalism. To work in this industry, you can't have fandom; it's important to recognize everybody, including athletes, are just people."
Sheneman echoed Reich on his experience at Eastern as a creative student,
"Working in college athletics helped prepare me for professional sports because of the craziness of sports. By working for Athletics as a student, I quickly learned that to get good at video creation it would be up to myself and everything I wanted to know I would have to learn on my own.The main lesson I learned is to never get comfortable with your work. Every time you create something new you want it to feel better than your last. Progression is key."
Hudson has different responsibilities on the equipment staff and talks about building relationships in college was key to transitioning to professional sports,
"Working in college athletics, especially in equipment, prepared me by teaching me responsibility, attention to detail, and honestly how important it is to make meaningful connections and maintain those connections. In equipment, you're directly responsible for making sure athletes can perform at their best, and there's no room for mistakes. The biggest lesson I carried with me is that if players trust you, you're doing your job right and that trust is built through consistency and doing things the right way every day."
Whitehead's path was different, moving from being a student-athlete to pro sports, "My experience as a student-athlete gave me my first true look at the media-sports relationship. I had opportunities to witness the impact media has on sports from afar, which is what initially piqued my interest in working with the media in some capacity. I was fortunate enough to use my knowledge obtained through various courses to propel me into a Communications internship in 2019."
Reich attended Eastern from 2020 to 2024, graduating in 2024 with his degree in Visual Communications Design. He worked in athletics marketing before spending two years as a Creative Media Intern and a minor in Political Science. Sheneman attended Eastern from 2021 to 2025, graduating with his degree in Business Marketing and a minor in Design. He worked for EWU athletics as a Student Video Creative from '24 to '25. Hudson was in Cheney from 2019 to 2023, working for equipment from '22 to '23. He graduated in 2023 with his degree in Business Administration.
Whitehead was an Eagle from 2007 to 2012 and graduated with his degree in Communications in 2016, with a minor in journalism.
College and college athletics provides a wealth of experience and creates memories people carry with them for the rest of their lives. Each of the four Eagle alumni have core memories from the time in Cheney.
Sheneman draws his from traveling with the football team during the 2024 season, "My favorite memories while working for EWU athletics are probably the trips with the team for away football games. Getting to explore other areas and shooting in different environments taught me a lot and I got to meet a lot of other creators."
For Hudson, his memories at Eastern goes back to personal relationships and the leadership for EQ, "As far as favorite memories go at EWU I often think back on how small our equipment staff was and just how much fun the four of us student workers had with each other whether we were on the road, setting up practice, or even just in the laundry room. Spenser Ybarra (EWU Assis. AD/Equipment) and Augie Hernandez (Former EWU Assis. AD/Equipment), whether they knew it or not, did an awesome job building a little culture in that equipment room and I'll always cherish that."
Back to the creative side, it's all about the craft and his coworkers for Reich, "My favorite memory was probably the grind after the games. Usually, it would be a couple of us in a small room, getting our best content out as fast as possible. There were a lot of laughs and time to reflect on the game in those moments."
As a student, Whitehead's embraced the college experience at EWU, "My favorite memories include Greek Week, late night recreational basketball with my peers at the rec center, Kappa Alpha Psi Inc. led philanthropy events, and meeting new people around campus and in the classroom. All of these experiences allowed me to meet individuals from all over that I still communicate with to this very day."
While working for Eastern, Reich, Shaneman and Hudson discovered the day-to-day workload of being involved in athletics. Whitehead learned how to grow into a professional role while studying as a student. The experience helped craft the Eagle alumni into professionals they are today.
The four offered advice to current Eagle students working towards their career goals.
"It's all about preparation," Reich emphasized. "Know the path and find out what you need to do to get there. If you're prepared early (have your portfolio loaded, interview practice), you take all the stress out and wait for an opportunity. That way, at the end of the day, you can say I gave it my all."
"Just be willing to outwork expectations," Hudson added. "Show up early, stay late, and take pride in the details. Learn everything you can, ask a lot of questions, be dependable, and understand that trust is everything in this profession. The equipment room is built on reliability and if players and coaches know they can count on you, opportunities will come."
Sheneman focused on self-confidence for his advice, "Never think you're not enough or not qualified to work for a professional sport. It all comes down to who you are as a person and your willingness to learn and grow. Be confident in your work, humble enough to take criticism, and brave enough to ask others in your work field for help and advice. Networking is key, and one small interaction with somebody can come back full circle later."
Whitehead's advice rings similar to Sheneman's as students should focus on their process, "The best advice I would give is to just be persistent, remain patient and to not be discouraged. I preach persistence because there will be so many different avenues to get a foot in the door when seeking a career with the NFL or an NFL team, or any sport for that matter. There will be so many opportunities to network, meet people who have worked in this field for so long, even across more than one generation in some instances."
The Seattle Seahawks appear in Super Bowl LX on Sunday (Feb. 8) against the New England Patriots, with former Eagle receivers Cooper Kupp and Efton Chism III facing off in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Join the Eagle Athletic Fund for as low as $50 per year! Support Eagle student-athletes on and off the field while enjoying exclusive EAF perks such as season ticket and tailgating priority, invitations to special events, exclusive access, and more. Visit goeags.com/eaf for more information.
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.
FOLLOW THE EAGLES
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
