Washington Commanders rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt was one of his team’s outstanding performers in last Sunday’s 27-10 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Having his college football roots at HBCU Alabama State, he rushed for 111 yards and caught two passes for 39 to help elevate the Commanders to a 3-2 record.
The 24-year-old Croskey-Merritt’s path to the NFL was unlikely and circuitous. The Montgomery, Alabama native attended Alabama State from 2019-2022 and over 31 games, ran for an unremarkable 1,164 yards. Transferring to New Mexico, Croskey-Merritt, who prefers to be called Bill, stemming from a childhood nickname after the animated character Little Bill, showed pro promise in the 2023 season, finishing with 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns.
He transferred again to Arizona, but played just one game in 2024 due to eligibility issues. After being named the offensive MVP of last year’s prestigious East-West Shrine Bowl showcase for NFL prospects, Croskey-Merritt was acquired by the Commanders in the seventh round (No. 245 overall) in April’s draft. Now, he is Washington’s lead back, topping them in rushing yardage with 238, averaging 6.6 yards per carry, and four touchdowns through Week 5 of the league’s schedule.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback and a Fox football analyst, Tom Brady, named Croskey-Merritt his weekly LFG (let’s fu*king go) Player of the Game after his showing against the Chargers.
“I want to say thanks to God, my teammates, my family for just being with me the whole way,” said Croskey-Merritt upon learning of Brady’s bestowed honor, “so it definitely gives me a lot of confidence.”
HBCU players were once staples of NFL rosters. Today, they are sparse. For the 2024 season, there were fewer than 20 HBCU players on the collective 53-man rosters of the 32 NFL squads. This year, Carson Vinson, the erstwhile Alabama A&M offensive lineman, was the only HBCU alum drafted, chosen in the fifth round (141st overall) by the Baltimore Ravens. None were taken last year.
In 2023, cornerback Isaiah Bolden from Jackson State was the lone HBCU player to hear his name called at the NFL’s annual April draft, picked in the seventh round (245th overall) by the New England Patriots.