15 Bears on NFL Opening Day rosters, including three team captains

September 9, 2026 // Posted In Alumni, Athletics, Honors

Pictured left-to-right: Ross Matiscik, Terrel Bernard and Jalen Pitre during their time at Baylor

103 years ago this month, a Baylor Bear appeared in an NFL game for the first time. 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 the last 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 15 Bears in the league to start the season: nine on active rosters, one on the injured list, and five more on practice squads. Here are the Bears we’ll be cheering on Sundays:

Terrel Bernard (BSED ’20, MSED ’21), Buffalo Bills (linebacker)
Andrew Billings (BA ’18), Arizona Cardinals (defensive line)
Josh Cameron (BA ’25), Jacksonville Jaguars (wide receiver)
James Lynch, Chicago Bears (defensive line)
Jackie Marshall (BSED ’25), Tennessee Titans (defensive line)
Ross Matiscik (BBA ’18, MSIS ’19), Jaguars (long snapper)
Jalen Pitre (BBA ’20, MSED ’21), Houston Texans (safety)
Tyquan Thornton (BA ’21), Kansas City Chiefs (wide receiver)
Jon Weeks (BSED ’07), San Francisco 49ers (long snapper)

Those nine Bears will begin 2026 on their team’s active roster. Three of the nine were honored as team captains this year: Bernard with the Bills, Matiscik with the Jaguars, and Pitre with the Texans. Weeks, meanwhile, is set to begin his 17th NFL season — one behind Matt Bryant for the most of any Bear.

Six more Bears are close to getting playing time. Ben Sims (BA ’22) begins the year on the injured list for the Miami Dolphins, and five others are on their team’s practice squad: Gabe Hall (BA ’23) with the Philadelphia Eagles, Xavier Newman-Johnson (BSED ’21) with the New York Jets, Garmon Randolph (BSED ’23) with the Cincinnati Bengals, Michael Trigg with the Dallas Cowboys, and Kole Wilson with the Cleveland Browns.

(Something else worth noticing: 12 of these 15 Bears completed their degrees at Baylor, including three who also earned graduate degrees — definitely a point of pride for this program.)

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!