Football | 9/4/2026 9:54:19 AM

NORFOLK, Va. – As the 2026 NFL season gets underway next week, five former Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football players are represented on initial 53-man rosters across the league, with players from Howard, Morgan State and South Carolina State.

South Carolina State and Morgan State each have two players represented, while Howard has one.

The MEAC representatives are:

• Bryan Cook, S, Howard — Cincinnati Bengals
• Cobie Durant, DB, South Carolina State — Dallas Cowboys
• Elijah Williams, DL, Morgan State — Minnesota Vikings
• Erick Hunter, LB, Morgan State — New England Patriots
• Javon Hargrave, DL, South Carolina State — Green Bay Packers

Bryan Cook, S, Howard — Cincinnati Bengals
Bryan Cook enters his fifth NFL season with the Bengals after spending his first four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Cook has started each of his last 49 games played, including postseason, and has appeared in 62 career regular-season games, recording 228 tackles, 15 pass breakups, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He was a member of Kansas City’s back-to-back Super Bowl championship teams in 2022 and 2023.

Cobie Durant, DB, South Carolina State — Dallas Cowboys
Cobie Durant enters his fifth NFL season with the Dallas Cowboys after spending his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Durant appeared in all 17 games in 2025, starting 15, and recorded a career-high 40 tackles and three interceptions, including a 50-yard pick-six. He added three interceptions in the 2025 postseason, the most by any player in the NFL, and enters 2026 with 141 career tackles, 26 pass breakups and seven interceptions.

Elijah Williams, DL, Morgan State — Minnesota Vikings
Elijah Williams enters his second NFL season with the Minnesota Vikings after making the team as an undrafted rookie in 2025. Williams appeared in seven games as a rookie, recording nine tackles. He spent four seasons at Morgan State, where he finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in sacks (31) and tackles for loss (52), and was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.

Erick Hunter, LB, Morgan State — New England Patriots
Erick Hunter enters the NFL as an undrafted rookie with the New England Patriots after a standout career at Morgan State. He finished his collegiate career with 298 tackles in 45 games, ranking second in program history, and led the MEAC with 102 tackles in 2025. He also recorded 14 tackles for loss, four sacks and four forced fumbles while earning All-MEAC First Team and multiple All-America honors.

Javon Hargrave, DL, South Carolina State — Green Bay Packers
Javon Hargrave enters his 11th NFL season with the Green Bay Packers after appearing in 146 games with 130 starts with the Steelers, Eagles, 49ers and Vikings. The three-time Pro Bowl selection has recorded 432 tackles, 49 sacks, 59 tackles for loss, 84 quarterback hits, five forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and eight passes defensed during his career. Hargrave has played in at least 15 games in nine of his 10 seasons.

About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) enters its 56^th year of intercollegiate competition with the 2026–27 academic year. Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, the MEAC is comprised of eight distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) along the Atlantic seaboard: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University, and South Carolina State University. Since its founding in 1970, the MEAC has been dedicated to promoting academic excellence, sportsmanship, and the personal growth of student athletes. For more information, visit www.MEACSports.com.