Canadian twins Chase and Sydney Brown made the 53-man active rosters with their respective NFL teams.
Chase was a fifth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2023 NFL Draft and has made the final roster alongside running backs Joe Mixon, Trayveon Williams, and Chris Evans.
The five-foot-nine, 209-pound ball carrier won the Jon Cornish Trophy as Canada’s top NCAA player in 2022 following a sensational season at the University of Illinois. He carried the ball 328 times for 1,643 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground while adding 27 receptions for 240 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
The native of London, Ont. was named a consensus second-team All-American and finished fourth in the nation in rushing yards. He was also named a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, which is given annually to the top running back in all of college football.
Chase led his position group with a 40-inch vertical and a ten-foot, seven-inch broad jump at the NFL Combine. He later clocked the fifth-fastest forty-yard dash at 4.43 seconds and put up 25 reps on the bench press, also leading all running backs.
The Montreal Alouettes selected Chase in the seventh round of the 2023 CFL Draft and will hold his rights north of the border in perpetuity.
The Bengals open their season on the road against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Sept. 10.
Sydney was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft and is one of four safeties on the team’s final roster alongside Reed Blankenship, Terrell Edmunds, and Justin Evans.
The University of Illinois product had a career year in 2022, recording 59 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, 13 pass breakups, six interceptions, and two defensive touchdowns. He was named first-team All-Big Ten by the conference’s coaches and received an invitation to the prestigious Senior Bowl.
The five-foot-ten, 211-pound defender had a strong performance at the 2023 NFL Combine, running a 4.47-second forty-yard dash. He also posted a ten-foot, ten-inch broad jump, a 40.5-inch vertical, and 23 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.
The Eagles open their season on Sunday, Sept. 10 against the New England Patriots.
