The NFL season opens on Thursday night and Eastern Illinois football alumni will once again be in uniform, on the sidelines and in the front office for several NFL teams.
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Kamu Grugier-Hill will open the season playing this year for the Minnesota Vikings as the linebacker enters his ninth season in the NFL.
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His former EIU teammate Jimmy Garoppolo signed with the Los Angeles Rams in the offseason and will join the franchise after a league imposed two-game suspension to open year.
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Sean Payton enters his second season as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
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EIU also has a number of former players serving as assistant coaches in the NFL with Tim Kelly (New York Giants), Adam Gristick (New Orleans Saints), Matt Jones (Tennessee Titans) and Steven Bravo-Brown (Cleveland Browns) on NFL staffs.
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Ryan Pace continues to work in the front office for the Atlanta Falcons while Tony Romo returns to the booth as part of the CBS broadcast team with Jim Nantz.
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The Panthers ties to the NFL also include former EIU assistant football coaches serving in the NFL including – Bobby Babich (Buffalo Bills), Matthew Smiley (Buffalo Bills), Michael Hodges (New Orleans Saints), DeMarcus Covington (New England Patriots), Nick Caley (Los Angeles Rams), Omar Young (New England Patriots), Clancy Barone (New Orleans Saints) and AC Carter (Los Angeles Rams).
