PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Jarey Elder was a star defensive back at Division II West Chester University. As a senior in 2019, he was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division Defensive Athlete of the Year.
Since then, he has been chasing his pro football dream. These days, he's in the midst of his second season in the secondary for the USFL’s New Orleans Breakers.
“Been around great coaches last year and great coaches this year, too. Great players all around. The competition in this league, I think it's overlooked in some aspects,” Elder said. “But after almost 100 guys last year got signed, I think people are starting to understand that this is real deal football.”
Elder has an interception and 14 total tackles so far this season, helping the Breakers to an undefeated 4-0 start. He’s turning heads now at the pro level, but he still remembers his college days fondly.
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“West Chester is a great place. I had a couple of Division I offers coming out of school and I'm so happy those didn't work out. I'm so happy I ended up going to West Chester to be a Golden Ram,” Elder shared.
“Being able to play with my brother (running back) Jarel there for three years … that was a true blessing, being able to be on the field with him, same field and I make a play on defense, he turns around and gets the ball at running back and goes and scores. Just little things like that I'll never forget.”
One of Elder’s favorite memories from that time was winning the PSAC championship during his junior year. “It’s something that (head coach) Bill Zwaan is super deserving of,” he said. “We definitely wanted to get it for him.”
Elder and the Breakers will look to go 5-0 on Sunday when they take on the Memphis Showboats.
You can hear the full interview with Elder as a bonus episode of KYW Newsradio’s original podcast, “1-on-1 with Matt Leon.” Listen to the episode above, or subscribe on the Audacy app, or wherever you get podcasts.
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