When Efton Chism III got his first chance to take the field on an NFL Sunday in Week 6, he was prepared – but being in the spot to return a kickoff in Week 6 for a winning team was still a major accomplishment for the previously undrafted rookie.
“When the ball’s in the air, you’re like, ‘Oh, here we go. This is the opportunity.’” Chism recalled this week, at his locker. “Then once you get running with it and get tackled, you’re like, ‘Alright, I’m playing football again.’ It felt good.”
Chism said he figured he would have at least a shot at being active against the Saints last Sunday, due to the nature of the special teams’ depth chart. Returner Antonio Gibson suffered an ACL tear against the Bills the prior week. He stayed in contact with the coaches, and especially special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer.
“He told me be ready, be ready to go. Both him and Vrabel. I found out between the both of them and just putting pieces together,” he said.
He had enough heads up that he could share the news with his family back in Washington State. His mom, Kristy, was able to get to the Big Easy for the game.
“It was a pretty special moment for me,” Chism said.
Younger players often talk about being sponges around veterans, and Chism credits the experience on offense with helping him get up to speed through six weeks of his first season. He had five kick returns and one touchback in New Orleans.
“[I was] just ready to go, huge credit to those older guys. They allow us to kind of listen and get a lot of knowledge from them during the week, and they might not even know that. They’re just speaking out loud in the meeting room and allowing us young guys to take it in and get better each and every day. It was so fun to be out there, I’m so blessed and thankful for it,” he said.
The 5’10 receiver has beaten the odds so far, making the 53-man roster after a rigorous training camp and graduating to the active team roster on a Sunday. Is he eyeing snaps on offense as the next step in his NFL journey?
“I think everyone wants to do that, but for me, it’s, how do I help the team every day? Regardless, if I’m not playing on Sunday and I’m helping the defense during the week, that’s a huge opportunity for me to take advantage of,” he said. “Just continue to take it day-by-day. You know, you want to get out there and play every day, but just trying to help the team anyway I can right now.”