
Efton Chism III has been the underdog story of New England Patriots training camp. But one brilliant play may have ended any debate about whether he’ll make the team this year.
Chism, an undrafted rookie wide receiver out of Eastern Washington, showed incredible effort and elusiveness on a 12-yard catch and run for a touchdown before halftime against the Minnesota Vikings in Saturday’s preseason game. You can watch the play here.
“He’s dead at the 6, makes four guys miss, squeezes through two,” Patriots broadcaster (and fan-favorite former QB) Scott Zolak said.
Six different Vikings defenders had a shot at Chism on the play. But the undrafted rookie slipped them all, leading Zolak to make a statement.
“Oh my God. He just made the football team,“ Zolak said. ”I’m sorry. He just made the football team right there.”
Former Patriots champs Jason McCourty and Devin McCourty were also in the booth and impressed by the play.
“He’s just determined. He’s had a mentality of ‘I’m going to make this football team, I’m going to prove everybody,” Jason McCourty said.
“Look at the team. Everybody’s hype because they’ve seen this guy do this day-in and day-out,” Devin McCourty said. “This is what preseason football is all about.”
Former Patriots captain David Andrews took to social media to chime in on Chism’s play.
“Nothing brings me joy like watching undrafted guys play their ass off in the preseason and go win themselves a job,” Andrews wrote.
Those are some legendary names in Patriots history that Chism managed to impress. Both McCourty brothers and Andrews are Super Bowl champs. McCourty and Andrews were also long-time captains in New England.
Chism has been impressing onlookers in camp for a while. But now, it’s really starting to translate to games. After Saturday’s performance, it looks like he’s destined to carry that over to the regular season as part of the main roster.