Alcorn State doesn't produce NFL rosters in bulk, but when one of its own makes news, it tends to be memorable. This week, Falcons wide receiver Chris Blair found himself at the center of one of the more unusual plays of the NFL Sunday slate — a head-butting incident that got a Chicago Bears defender tossed from the game.
In Sunday's matchup between Atlanta and Chicago, Bears defender Jahdae Walker was ejected after officials flagged him for head-butting Blair. The penalty came during a game the Bears largely controlled through the first three-plus quarters, per Bleacher Report, though the ejection injected a notable subplot into what was otherwise a Chicago-dominated afternoon.
The Falcons ultimately fell 23–31, and Blair's stat line for the day wasn't what Alcorn State fans were circling. But the play — and the attention it drew — put a Braves alumnus squarely in the national conversation on a busy NFL Sunday. Getting a defender tossed, even involuntarily, is a strange kind of impact to have on a game.
Blair has carved out a roster spot in Atlanta as a receiver, and moments like Sunday's — whatever the circumstances — keep his name visible in a league where staying visible matters. For a program like Alcorn State, that visibility is no small thing.
The rest of the school's active NFL alumni were quiet by comparison this week, with no other notable performances or incidents surfacing across the league during the Oct. 18–24 window. Blair was the lone Braves name in the news cycle — and he made it count, if only by being in the wrong place at the wrong time for Jahdae Walker.
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