Appalachian State Professional Athletes

App State in the NFL | Week of Oct. 25–31

Appalachian State's NFL alumni corps is scattered across the league, but one name is commanding the national conversation right now — and it's not the one on the biggest contract.

D'Marco Jackson, Chicago Bears

Sports Illustrated made it plain this week: D'Marco Jackson might be the Bears' best linebacker. The former Mountaineer is Chicago's third-highest-paid linebacker by salary — a detail that, in a just world, would be corrected at the next negotiating table. The piece argues Jackson simply shouldn't be leaving the field, a case built on his impact as a consistent, high-level performer in a linebacker room that's supposed to be led by pricier options. For App State faithful, it's a validation they've seen coming. Jackson has long been one of the more underappreciated players to come out of Boone, and a national spotlight from SI suggests that quiet undervaluation may finally be ending. Bears fans, too, are starting to notice what Mountaineer fans already knew.

Around the Rest of the Alumni

Jackson's emergence is the week's headline, but there was other App State activity worth noting.

Panthers punter Sam Martin was busy on both ends of a brutal week for Carolina. He suited up in a 43–13 shellacking at the hands of Tampa Bay on Sunday, then returned Thursday night for a 27–19 loss to Green Bay — two losses in five days for a Panthers squad that is struggling to find answers. Martin's leg at least gives the offense somewhere to hide. Fellow Panther Nick Hampton (LB) was also on the field for both games, logging snaps in a defense that couldn't slow either opponent.

Akeem Davis-Gaither, playing linebacker for Indianapolis, was in uniform for the Colts' 16–10 loss to Minnesota on Sunday — another tough result for a Colts team still searching for consistency. And in Atlanta, center Ryan Neuzil got one of the week's better outcomes: the Falcons knocked off San Francisco 29–20 on Sunday, giving Neuzil a win to close the period.

The Bigger Picture

App State's NFL footprint remains impressively wide — 29 alumni on active rosters spanning nearly every position group and conference of the league. But Jackson's week is a reminder that the program's ceiling isn't just "guys who stick on rosters." It's players who can earn genuine national recognition as among the best at their position on a given team. The Bears are a franchise under a microscope in 2025, and having an App State product emerge as their most indispensable linebacker is exactly the kind of story that keeps recruiting pipelines humming in Boone.

Three Appalachian State alumni suited up across the NFL this week, giving Mountaineer fans plenty to watch — and, in at least one case, plenty to talk about.

D'Marco Jackson, Bears LB — Chicago's Linebacker Shuffle

The most significant development for App State alumni this week came in Chicago, where D'Marco Jackson finds himself with an expanded role following a pair of roster-shaking events. T.J. Edwards went down with a hamstring injury, opening real snaps at linebacker — and just as that door cracked open, Noah Sewell returned from the PUP list to join Jackson in the revamped depth chart. The Bears still got rolled by Green Bay, 31–7, on Sunday, so it wasn't a banner day for Chicago's defense as a whole. But the personnel shift puts Jackson in a more prominent position than he's held in recent weeks, and with Edwards' timeline uncertain, Mountaineer fans have reason to keep tabs on how that unit evolves.

Akeem Davis-Gaither, Colts LB — Calling Out His Own

Davis-Gaither had a rougher week, and not just because the Colts dropped a 34–22 decision to the Steelers in Week 5. The App State product made headlines for the wrong reasons when he publicly called out Indianapolis's tackling effort in the aftermath of the loss — a rare, pointed critique directed at his own teammates. It drew enough attention that a Colts safety felt compelled to address the comments publicly, breaking his silence on the linebacker's remarks. Whether Davis-Gaither's candor reads as leadership or locker-room friction is a question the Colts will have to sort out. Either way, he's not fading into the background on a team trying to find its defensive identity.

Ryan Neuzil, Falcons C — Life in the NFL Lane

Atlanta's offensive line held its own in a 30–23 loss to Baltimore on Sunday, with Neuzil anchoring the center position for the Falcons. The App State alum stayed out of the injury report and kept his streak of availability intact. Off the field, Neuzil's wife Allie grabbed a bit of the spotlight this week, offering a candid "WAG rage" confession about the realities of NFL life — a light moment amid an otherwise competitive week for Atlanta.

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With 20-plus App State alumni on active NFL rosters this season, the Mountaineers' pipeline to the pros remains one of the more underrated stories in Sun Belt football. This week's trio of Jackson, Davis-Gaither, and Neuzil represents a cross-section of that pipeline: a depth-chart riser seizing opportunity, a vocal veteran stirring the pot, and a quiet contributor doing his job every Sunday. Check the Week 6 schedule — there's a good chance at least one of them is playing in a game worth watching.

D'Marco Jackson Is at the Center of an NFL Storm

The NFL's ongoing debate over how to protect quarterbacks on the sideline has a new flashpoint — and an Appalachian State alumnus is right in the middle of it.

Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson escaped a fine this week after delivering a sideline hit on Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, a decision that drew immediate scrutiny and reignited a league-wide conversation about inconsistent enforcement of quarterback safety rules. The NFL's choice not to penalize Jackson financially only deepened frustration among those who believe the league applies its own standards unevenly, particularly when hits on high-profile quarterbacks go unpunished.

Jackson, who played his college ball in Boone before landing in Chicago, was on the field Sunday as the Bears topped the Jets 23–12. His name, however, is now attached to something far bigger than a Week 5 win.

The controversy isn't really about Jackson personally — by most accounts, the play fell into a gray area the league ultimately ruled did not warrant discipline. But that ruling is precisely what has critics talking. Hurts is one of the league's marquee players, and any hit on a quarterback near the sideline carries heightened scrutiny in the post-Tua Tagovailoa era of head and neck protection protocols. When the fine doesn't come, the silence speaks loudly.

For Mountaineer fans watching from Boone, it's a strange kind of spotlight for one of their own — not a highlight-reel play or a contract extension, but a league-wide rules argument with Jackson's name attached to it. He hasn't been painted as a dirty player; if anything, the NFL's own ruling cleared him. But the controversy has legs well beyond the Bears' locker room.

Elsewhere in the App State NFL Family

Jackson wasn't the only Mountaineer in action during the week. Sam Martin, the veteran punter now with the Carolina Panthers, was on the field Sunday as Carolina fell to Detroit 26–32. Martin has been a steady presence for a Panthers squad still searching for answers on offense.

Meanwhile, Colts linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither suited up in Indianapolis's commanding 30–13 win over Washington, a performance that gave Indy some momentum heading deeper into the season. Davis-Gaither has been a reliable piece of the Colts' linebacker corps since arriving in Indianapolis.

App State's NFL footprint remains impressively wide — more than two dozen former Mountaineers are active on NFL rosters this season, from Jacksonville to Los Angeles — a testament to a program that has punched well above its Sun Belt weight for years. But this week, the conversation starts and ends with D'Marco Jackson, a player who didn't get fined and still managed to make headlines across the league.