North Carolina Central Professional Athletes

North Carolina Central's Brandon Codrington is headed to Australia.

The NCCU product was among four players signed to the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad this week as the team locked in its roster ahead of a Week 1 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia — one of the NFL's marquee international showcases of the 2026 season.

Codrington, a cornerback, joined defensive linemen Kevin Givens and Vincent Anthony, along with one other player, in joining San Francisco's extended roster following the league-wide 53-man cut deadline. Landing on a practice squad is no small feat — only 32 teams carry them, and competition for spots is fierce with hundreds of players hitting the waiver wire simultaneously after roster cutdowns. For an HBCU product like Codrington, making an NFL roster in any capacity represents a significant professional milestone.

The 49ers, perennial NFC contenders, now head to Melbourne as one of the most high-profile assignments any practice squad player could find themselves attached to in Week 1. While practice squad players don't dress for games, they travel with the team and remain in the active conversation for elevation depending on injury or game-week decisions.

Codrington is one of three known NCCU alumni currently on NFL rosters. Joaquin Davis, a wide receiver, is with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and offensive tackle Ricky Lee holds a spot with the Jacksonville Jaguars — giving the program a quiet but genuine presence across the league entering the new season.

For an HBCU program competing for national attention with limited recruiting resources, having three alumni active in the NFL simultaneously is a legitimate point of pride. Codrington's landing spot in San Francisco — with one of the league's most recognizable brands — only raises the profile further.

The 49ers open their 2026 campaign against the Rams in Melbourne before returning stateside for the remainder of the regular season. Whether Codrington sees any game-day action will depend on how San Francisco's cornerback room holds up through the early weeks — but for now, he's exactly where NCCU fans would want him: inside an NFL building, with a real shot.

The NFL's late-August roster cut deadline claimed another North Carolina Central alumnus this week, as wide receiver Joaquin Davis was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pittsburgh made the move as part of its broader roster trimming, simultaneously signing defensive back Brandon Hill to shore up the secondary. Davis, who had been competing for a roster spot at receiver, didn't survive the final cuts — a brutal but familiar reality for players on the roster bubble as teams pare down to their 53-man limits.

For NCCU fans tracking the Eagles' pipeline to the pros, Davis's release is a tough blow. The Steelers had given him a look, but the numbers game at wide receiver is unforgiving, particularly in Pittsburgh where the depth chart offers limited pathways for newcomers to crack the active lineup.

Davis remains unsigned as of this writing. Given his age and the timing — preseason rosters are in flux league-wide — a practice squad opportunity or a pick-up from another team still looking to fill needs isn't out of the question, though no reporting on any subsequent landing spot has surfaced.

The broader NCCU picture in the NFL is modest but real: Brandon Codrington (Houston Texans, CB) and Ricky Lee (Jacksonville Jaguars, OT) remain active with their respective clubs heading into the regular season. No notable news surfaced for either player during this period, but both holding roster spots at this stage of the preseason is itself a meaningful achievement for a program competing at the FCS level against Power Four pipelines.

For an HBCU program like North Carolina Central, getting players to NFL training camps is a win. Keeping them there through cut day is a bigger one — and Davis's release is a reminder of just how narrow that window can be.