South Alabama Professional Athletes

Jeremiah Webb's New England Run Comes to an End

South Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Webb is no longer a Patriot. New England waived the 2025 undrafted free agent off injured reserve this week, closing the door on what was always going to be an uphill roster battle for the Jaguars product out of Mobile.

Webb had landed on injured reserve back in July, and the waiver move is the final administrative step ending his tenure in New England. Going undrafted is hard enough — sticking on an NFL roster through injuries is harder. Webb couldn't quite clear both hurdles, but at 20-plus South Alabama alumni currently active across the league, he's far from the last Jaguar who will get a shot.

The Rest of the Jags in the League

Webb's exit is the week's only clean headline for South Alabama fans, but the alumni footprint across the NFL remains impressively wide.

On Monday night, punter Corliss Waitman was in uniform for the 49ers in their 23–17 win over Washington — the same game that featured Jeremy Reaves, the veteran safety holding things down for the Commanders' secondary in the loss. Two South Alabama alumni on the same NFL field on a Monday night isn't an accident; it's a program that has consistently developed NFL-caliber players.

Darrell Luter Jr. and the Raiders dropped a close one to Buffalo, 33–30, on Sunday, as Las Vegas's secondary continues to face a steep climb in the AFC West.

Beyond the stat lines, the sheer depth of the South Alabama alumni corps is worth noting. Gerald Everett is catching passes for the Bears. Jalen Tolbert is suiting up for the Dolphins. Caullin Lacy and Jamaal Pritchett are both on the Jets' receiver depth chart. Carter Bradley is holding down a backup QB role in Jacksonville. The list runs 20 names deep across 15 franchises — a remarkable reach for a program that only launched football in 2009.

Webb's waiver is a tough note, but for South Alabama fans tracking the NFL landscape, the bigger picture is a program that keeps sending players to Sundays. The next chapter for Webb — whether that's a practice squad claim, a tryout elsewhere, or a fresh start — remains to be written.

South Alabama's most notable NFL moment this week came from the punter — and that's not a knock.

Corliss Waitman, San Francisco's veteran punter, was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after helping the 49ers hold off the Seattle Seahawks 32-29 in a tightly contested divisional showdown on Sunday, October 11. The weekly honor is a rare spotlight for a position that typically only makes headlines when something goes wrong, and Waitman's performance was enough to flip the narrative entirely.

The win was significant for San Francisco in the NFC West standings, and Waitman's contributions in the field-position battle proved meaningful in a three-point game. Divisional matchups at this stage of the season leave little margin for error, and a punter who consistently flips the field can be the difference between a win and a deflating road loss — exactly the kind of outcome the Seahawks took home Sunday.

It's worth noting that two South Alabama alums suit up for Seattle — linebackers Bubba Thomas and Wy'Kevious Thomas — meaning Waitman was literally punting against former Jaguar teammates in a game that mattered. No stats were available for either Thomas from Sunday's contest.

Elsewhere around the league, Jalen Tolbert continues to find his footing in Miami's offense. The former South Alabama wide receiver hauled in one reception for 22 yards in the Dolphins' 24-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. It's a quiet line, but Tolbert remains on an NFL roster and contributing in a Dolphins offense that's still searching for consistency.

Jeremy Reaves, the South Alabama safety now with Washington, was on the field as the Commanders and New York Giants played to a 27-27 draw Sunday. No individual stats were recorded for Reaves in the box score, but the tie itself is a notable result — ties remain one of the NFL's rarest outcomes — and Washington's defense holding the Giants to a draw without a win keeps the NFC East race as murky as ever.

The week's headline, though, belongs to Waitman. Special teams awards don't generate the same social media frenzy as a quarterback's four-touchdown night or a receiver's 150-yard explosion, but they matter to coaches, front offices, and anyone who has watched a poorly timed shank cost a team a game. Waitman's recognition is a reminder that South Alabama has quietly built an NFL pipeline that extends well beyond the skill positions — and that its alumni are earning hardware across all three phases of the game.