Rivers, Merritt free agent signings give EMCC 14 former players on NFL rosters

SCOOBA – With the recent official signings of undrafted rookie free agents Chauncey Rivers and Kirk Merritt by National Football League teams, five-time national champion East Mississippi Community College currently has 14 former players listed among the NFL’S 32 team rosters.

Rivers, a defensive lineman from Mississippi State, was picked up by the Baltimore Ravens, while Merritt, a wide receiver out of Arkansas State, signed with the Miami Dolphins. Previously, former EMCC and MSU teammates Tyre Phillips and Brian Cole II were selected in the third and seventh rounds of last month’s NFL Draft by the Ravens and Minnesota Vikings, respectively.

Rivers, who transferred to East Mississippi from the University of Georgia, led EMCC’S 2016 MACJC championship team with eight quarterback sacks in addition to topping all Lions defensive linemen with 45 total tackles. For the year, he totaled 12.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.

A Georgia native out of Stone Mountain’s Stephenson

High School, Rivers capped his three-year Mississippi State career by earning All-southeastern Conference second-team honors as a 13-game starter at defensive end this past season. He led MSU’S defensive linemen with 43 total stops, including a teamhigh eight tackles for loss with five sacks.

A 2020 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl participant, Rivers graduated from MSU in December 2018 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies.

Merritt, out of Destrehan, Louisiana, transferred to EMCC for the 2017 season following prior stops at Texas A&M and Oregon. As a member of the Lions’ 11-1 national championship team, he was selected NJCAA All-region 23 and MACJC All-state first team as both a wide receiver and kick returner. Along with leading EMCC with 52 receptions in 2017, Merritt averaged 32.8 yards on six kickoff returns as well as 14.9 yards on 15 punt returns for the year.

Merritt concluded his collegiate career as a twotime selection to the All-sun Belt Conference first team at Arkansas State. For his A