Mizzou greats of yesteryear kick off NFL 2020

I feel like I’m taking a strange deja vu drug every time I write the words, “What a strange year for sports,” or any other combination of those words or any thought along the same train. At some point, things aren’t strange anymore. It’s just how they are, isn’t it? I suppose it’s still strange relatively... ah, well, nevertheless.

After months of awaiting the return of football season, the NFL is officially in full swing and with notably fewer COVID-19 complications than college football. That doesn’t mean concerns don’t exist, however.

In the meantime, though, the world’s biggest football league is up and running, which means several of Mizzou’s greatest players of the past 20 years were suited up in colored laundry on Sunday afternoon. As the Monday morning links creator, I always try to do a full rundown of notable Mizzou alumni and their contributions on Sunday. Those will usually be down below, but hey, it’s week one!

The Columbia Tribune has a full roster of Mizzou grads in the NFL, including practice squad members, but here’s what our favorite former Tigers were up to on Sunday.

• Sheldon Richardson recorded a tackle for the Cleveland Browns in their drubbing from the Ravens. Rookie Jordan Elliott, his teammate, did not.
• Mitch Morse played (and more importantly, didn’t get injured!) in Buffalo’s season-opening win over the New York Jets.
• Speaking of the Jets, Morse’s former line mate Connor McGovern started on the Jets line at center.
• As of the time of this writing, former Tiger star Aldon Smith was making his comeback to the NFL in a Cowboys uniform, having recorded 5 tackles (though I’m sure he ended up with more).
• Backup QBs Blaine Gabbert and Chase Daniel cashed another few paychecks on the sidelines as the backups to Matt Stafford and TB12.

A slew of former Tigers will suit up tonight, including Drew Lock and Albert Okwuegbunam against Beau Brinkley in the Broncos-Titans matchup. Meanwhile, Markus Golden will begin his one-year tender contract with the Giants this evening.

Yesterday at Rock M

• Mizzou Football and Basketball recruiting have both improved this year

More Links:

• We’re less than two weeks from kickoff against Alabama, and Missouri — already searching for some consistency on the offensive line — is currently dealing with at least 7 active COVID-19 cases. Dave Matter detailed how Coach Drinkwitz could seek to fill out the depth chart. Souichi Terada also explored the challenges ahead as Drinkwitz prepares for ‘Bama.
• Gabe DeArmond also wrote about Mizzou’s COVID problems in his Sunday column, while the site talked with four-star CB commit Daylan Carnell about how he’s preparing for college ball in his final high school year. The latter is subscriber only.
• Michael Porter Jr. chipped in 13 points as the Denver Nuggets forced a Game 7 with the Los Angeles Clippers. Maybe complaining about playing time wasn’t as damaging as some thought it would be? (Editor’s note: I still don’t think it needed to be in public, haha)

• A year besotted with COVID-19 roster churn means more opportunities for young guys in the MLB, including this writer’s favorite Tiger pitcher of the past decade, Tanner Houck.

• Mizzou Athletics continues to kick out an admirable amount of #content.
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