Knights In The CFL

Tim Farrell / The Star-Ledger

While there is a Knights in the National Football League montage at every home Rutgers football game highlighting every former Scarlet Knight playing in the NFL, there should be a “Knights in the CFL” one as well.

Ex-star receiver Tiquan Underwood and defensive end Jamaal Westerman each have contracts in the Canadian Football League. Underwood, who played at Rutgers from 2005-08, grabbed 132 passes for a total of 1,931 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns for the Knights.

Westerman, who lived in Brampton, Ontario in the past, spent his time “On the Banks” also from 2005-08, racking up 141 total tackles (solo and assisted), with 26 sacks.

Now, after each spending time in the NFL with several teams, both players find themselves in the Canadian Football League.

Westerman found a home back in Canada with the Winnipeg Bombers, signing a contract on May 7. Underwood is a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, whom he signed with in April. While both hoped to still latch on to an NFL squad, the next best thing was to give the CFL a try. It is a homecoming of sort for Westerman.

Westerman posted 60 tackles to go along with six career sacks during his time in the NFL with most notably with the New York Jets from 2009-11. Underwood, a former seventh-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2009, played sparingly during his stint in the NFL catching 63 passes for 1,006 yards and six touchdowns with a couple teams including the Buccaneers and Patriots.

With the CFL season beginning on June 8, both players will go head-to-head with each other on Friday, June 19. The season runs through November.

Westerman’s youngest brother, Jabar, was the No. 2 pick in the 2012 CFL Draft, and is a defensive lineman for the BC Lions.

Former Rutgers athletes Mark Harrison and Marvin Booker each had stints in the CFL as well.

(Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Full CFL Schedule:

https://cfl.ca/schedule/year/2015/time_zone/0