Elijah Chatman

Chatman was born on December 5, 2000, and grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is the youngest of four siblings. He started playing football at age six and showed "incredible" strength from a young age; according to The Dallas Morning News, he was able to lift in seventh grade with only "slight difficulty". Chatman also was a top student, compiling a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.9, and set the school bench press record of and later . A three-star recruit, he was part of the Shreveport Times Top 10 list and committed to play college football for the SMU Mustangs. ==College career==

At SMU, Chatman mainly played as a defensive lineman, but also saw time at fullback. He appeared in 11 games as a freshman in 2019, recording 11 tackles and a half-sack, being selected American Athletic Conference (AAC) All-Academic. Prior to the season, he earned a spot on Bruce Feldman of The Athletic's "freaks" list, highlighting the most athletic college football players. He ended his collegiate career with 148 tackles, 34 TFLs and 13.5 sacks. His 60 career games played also placed second in school history. ==Professional career==

After going unselected in the 2024 NFL draft, Chatman was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent. Chatman was notably among the 53 players to make the Giants initial regular season roster. In week 3 against the Cleveland Browns Chatman recorded his first career sack. On August 26, 2025, Chatman was waived by the Giants as part of final roster cuts and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 27. ==References==