CHENEY, Wash. — It has been quite the preseason for Eastern Washington senior wide receiver Efton Chism III. Chism was named a preseason first-team All-American, first-team All-Big Sky member and was named to the Walter Payton Award watchlist.
It is quite the haul of preseason honors for the 5-foot-11-inch Chism, whose journey to stardom at EWU began while he was in high school at Monroe, where he hoped to follow in his uncle, former Eag Derek Strey's footsteps.
"With my uncle coming here, it is going to sound crazy, but my dream school was here," Chism said. "I was like man, I want to go to Eastern. I do not regret anything, I am glad I came here and I am kind of glad none of the bigger schools recruited me because I get to prove them wrong. I love it here and I am glad I stayed here."
Chism continues to carry that chip on his shoulder being undersized and underrecruited and believes that gives him an edge on the field.
"It's one of my goals to start the year to play every rep like it's my last rep because you really never know when football could be done, so I don't want to take a practice, play or game for granted, so I just try and go out there and enjoy it and really work hard because just by doing that, I feel like it has given me an edge, especially at a young age," Chism said. "I just go hard every snap, it does not matter if it is a walkthrough or a jog through, I would rather have people try and slow me down than speed me up."
"It's work ethic, dedication, consistency and consistency at a high level is the hardest thing to obtain in life, but even harder in sport," EWU head coach Aaron Best said. "He is always at the same speed, it is always a game rep to him. He just practices at a high level like a pro and carries himself off the field in life as a pro, it's fun to watch. He is just a phenomenal human being."
"He has put in his work and witnessed a lot of those great ones we have seen either on film or in person and he emulates himself to be one of those guys," Best said. "He is chasing it, he doesn't just say it, he is willing and going to do it."
Thanks to those qualities, Chism has become a strong leader by example for the EWU offense, but this year, he is becoming more vocal as well.
"I am not a talkative person so when I say something, I hope it means more to the people who are listening because I work my tail off and do all these little things, so if I speak up and say something, it's like 'OK, we need to go and do this,'" Chism said.
Heading into his final season of college football, Chism's main goal is to win games and return Eastern to its prior national prominence.
"Just because we have new players does not mean we are going to be better, so we are going to have to do all the little things behind the line, the little details like getting our yards on these routes, go through the right progression, the right reads, block the right people," Chism said. "All of those little details are going to help us win games and help us get over that hump."
This year's squad returns Chism, fellow big play wide receiver Nolan Ulm, running back Tuna Altahir and last year's leading passer in the Big Sky, quarterback Kekoa Visperas.
"We have talent," Chism said. "I think everyone knows we have good players and we know what we are doing, it is just going to be what little thing can help us get that edge over people and continue to try and dominate and win games."
As for the Walter Payton Award talk and preseason hype, Chism says it feels great to receive preseason honors, but now he wants to go out and do it and believes he has a leg up on the competition.
"Every day I start by writing NFL, All-American, Walter Payton and legend," Chism said. "I have a slight advantage over some people because I get to walk by four Walter Payton statues everyday. People don't realize that we have four of them (Erik Meyer, Bo Levi Mitchell, Cooper Kupp, Eric Barriere) and I see Walter Payton's statue in the facility all the time and the names on the wall, so I think seeing that everyday helps me realize I can really do this."
Chism begins his journey toward Eastern Washington immortality on Thursday, August 29 at home against Monmouth. Kick-off is set for 6 p.m.