East Orange’s Jabrill Peppers and Rasul Douglas to make their NFL debuts

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EAST ORANGE, NJ – East Orange natives Jabrill Peppers and Rasul Douglas will make their debuts when the NFL season begins this Sunday, Sept. 10.

Both players were selected in the NFL Draft this past spring. Peppers, from the University of Michigan, was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 25th overall pick in the first round. The 5-11, 213-pound defensive back wears No. 22. The Browns will host the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m.

Peppers started 25 of 27 career games for Michigan, becoming the first player in Big 10 history to win three individual awards in a single season: Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year, Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year and Rodgers-White Return Specialist of the Year. He posted 123 tackles in his career. Peppers was a consensus All-American first-team selection and a Heisman Trophy finalist. He also played on offense. Peppers was an All-American player at Paramus Catholic High School. He started his high school career at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey.

Douglas, a 6-2, 209-pound cornerback, was drafted in the third round by the Philadelphia Eagles, who will play the Washington Redskins in the opener in Landover, Md. Douglas will wear No. 32.

A 2012 East Orange Campus High School graduate, Douglas started his collegiate career at Nassau Community College and played his last two years at West Virginia University. Last year, he had eight interceptions to tie for No. 1 in the nation. Douglas had 78 tackles (55 solo), nine interceptions,, and two forced fumbles in 24 games with the Mountaineers.

  Jabrill Peppers, Rasul Douglas