Return of McKel Broussard provides depth to Eastern Washington's safety group
Apr. 11—Right after the second-to-last play of the first drive of the 2025 season, during Eastern Washington's opening game at Incarnate Word, McKel Broussard pretty well understood that his season was over. Just a couple of years before that play, Broussard had shattered his left thumb, an injury that cost him most of the 2023 season at UTEP.
So in the 100-degree heat of San Antonio, as Broussard got the official word that he'd suffered a similar injury to his right thumb, the Eagles' grad senior safety had to pivot. "I knew the mental gymnastics of what I needed to do," Broussard said Thursday after an EWU football practice. "We (had) a whole season left.
" Unable to play, Broussard became the defense's biggest supporter, especially for those who took over his starting snaps — players like Jaylon Jenkins, Josiah Goode, Bryce Smith and Drew Carter. This spring, Broussard is back again for one final year, after the NCAA granted the safety's request for a medical waiver and another season of college football. It will be his eighth.
"I'm older. I want to start my life," Broussard said, admitting that there was a part of him that thought about being done. "But I know how my family operates.
I know how my teammates operate," he said. "I don't want to go out where I don't at least put my foot all the way in. I need to go 100% and see what I've got.