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All the Jewish NFL players to watch in the 2023-2024 season
(JTA) — As the calendar turns to September, many Jews eagerly await an annual fall tradition that signals a new beginning: Week 1 of the NFL season.
This year, the season begins on Sept. 7, just about 10 days before Rosh Hashanah. Read on for our guide to all the Jewish players (listed alphabetically) and storylines to watch — plus a few free agents who could get another chance.
Jake Curhan, Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle
Jake Curhan, center, and Tyler Mabry celebrate after a touchdown at Lumen Field in Seattle, Jan. 1, 2023. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Curhan, 25, appeared in four games for the Seahawks in 2022, a step back from his 15 games and five starts during his rookie season the prior year. The 6-foot-1, 315-pound lineman who grew up attending Jewish summer camp is expected to take on a similar backup role this season. During his successful collegiate career with the California Golden Bears at the University of California, Berkeley, he took on the nickname “Bear Jew.”
A.J. Dillon, Green Bay Packers running back
A.J. Dillon warms up before a preseason game against the New England Patriots at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., Aug. 19, 2023. (John Fisher/Getty Images)
After a record-setting career at Boston College, Dillon enters his fourth season with the Green Bay Packers. Dillon, the team’s second-string running back, appeared in all 17 games last season, wracking up 770 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns, a career high. Dillon, 25, spoke at the BBYO Jewish teen movement’s convention last year, where he shared his experience as a Jew of color and joked about missing Hebrew school for football practice as a kid.
Michael Dunn, Cleveland Browns offensive lineman
Michael Dunn, right, during a preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Aug. 26, 2023. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
The 2023 season is already off to a seesaw start for Dunn, who was re-signed by the Browns on Wednesday, just one day after they had reportedly released him. The 29-year-old appeared in Cleveland’s first eight games last year, including two starts, before a back injury derailed his season.
Greg Joseph, Minnesota Vikings kicker
Greg Joseph celebrates with teammates after kicking a game-winning field goal against the New York Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Dec. 24, 2022. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Joseph is beginning his third straight season as the Vikings’ primary kicker. The South African-born Jewish day school grad has been involved with the Jewish communities of each city in which he has played during his four years in the NFL. The 29-year-old has become known for his clutch game-winning field goals, including two in a row that each made history last season.
The free agents who hope to return
Anthony Firkser during New England Patriots minicamp at the Patriots Practice Facility at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., June 13, 2023. (Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Anthony Firkser (tight end): Despite appearing in at least 11 games in each of his five NFL seasons, Firsker, 28, enters this season without a roster spot. Firkser — who had a bar mitzvah growing up in New Jersey and spoke to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about his love of latkes — was cut by the New England Patriots this week as the deadline loomed for teams to finalize their 53-man rosters. The Harvard alum has five career touchdowns and could get a shot as another team’s second- or third-string tight end.
Josh Rosen (quarterback): Rosen — who had a bar mitzvah, was a standout at UCLA and was once seen as a lock to be the first Jewish star QB in several decades — has struggled to find his footing in the NFL. The 10th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Rosen has more interceptions (21) than touchdowns (12) in his 24 career games. Rosen, 26, last appeared in a game with the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, and spent last season on the Browns’ and Vikings’ practice squads.
Sam Sloman (kicker): After making 10 field goals in his rookie 2020 season, the Georgia native has bounced around practice squads without seeing game action. Sloman, 25, played for the Vegas Vipers in the XFL in their 2023 season. Sloman took on the nickname “Kosher Cannon” when he played at Miami University in Ohio.
Other Jewish storylines
Josh Harris addresses the media at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Jan. 12, 2020. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
Off the field, the biggest Jewish storyline of the 2023-2024 NFL season is new Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris, who purchased the team from embattled Jewish owner Dan Snyder earlier this year for a record $6.05 billion. Snyder is under multiple investigations over sexual harassment and toxic workplace culture allegations. In July, Harris said buying his hometown NFL team was “bashert,” using the Yiddish word for fate.
In the broadcast booth, a number of Jewish play-by-play announcers and analysts will entertain fans on various networks. Here are a few of the more well-known figures in the booth and in the studio: Kenny Albert (Fox Sports), Chris Berman (ESPN), Ian Eagle (CBS), Andrea Kremer (Amazon Prime), Steve Levy (ESPN), Al Michaels (Amazon Prime) and Tracy Wolfson (CBS). Plus, former Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman recently joined Fox Sports’ “Fox NFL Kickoff” program, the network’s signature pre-game show.
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The post All the Jewish NFL players to watch in the 2023-2024 season appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.