Hicks Selected By Chicago In NFL Draft

LAS VEGAS – Former Cal player Elijah Hicks was selected Saturday in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Hicks was taken by the Chicago Bears with the 254th pick overall.

Cal has had at least one player taken in the NFL Draft in 35 of the last 37 years. Hicks became the 244th Cal player selected in the history of the NFL Draft and the 251st combined Cal draft selection in professional football (NFL Draft 1936-2022; AFL Draft, 1960-69).

Extensive coverage of all former Cal football players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft and those that sign undrafted free agent contracts following the draft will be provided via the Cal Athletics social media outlets listed below and online at CalBears.com. Undrafted free agent signings will not be formally publicized by Cal Athletics prior to an official announcement from the NFL team.

Below are notes on Hicks with an extended bio available by clicking on his name.
 
Elijah Hicks, Safety (S), 5-11, 200, Long Beach, CA/La Mirada HS/St. John Bosco HS
FBS Collegiate Career (Cal, 2017-21)
Bachelor's – Legal Studies (December 2020); Graduate Certificates (Entrepreneurship, May 2021; Business Administration, December 2021)
— Played in all 54 games possible with 46 starts and finished his career with 213 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss (-40 yards), 3.0 sacks (-15 yards), five interceptions that he returned for 66 yards and one touchdown, 14 pass breakups and six forced fumbles
— Contributed career highs of 72 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 15 tackle for loss yards, eight sack yards, three interceptions and four forced fumbles while playing in 12 games and also starting a career-high-tying 12 contests as a 2021 senior
— Third-Team All-American (Pro Football Focus), First-Team All-Pac-12 (AP, Jon Wilner's College Football Hotline, Pac-12 Coaches, Pro Football Focus) as a 2021 senior, as well as winner of the Pop Warner College Football Award presented by the Pop Warner Little Scholars to a senior who made a difference on the field, in the classroom and in his community, and served as a role model to Pop Warner's young student athletes
— Named Cal's Most Valuable Defensive Player and also earned the team's Andy Smith Award for the most snaps with a combined 964 on defense and special teams, in addition to being a six-time game captain as a 2021 senior
— Selected to the prestigious AFCA All-State Good Works Team® for his community service work with the non-profit Intercept Poverty Foundation he founded and the food pantry at the UC Berkeley Basic Needs Center as a 2020 senior
— Cal's Jonathan and Judy Hoff Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a 2019 junior