New York Jets Star Looking to Beat College Roommate, 49ers in Season Opener

Bragging rights seem to be on the line for one of the New York Jets star players as he gets ready to face off against his college roommate when they face the San Francisco 49ers.

Nov 19, 2023; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) runs with the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at Highmark Stadium. / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

After three preseason games, the New York Jets will get their highly-anticipated year underway on the road against the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

There are a lot of angles that are going to be discussed ahead of the game.

Robert Saleh was the defensive coordinator under 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan from 2017-2020 before taking the head job with the Jets. Because of that connection, there are some players he coached in the past who have come over to New York.

Aaron Rodgers is also from the Bay Area and will have a homecoming of sorts.

Those will certainly dominate the majority of headlines prior to September 9, but this game also offers bragging rights between Jets star running back Breece Hall and his college roomate Brock Purdy who is the opposing team's signal caller.

Teammates on Iowa State for three seasons, Hall talked about how he hasn't spoken to his past roommate even after the schedule came out and it was revealed the two would be playing against each other.

"Me and him are actually, like, overly competitive with each other, so even in college when we played Madden and stuff, like whoever won, we wouldn’t talk to each other for the rest of the day. So that’s how it’s going to be until after the game," he told media members.

The competitive nature of the two will be on display, but not while both are on the field at the same time.

Hall will have to sit on the sidelines watching Purdy, while that will be the same for the quarterback whenever the New York running back is on the field.

It probably eats at both of them that they can't do anything to beat the other person on the field.

So, this just adds another layer to the game that is already one of the most-anticipated matchups of the year as this will really show if the Jets are for real when facing a legitimate contender.