Will Liam Ezekiel play in the NFL?

Factually-speaking, the question on the minds of everyone with even a slight interest in Northeastern football over the years, has been answered.

Ezekiel, the former Husky linebacker and all-time leading tackler in Northeastern football history, made his professional debut with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

While the Bills were defeated by the Saints, 19-7, Ezekiel recorded his first NFL tackle on a punt return by New Orleans’s Az Hakim in the third quarter. Ezekiel, who was most recently on Buffalo’s practice squad, was promoted to the 53-man roster when linebacker Takeo Spikes was placed on injured reserve last Wednesday.

“We had the fortune of having him on our team,” said UMass coach Don Brown, who coached Ezekiel during the first three of his four years at NU. “He had an illustrious career at [NU]. He’s got a big-time future. I’ve always said this, if you want to be successful you’ve got to have intensity and you’ve got to be a little bit crazy. He’s both.”

Ezekiel’s current status as a full-time NFL player is something that NU coach Rocky Hager looks at with pride.

“This is something you love to have as an accolade for your program,” Hager said. “Making the roster is something exceptional.”

Ezekiel makes it to a team that had a plethora of talent at linebacker entering summer camp.

“[Buffalo] definitely had interest in him,” Brown said of the Arlington native. “They were making a commitment to him and it definitely bodes well to be on a practice squad.”

Spikes, London Fletcher and Terrence McGee are among the names that Ezekiel was competing with.

“They had an experienced set of linebackers,” Brown said. “The reality is they had six returnees and they kept those six.”

Hager said Ezekiel’s goal to make the NFL dates back very far.

“He had a passion from the time he was barely in junior high to be in an NFL situation,” Hager said.

Brown talked to Ezekiel entering camp.

“I was really happy for him,” Brown said. “For him, it was like being a freshman all over again.”