While everything may be bigger in Texas, the Aggies come up small in terms of Pro Football Hall of Famers. The state that produced dynamic personalities such as Favre and Gardner Minshew found a way to make an impression. 13 Texas A&M at Kyle Field. No. Now youre an History of Colleges Most Represented on NFL Rosters, 3300 West Camelback Road - Phoenix, AZ 85017, Criminal Justice, Government & Public Administration. had produced 63 NFL players, the most among the nation . Or should be. Highest AV in NFL: Randall McDaniel (129), Most touchdowns in NFL: Charley Taylor (90), Most games played in NFL: Terrell Suggs (244). U.S. News rank: 57 (tie), National Universities. It also doesnt count, for instance, a player such as Peyton Manning whose roots are firmly in Mississippi soil and who spent much of his childhood in the Magnolia State. In the City of Miami, State of Florida, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School produces the most NFL players. Iowa not only has the NFLs all-time interceptions leader in Paul Krause (81), but it also has the second all-time interceptions leader in Emlen Tunnell (79). Bottom line:No program has more wins or a better win percentage since World War II than Oklahoma a testament to the great players who have come through Norman. Vinny Testaverde. The Bruins are considered a basketball school while nearby USC is considered the citys football school, but UCLA gets more than just the Trojans leftovers. The remaining seven states to crack the top 10 are Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Carolina and New Jersey. Current NFL players: 37. By Jackson. Bottom line: While six states on this list landed multiple programs in the top 25, only one city accomplished the feat, and thats Los Angeles. Oklahoma - 328 9. But one school often overlooked in this conversation is Arizona State. 1. Its highest touchdown scorer, Elroy Hirsch, found the end zone just 66 times. But well take what we can get. Another amazing fact: Jackson State, alone, has produced four Hall of Famers, three of them native Mississippians. Heck, it doesnt even finish in the top two in its own division thanks to the two participants of "The Game" beating them out. 2 following the 1962 season. In the 1980's, the L.A. Rams featured one of the best NFL running backs of all time in Eric Dickerson, who tore defenses apart and set the league's single season rushing record in 1984. Coach Urban Meyer preparing players for the NFL also was a huge attraction as many of those 65 players came under his tenure. Despite putting 54 defensive backs in the NFL, including 14 first-rounders, no Bama corner has ever made a Pro Bowl. We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities. Rounding out the top five are USC (479), Ohio State (426), Penn State (359), and Nebraska (346). Walter Payton, from Columbia and Jackson State, is the NFLs second all-time leading rusher. Help keep the momentum going by rejoining our member community today. The population of New York State is nearly 20 million, compared to Mississippis fewer than 3 million. In the 1950s, 69 Spartans were drafted into the NFL, compared to just 59 from 2000 to 2019. In the last six years . CLEVELAND, Ohio - Half the players on NFL rosters are from just seven states, with Ohio being among the top producers of pro football talent. Notably, however, LSU was the school most represented on the 2018 Cardinals roster. And giving them three is a bit generous since Troy Aikman started his career at OU, but finished it at UCLA. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Half the players on NFL rosters are from just seven states, with Ohio being among the top producers of pro football talent. Texas has produced more active NFL players than any other U.S. state. Please reload the page and try again. Bottom line:Florida is the only state to place three schools in the top 25, and despite FSU having the most recent success of the three programs, the Seminoles rank last in the Battle for Florida. More:Mississippi State upends No. During your secondary school years, you likely had a little One of the most common questions students hear is, What do you want to be when you grow up? For many individuals that answer is subject to change over time. But that is debatable. Arkansas has sent almost 300 players to the NFL. After all, our hometown Arizona Cardinals have the first overall pick! The universities to follow Alabama were Ohio State, Florida, Louisiana State and Michigan, all courtesy of its football programs. With 56 players, Alabama's roster in 2019 is the largest. Heres how the rest of the list shakes out: The college football landscape is already taking shape for the 2022-23 season. Perhaps a surprise to some, North Carolina takes the fourth spot. Bottom line:UT is home to four Hall of Famers, although one of them, Tom Landry, is enshrined in Canton due to his work as a coach rather than a player. Again, its not even close. Of those 1,800+ players, the school that has produced the most Cardinals is Notre Dame, with an even 50, well ahead of LSU in second place. Some colleges excel at producing Fortune 500 CEOs. Mississippi averages 26.6 NFL players for every 100,000 citizens. Ohio has 71 players in the league followed by Alabama with 61, Virginia with 58 (and that so many played at prep school in that state helps) and North . Any school would be proud if their NFL alumni base started and ended with those names -- but at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, that's just five of the quarterbacks who attended the boarding school before playing in the NFL. Many of the schools on this list are poised to send another great class of rookies to the NFL next season. While ranking 22nd in all-time NFL players, Auburn ranks 23rd in active players after ranking eighth in 2019, pointing to their recent struggles. That is more than 30 percent of all active players listed Pro-Football-Reference.com. Texas surprisingly has no quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame (based on our criteria for players since 1966), and the collective approximate value of the state's QBs is watered down because many are not key contributors (its 62% start average ranked 15th among states with at least 500 games played). Others create politicians. A winning tradition brings recruits from all over the country, and Ohio States all-time winning percentage of .754 ranks first among Power 5 programs. That is more than 1 in every 12 players currently in the league. BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 09: Quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens rushes against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. In third place for most NFL players is California, which gets to claim two legendary players in Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. So we set out to determine what state produces the most NFL players. The state of Mississippi has placed the most players in the NFL capita, according to a by Sidelines. Most games played:Sebastian Janikowski (284). The schools that dominate on Saturdays have their alumni playing on Sundays. And where does the 2021 NFL draft class of quarterbacks come from? Only five players in the program's history have been selected first . Bottom line:No list about football would be complete without the state of Texas, and the Longhorn State lands its first of two proficient programs. For the Cardinals, this evaluation showed us that there was a particularly strong connection to Notre Dame from the 1920s to the 1950s when the team was located in nearby Chicago. The school actually has more Heisman winners (2) than Pro Football Hall of Famers (1), though Von Miller or even Shane Lechler may one day even things up. So we didnt. And some make NFL players. Its quality, as well. Bottom line:Another one of the schools without a national title, the Hawkeyes are a perfect nickname for Iowa because their best two players seemingly had hawk eyes. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS). Active NFL players from Texas include Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes; Buffalo Bills linebacker Von Miller; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray; San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams. Here are the universities cultivating the talent: In Alabama, theres no denying which school is best at producing professional football players. . Mississippi not only produces the most NFL players per capita, but not only that, the state also produced the most Pro Football Hall of Famers per capita, as well, Diallo said. Seven of the school's 11 national championships came in the first half of the 20th century, and none of those titles have come in the last 30 years. Heres the full chart that Feldman shared on Twitter below: The District of Columbia, with one NFL player for every 54,702 residents, has the most NFL players per capita. Iowas defense-heavy mindset seemed to carry on to all of its NFL players as they come up on the short end of touchdowns scored in the NFL. Some colleges excel at producing Fortune 500 CEOs. Second is Ohio State with 67, followed by LSU with 62. It features arguably the most successful college football program in history. Here is another area where Notre Dames influence is readily apparent, as they are the top school at seven of the 24 positions we evaluated, including key positions such as quarterback and running back. 211 current NFL players came from a school in Texas. The most notable star to come from the Sunshine State is Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. That would be Grand Canyon University Athletics Hall of Fame member and Antelopes basketball legend Kevin Warren, who has been an executive for multiple NFL teams stretching back to the 1990s. After starring at Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Woodson stayed close to home and became an All-American for the Boilermakers. LSU - 325 10. Will Texas cede its dominance, or will it hold strong as the top NFL-producing state? Several prestigious Texas programs have contributed to the current NFL talent pool. Pennsylvania State University--University. A debate between NFL players bubbled up on social media this week when former Galveston Ball High School star Mike Evans proclaimed that Texas high school football produces the best players. second most all-time wins in college football history. We limited this data to schools who have had at least five players make the all-time roster to weed out one-off outlier players. Penn State - 359 5. Bottom line:Pittsburgh has just six Top 25 finishes in the last 35 years and hasnt won more than 10 games since 1981. Thats a no-brainer. 2023 www.clarionledger.com. Bottom line:Lots of schools have proclaimed themselves as "DB U" due to the prolific number of defensive backs they have sent to the NFL. That stat does deserve a caveat as Matthew Slater and Wally Henry were both Bruins receivers who made the Pro Bowl, but they did so at the positions of special teams and return specialist, respectively. Those three states currently have 597 players in the NFL. In Georgia, one NFL player is played for every 81,409 people, while in Florida, one is played for every 91,847 people. Nor does that number reflect on native Mississippians who should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame such as Charlie Conerly, Kent Hull and Jimmie Giles. Yes, Bulldogs Dak Prescott and perhaps Fletcher Cox are future Hall of Famers but thats a few years away. Despite having more pro players than Arizona State, Iowa alums have scored 363 fewer touchdowns (730 to 1093), which places them close to last on this top 30 list. The United States of quarterbacks will add more members to the club April 29-May 1 with the NFL draft (on ESPN/ESPN App) and maybe someday make some QB-starved states proud (we're looking at you, Utah and Minnesota). Can you name the seven states that have not produced an NFL quarterback? The NFL is known world wide for having some of the best athletes in the world. Yet the Panthers also have the third-most Pro Football Hall of Famers of any football program, pointing to the pull of Pittsburgh for top talent in Western Pennsylvania. 13 Texas A&M at Kyle Field, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. And while not everyone can get their name called to start a professional football career, everyone can set themselves up for a successful career in another field with the help of a quality education like the one you will receive at Grand Canyon University. Alabama leads the way with 72 active NFL players as of the 2021-2022 season. These colleges have produced the most NFL players, and they have a track record of success on the gridiron. They are followed by Florida, Texas, Georgia and then Ohio. However, Nebraska hasnt finished in the top 10 in the final AP poll since the 2001 season, and its once-abundant NFL pipeline has all but dried up. Thats more than much larger states such as New York (7) and New Jersey (6). Try selecting a different location. For more information on our cookie collection and use please visit our Privacy Policy. No promotions available. But which high schools are "football factories" like major college programs such as Alabama, Ohio State and USC? While the Razorbacks are no longer the class of the tough SEC, they have won 14 conference championships in program history and brought home a national championship to Fayetteville in 1964. Troy Aikman, Jonathan Ogden and Jimmy Johnson all have rejected USC for Westwood and currently reside in the Hall of Fame. California, with 141 quarterbacks, is tops in the union with 14 Super Bowl wins in 25 starts, three Hall of Famers, seven No. Of that 82, 74 are playing in the NFL after spending time at Nick Saban's powerhouse football program. The dominance of Florida, Florida State and Miami has dwindled slightly over the years, but they are still producing NFL players at a high rate. Cam Newton attended Florida for two years, then transferred to Auburn, so when he was taken first overall in the 2011 NFL draft, Auburn got the credit for the selection. Alabama is ranked first in the country in terms of NFL players per capita, with one NFL player per 74,683 residents. Louisiana QBs have nine Super Bowl wins in 14 starts. Which state has the highest average draft position for quarterbacks? According to its website, FUMA has produced more than 100 future NFL players, including 12 first-round picks such as Eddie George, Anthony Castonzo and Plaxico Burress. While not every former SEC player is from the state where they went to college, many of them did choose to stay close to home, either in their own state or a state close by. Before making life miserable for NFL defenses, they were doing the same to opponents in college. More than 25 percent of its 98 Pro Bowl selections came from just four defensive backs: Mike Haynes (9), Eric Allen (6), Louis Wright (5) and Darren Woodson (5). Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke dominated in the 1960s and '70s, and the Fighting Illinis success also is in yesteryear. From 1960 to 1987, the franchise was located in St. Louis, and that westward move brought with it more players from the Southwest and Great Plains regions, as players from schools like Utah, Missouri and Nebraska starting appearing on the field more for the NFL franchise. The Volunteers can thank three players for boosting up their number of Pro Bowl selections: Peyton Manning (14), Reggie White (13) and Jason Witten (11) account for nearly 30 percent of those nods. The state of California has produced the most players in today's NFL. Ohio State - 426 4. Bottom line:Illinois never won a national championship, but the Illini had two of the most iconic players in NFL history. Nevertheless, with names like Bo Jackson, Ronnie Brown, and Stephen Davis, the Tigers have been a football factory at producing NFL running backs. Woodson has a Super Bowl ring, 71 career interceptions, 11 Pro Bowls and six All-Pro honors. Note: All figures are NFL stats for players. Three legendary Cal stars are quarterback Aaron Rodgers, tight end Tony Gonzalez and running back Marshawn Lynch. With 14 cities producing at least four players on Kickoff Weekend rosters, Texas surpassed Florida to lead the league in home states. Louisiana, with 25 NFL QBs, including Terry Bradshaw, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, is No. We do not sell or share your information with anyone. No school has more active NFL players than Alabamas 77, and that doesnt even include its 10 players taken in the 2019 draft, which was the most of any school. We may be compensated for the links provided on this page. With your help, we've gotten a lot done but we're not finished yet! In Ohio, Cuyahoga County alone is the birthplace of 17 players. In the college game, Tennessee has fallen off over the last 20 years, recording just two top-10 finish over that span. At the other end of the spectrum, North Dakota, Delaware, and New Hampshire are each the birthplace of a single player in the NFL. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Weve looked at the top states for producing NFL players, but how about the most successful schools within those states? With both expected to be top picks in the draft, Georgia will soon have 19 NFL quarterbacks. Kelly never got the program to the promised land, and Oregon still is searching for its first national championship. Bottom line:Flordia had recent success under Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, but doesnt have decades of dominance under its belt and didnt become an elite program until the 1990s. Some regions of the country, though, have become well known for regularly producing NFL-caliber talent. Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. None are bigger than Drew Brees, who threw for 80,358 yards in his NFL career, more yards than any other quarterback in NFL history. While some schools are known for producing CEOs or millionaires, these 10 colleges have the most NFL players on active rosters, according to NCAA data. Heres the breakdown: There are three colleges that have dominated Florida football for decades. Champ Bailey, Hines Ward, Terrell Davis, Todd Gurley, Geno Atkins and more helped re-establish the Bulldogs as an SEC powerhouse and also left indelible marks in the NFL. The school has just one first-round NFL pick since the 2011 season with Prince Amukamara going 19th overall in that years draft. Brees or Woodson at the top of the Purdue football alumni depth chart? We will be watching alongside our fellow fans to see how it all unfolds and watch the young men getting drafted move on to the next phase of their lives. Meanwhile, the Magnolia State has plenty to celebrate when it comes to football or writers and entertainers, for that matter. The Bobby Bowden-Jimbo Fisher era was the best run in program history, and that was evident by FSU having 46 active players in the NFL in 2019. 3 is Georgia (one in 78,761). Despite all of that success in the defensive backfield, the Sun Devils never have won a national championship, making them just one of six teams on this list without a natty. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Total enrollment: 46,810. Arkansas football also produced Jerry Jones, Hall of Fame owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer, two Super Bowl-winning coaches in Dallas. Mississippi State has no former players the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Colleges That Have Produced the Most NFL Players Alabama's Crimson Tide has 58 former student-athletes in the NFL, producing more pro players recently than other colleges. Thanks to a slew of legendary coaches and a tradition . Action Network analyzed each NFL teams current roster to identify the state and university each of their players came from. This site .css-110721q{color:#0079F0;}contains commercial content. While that number seems impressive, its a low number for this list and ranks just 81st in terms of all college football programs. Chris Spencer (center for Tennessee Titans), Jamarca Sanford (defensive back for Minnesota Vikings) and Damien Lewis (offensive line for Seattle Seahawks) are all outstanding players from Mississippi. Twelve of the 22 Washington QBs came from the greater Seattle area. The second-most populous state, Texas also leads the country in a key formula component -- Division I football programs -- with 21, seven more than any other state. We also identified the college football programs that sent the most players to the NFL within those states. . Although the Magnolia State has boasted just 11 NFL quarterbacks during the Super Bowl era (tied for 12th among all states), almost all of them were QB1s. and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who rated as the top prospect from the Lone Star State for the 2014 national recruiting cycle before signing with Texas A&M. Louisiana, which doesn't have. After Georgia the drop-off is significant. With all due respect to Fran Tarkenton and others drafted before 1980, the best players in Georgia history have come in the last 40 years. Bottom line: Purdue is one of the oldest college football programs. Heres the top five schools for sending players to the pros: There are five schools who that dominate when it comes to producing NFL talent in California. Historically, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania have been hotbeds for football talent. Bottom line: Stanford didn't invent football, but the school helped popularize it in the 1920s and '30s with Pop Warner, who coached the Cardinal from 1924 to 1932. But Michigan also has struggled when it comes to skill position players in the NFL. USC - 479 3. Copyright 2023 Action Network Inc, All Rights Reserved.Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | AdChoices. Mississippi averages 26.6 NFL players for every 100,000 citizens. The schools other Hall of Famers are quarterback Bobby Layne, running back Earl Campbell and defensive back Bobby Dillon. That's reflective of Arizona's NFL history, which includes longtime backup Mike Pagel. Thats right, Mississippi, for its population, produces more pro football players than Texas, Florida, California and more than Louisiana and Alabama, as well. We are particularly interested in which colleges have been the most successful at sending players to the pros. We just dont have available stats on the authors and musicians. Once we started looking through historic roster data for various NFL teams, we really didnt want to stop. Since these states end up producing such talented players, that's why college football programs like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Miami, Ohio State and Penn State get their hands on top recruits. accurate as of the publish date. NFL draft picks since 2000: 57. Bottom line:Michigan has the second most all-time wins in college football history (behind Alabama), produced perhaps the greatest quarterback in NFL history (Tom Brady) and even had a future president play for them (Gerald Ford). Kiper's two-round mock draft: Top-five trade, record QB haul, Kiper's favorite draft prospects at every position, Biggest question marks for draft's top quarterbacks. At present he serves the Minnesota Vikings as their Chief Operating Officer, making him one of the highest-ranking executives in the organization with the 18th pick in this years draft. These rankings are based on rosters published by Stats LLC on Monday afternoon, three days before the start of the season. For the Cardinals, this means that Georgia Tech and Duke footballers last the longest with the franchise at nearly four seasons on average. 4-year graduation rate: 66%. One of the exciting things about going to college is that youll have the opportunity to direct the course of your own education. by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today November 1, 2021, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. The answer may surprise you. Alabama rounds out the top 5 with 109 active NFL players. Three of those Razorbackers became Hall of Famers: wide receiver Lance Alworth, defensive lineman Dan Hampton and free safety Steve Atwater. However, players of that caliber have been few and far between in recent years as the majority of Michigan States NFL alums played in the early days of the NFL. Jim Druckenmiller. The Penn State Nittany Lions, who began play in 1889, are among the most storied programs in . The Buckeye State had 78 players in the NFL ranks in 2014. Texas ranks last in ESPN's QB formula because of the expectations given the state's resources. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. This college has also produced the second-most players in the 2021 season. But Knoxville, with its close location to the Gulf Coast, the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest, is still adept at attracting top college prospects. Miami - 341 8. No. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Unfortunately, the two never shared a backfield while at Iowa, or maybe thats fortunate for opposing quarterbacks. Hall of Famers Warren Moon and Hugh McElhenny came from Los Angeles, six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz came from Hawaii, and Marcus Peters was from Oakland. You could say it all started with the godfather of football, Pop Warner. That is reflected by the Gators having the fifth-most active players in the NFL despite being outside the top 10 in total players. Still, they dont have decades of winning traditions, which is why they fall a little lower on this list than many might expect. Tittle, Steve Van Buren and Kevin Mawae. Don Majkowski. Would we Mississippians rather be ranked No. We also looked at career length to find which colleges players have the longest average careers on different NFL teams. Beyond that local rooting interest, there is at least one Grand Canyon graduate that has a major impact on the fortunes of an NFL franchise, even if most of his work takes place away from the field. Twenty-eight states have fewer.The Cuyahoga natives, with the listed place of birth, are: Rankings could vary slightly because the birth places for 14 players were not immediately available, and rosters can change daily. Warner collected 71 of his 311 career college wins at Stanford and changed the game with the forward pass. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using. The University of Alabama has produced the most pro athletes out of college, though, with 82. Coming in at second for most NFL players on Week 1 rosters is Texas. The Longhorns are no longer on top, and they are chasing Oklahoma for Big 12 supremacy in terms of NFL players produced. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not LSU's 3 permanent rivals for 9-game SEC schedule have been set, per report, Quinten Dormady, former Tennessee QB, under playbook investigation in XFL, Alabama basketball adds commitment from 4-star forward, Billy Napier addresses Florida staff openings at start of spring practice, BetMGM Massachusetts Bonus Code: How to Claim the $200 Bonus Bet Offer This Weekend, FanDuel Massachusetts Promo: Pre-Launch Special Scores $100 in Bonus Bets, Jalin Hyatt impresses in limited NFL Combine showing, WynnBET Mass Promo Code: How to Claim Big Value with Pre-Launch Bonus, BetMGM UFC 285 Promo Code: Claim $1,000 First Bet Offer on Any Fight, Texas A&M punctuates impressive SEC season with upset of No. Texas is a football crazy state where towns live and die by their local teams at every level. You make the call. Nebraska,. But the program has produced some elite NFL stars. Bottom line: Louisiana has the most NFL players per capita of any state, and LSU leverages that fact as the only Power 5 program in the state. Every April, a new crop of young men try to make the leap from college to the pros where they will try to carve out a career for themselves in the NFL. The only thing missing from Washingtons NFL alumni is a successful wide receiver. Alabama (17) was a distant fifth. Florida State (275) 23. Using this data we were able to illustrate some key data points for every franchise in the league, as well as the league as a whole. But great players in Norman havent translated to great players in the NFL.
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