what state has produced the most nfl players all time what state has produced the most nfl players all time

The University of Alabama has produced the most pro athletes out of college, though, with 82. Weve ranked the best NFL-talent producing universities in Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, and Alabama. Most touchdowns in NFL: James Lofton (76), Most games played in NFL: John Elway (234). Help keep the momentum going by rejoining our member community today. Others create politicians. second most all-time wins in college football history. That makes them a bit of an outlier since every other school in the top seven is in a warm-weather location in either the South or Southern California. The state also produced Richard Sherman, Tyron Smith, Bobby Wagner and several other stars. But great players in Norman havent translated to great players in the NFL. Bottom line: Arkansas has a great football tradition. By Jackson. Their time will come. You have to credit Mississippi Today. Heres how the rest of the list shakes out: The college football landscape is already taking shape for the 2022-23 season. Troy Aikman, Jonathan Ogden and Jimmy Johnson all have rejected USC for Westwood and currently reside in the Hall of Fame. 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. Bottom line:Did you know that the Washington Huskies 40 game win streak from 1908 to 1914 is the second-longest in NCAA history? Trevor Lawrence, of Cartersville High, and Justin Fields, of Harrison High, became the top two recruits in the nation in 2018. Pennsylvania State University--University. Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. Bottom line: Purdue is one of the oldest college football programs. 2023 www.clarionledger.com. Many may not think of the Tar Heel State as a football-dominant state, but they sure know how to produce top-talent. Using traditional offensive and defensive formations as our guide, we were able to create a unique starting lineup of college football teams, using their logos as stand-ins. The data was analyzed through the lenses of number of quarterbacks, Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Super Bowl wins and NFL approximate value (AV). Note: Birthplace for 14 players could not immediately be determined. Bottom line:Wisconsin has the most NFL players of any school to never win a national championship their highest season-ending finish was No. by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today November 1, 2021, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. While USC comes up second on this list (for now), the Trojans rank first with a staggering 239 Pro Bowl selections. They grew up just 10 minutes from each other in Chicago and are universally known by their surnames: Butkus and Nitschke. Miami Hurricane alums rank second in NFL touchdowns scored and fourth in Pro Bowl selections, despite having 60-70 percent of the number of players that the top two schools have produced. What state produces the most NFL players header image. The schools other Hall of Famers are quarterback Bobby Layne, running back Earl Campbell and defensive back Bobby Dillon. Heres the breakdown: There are three colleges that have dominated Florida football for decades. The most NFL players have come from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Miami, Florida, and the state of Florida. Yet Texas leads the U.S. in Super Bowl wins above expectation. The school has produced Pro Bowlers at every other position on the field, but theyve yet to send a receiver to the Pro Bowl or have a receiver post a 1,000-yard season. Thats more than much larger states such as New York (7) and New Jersey (6). 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. Historically, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania have been hotbeds for football talent. 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. All rights reserved (About Us). That list doesnt even include Cam Newton, who is the NFLs all-time leader in rushing touchdowns for a quarterback. The school has produced at least one player from every season of NFL football since the league resumed play in 2012. Rod Woodson already has a gold jacket and is the greatest Purdue football alum not named Brees. Unfortunately, the two never shared a backfield while at Iowa, or maybe thats fortunate for opposing quarterbacks. The research was done by Sidelines, a sports technology and digital media company, which also found that Texas has produced the most NFL players (2,515) of any state. 211 current NFL players came from a school in Texas. 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. You might mention that the next time the Crimson Tide kicks your favorite teams butt, as it has done to Southern Miss (63-14), Ole Miss (42-21) and Mississippi State (49-9) this season. Washington is 10th overall in our rankings thanks in large part to Drew Bledsoe, Chris Chandler, Mark Rypien and Jon Kitna, whose careers have the highest approximate values among the state's 22 QBs. The Sooners have only three Hall of Famers. But Knoxville, with its close location to the Gulf Coast, the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest, is still adept at attracting top college prospects. 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. Always has. 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. Total enrollment in fall 2021: 13,139. 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. 1 in health, wealth and education? Which ZIP code has produced the most NFL quarterbacks? More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. Bottom line: Youll notice a trend with nearly all of the schools on this list most reside in small college towns and outside of major cities. Since 1936, when the NFL began to keep accurate roster records, Mississippi has produced 788 NFL players. 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. 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. Rick has been recognized 13 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year, and is recipient of multiple awards and honors for his reporting and writing. 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. The NFLs all-time leading receiver and touchdown scorer is Jerry Rice, from Crawford and Mississippi Valley State. Please reload the page and try again. North Carolina Perhaps a surprise to some, North Carolina takes the fourth spot. You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. The most notable star to come from the Sunshine State is Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. We also looked at career length to find which colleges players have the longest average careers on different NFL teams. But that is debatable. Here's a breakdown of the 10 states with the most NFL players: It's always fun to see which states generate the most NFL talent. 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. Others create politicians. 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. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not When you factor in population, the state produces 26.6 pro football players for every 100,000 people. had produced 63 NFL players, the most among the nation . Alabama rounds out the top 5 with 109 active NFL players. And giving them three is a bit generous since Troy Aikman started his career at OU, but finished it at UCLA. following organizations: Whoops! We do not sell or share your information with anyone. That's why they call scouting an inexact science. Its not just quantity were talking about either. 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. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Half the players on NFL rosters are from just seven states, with Ohio being among the top producers of pro football talent. Oct 6, 2011, 8:10 AM Historically, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania have been hotbeds for football talent. Finally, we broke out every player by position and school to find which schools have produced the most players at specific positions for every NFL team. Pennsylvania - 443.4 Former Buckeyes in the NFL draft this year include Kendall Sheffield (CB, Atlanta Falcons), Rod Smith (RB, Carolina Panthers) and Justin Fields (QB, Chicago Bears). In fact, those three states rank 1-2-3 all-time for states where NFL players were born. West Virginia University's Morgantown recruits many of these athletes. In fact, those three states rank 1-2-3 all-time for states where NFL. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Bottom line:The dominance of Alabama under Nick Saban isnt limited to just the college game. They are followed by Florida, Texas, Georgia and then Ohio. This website does not fully support Internet Explorer. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. From there, we ranked which state currently has produced the most NFL players. 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. In terms of players by decade, the NFL relied heavily on schools from the Midwest such as Notre Dame and Minnesota in the early days, before shifting their focus out west to USC in the 70s and 80s before settling into a varied approach that has seen schools from the Midwest, California, and the Southeast regularly headlining NFL rosters over the last 30 years. Bottom line:While many of the aforementioned schools have had recent success but not decades of winning, the exact opposite can be said for Nebraska. We believe that an informed Mississippi is a better Mississippi. Interestingly, the 1988 move to Phoenix marked an end to regionality having an outsize influence on roster decisions, with Michigan Wolverines playing for the Cardinals at a greater clip than any other school in both the 2000s and 2010s. Then he starred for the Steelers, Ravens, 49ers and Raiders in the NFL. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. They have won just two conference titles in the last 35 years, and of their 61 Pro Bowl players, only one was drafted in the last 15 years (Vontae Davis, 2009). Mississippi averages 26.6 NFL players for every 100,000 citizens. California alone, at 225 active players, accounts for more than ten percent of NFL players. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The remaining seven states to crack the top 10 are Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Carolina and New Jersey. Newman had Peyton and Eli Manning, and Westlake's Drew Brees and Nick Foles also led world champions. 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. Brees or Woodson at the top of the Purdue football alumni depth chart? That is 48 more than the team with the next most Pro Bowl selections. Weve looked at the top states for producing NFL players, but how about the most successful schools within those states? And Jacksonville, Florida, native Mac Jones is expected to be the third straight Alabama QB selected in the first round, with none of the three hailing from Alabama. Bottom line: Tennessee makes up for its lack of quantity (13th in all-time players and 19th in active players) with quality (fifth in Pro Bowl selections). 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. Ohio State is just one of three colleges to produce more than 400 NFL players. By state, NFL training-camp rosters had 336 former Texas high school players, 293 from Florida, 285 from California and 232 from Georgia. That's the highest start percentage of any state with at least 400 games played. 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. We are particularly interested in which colleges have been the most successful at sending players to the pros. 1 overall pick in 1993, was one of four first-round picks from Washington and one of 12 taken within the first 100 selections. The population of New York State is nearly 20 million, compared to Mississippis fewer than 3 million. NFL Players By College - Overall Top 10 All-Time 1. 25. Led by Manning and league MVPs Brett Favre and Steve McNair, they made 732 starts in 802 games played (91.3%). While that number seems impressive, its a low number for this list and ranks just 81st in terms of all college football programs. Florida ranked third with 149. Bottom line: Smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania, Penn State isnt far from Ohio, New York and New Jersey. Only two of the 10 most populous cities in the United States have schools on this list with Phoenixs Arizona State and Los Angeles first entry with UCLA. Three legendary Cal stars are quarterback Aaron Rodgers, tight end Tony Gonzalez and running back Marshawn Lynch. Bottom line:Whether or not Notre Dame is the greatest program in NCAA history is up for debate, but theres no denying the impact that the Fighting Irish football program has had on the NFL.