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

But in recent years, the states that are football factories has shifted a little. Yes, Bulldogs Dak Prescott and perhaps Fletcher Cox are future Hall of Famers but thats a few years away. For a better experience, please consider using a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. 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. Out of all colleges, Notre Dame has produced 521 players selected in the NFL draft. Bottom line:Illinois never won a national championship, but the Illini had two of the most iconic players in NFL history. Always has. California alone, at 225 active players, accounts for more than ten percent of NFL players. This site .css-110721q{color:#0079F0;}contains commercial content. Alabama leads the way with 72 active NFL players as of the 2021-2022 season. It is reflected in the NFL as well. The Longhorns are no longer on top, and they are chasing Oklahoma for Big 12 supremacy in terms of NFL players produced. 3 is Georgia (one in 78,761). (You can find them here.). Mississippi State upends No. Here are the universities cultivating the talent: In Alabama, theres no denying which school is best at producing professional football players. Nebraska (21.3 per 100,000), Oklahoma (also 21.3), and Louisiana (21.2) were the three states closest to Mississippi in NFL players per capita. 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. Louisiana is the state with the best ratio (one NFL player per 76,837 people), followed by Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and South Carolina. 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. Notre Dame, USC, and Ohio State have produced 400 or more NFL players in history. Ohio State's Justin Fields was a five-star recruit at Harrison High. Some colleges excel at producing Fortune 500 CEOs. 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). 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. The Alabama Crimson Tide has produced the most NFL players out of all college football teams. The state of Mississippi has placed the most players in the NFL capita, according to a by Sidelines. However, 13 Wolverines have reached 1,000 NFL rushing yards with the latest being the greatest, Tom Brady. They both were middle linebackers and played for rival franchises in the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, respectively. That is about 9% of the current active players in the league. 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. But the Ducks have had a lot of talent over the years. 20 college football teams we aren't sold on in 2023, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Mizzou shocks Tennessee, Alabama downs Auburn and more, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Alabama stays unbeaten in SEC play, Tennessee outlasts Auburn and more, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: A new top team emerges, Alabama loses in blowout fashion, Mizzou lights it up again. And that team just happens to be the only one that outpaced USC in NFL players produced. Many may not think of the Tar Heel State as a football-dominant state, but they sure know how to produce top-talent. Kelly never got the program to the promised land, and Oregon still is searching for its first national championship. And where does the 2021 NFL draft class of quarterbacks come from? 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. Westlake (Austin, Texas) High and Isidore Newman (New Orleans) School represent the only two ZIP codes in the country to produce multiple Super Bowl-winning starting quarterbacks. Weve ranked the best NFL-talent producing universities in Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, and Alabama. Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports shared a chart on Twitter on Thursday that breaks down which states have the most NFL players per capita. St. Ignatius (Ohio) is in the only ZIP code with four NFL quarterbacks, though the most well-known name from that group is Luck -- and it's not the Luck you think it is. In the last six years . The universities to follow Alabama were Ohio State, Florida, Louisiana State and Michigan, all courtesy of its football programs. 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. Madison, Wisconsin, may not be the first location that many transfers think of when deciding where they want to finish their college careers, but it has proven to be a much-sought-after destination for some of the NFLs best players. Would we Mississippians rather be ranked No. 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. Texas has produced more active NFL players than any other U.S. state. Bottom line:Did you know that the Washington Huskies 40 game win streak from 1908 to 1914 is the second-longest in NCAA history? Heres how the rest of the list shakes out: The college football landscape is already taking shape for the 2022-23 season. In fact, 12 of their Pro Bowl players played either running back or fullback. Without Fitzpatrick's 146 starts, the canyon between Arizona and runner-up Ohio, at 57.6% for its 34 QBs, would be even wider. While ranking 22nd in all-time NFL players, Auburn ranks 23rd in active players after ranking eighth in 2019, pointing to their recent struggles. For more information on our cookie collection and use please visit our Privacy Policy. Here are some takeaways: - Notre Dame has produced more NFL players than any other college, with 495 athletes going on to play in the NFL. And some make NFL players. Fortunately for the Sooners, Adrian Peterson is sure to increase that number five years after he retires. Highest AV in NFL: Randall McDaniel (129), Most touchdowns in NFL: Charley Taylor (90), Most games played in NFL: Terrell Suggs (244). We're dedicated to keeping Mississippians informed with our thorough reporting. 2 following the 1962 season. Don Majkowski. Thats a no-brainer. Florida is another NFL-producing machine. The state that produced dynamic personalities such as Favre and Gardner Minshew found a way to make an impression. Which state has the highest average draft position for quarterbacks? Before he expanded to Louisiana and founded his own personal QB franchise, Archie Manning started another unique trend of QB1s from his home state of Mississippi. 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). 211 current NFL players came from a school in Texas. California has been strong in its quarterback production in every decade, leading the way in the 1970s, '80s and '90s (based on the final year of high school for each QB). Will Furrer. Louisiana is famous for its Cajun food, jazz music, Mardi Gras -- and quarterbacks. 4-year graduation rate: 66%. With 56 players, Alabama's roster in 2019 is the largest. Oklahoma - 328 9. Bottom line: Oregon won a Rose Bowl in their first season in 1916. Three legendary Cal stars are quarterback Aaron Rodgers, tight end Tony Gonzalez and running back Marshawn Lynch. Bottom line:Pittsburgh has just six Top 25 finishes in the last 35 years and hasnt won more than 10 games since 1981. We are particularly interested in which colleges have been the most successful at sending players to the pros. Recent post: What Color Is Associated With The Number 5? by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today November 1, 2021, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. The remaining seven states to crack the top 10 are Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Carolina and New Jersey. Florida ranked third with 149. The Lone Star State produced a plethora of talented quarterbacks, such as Drew Brees, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Ryan Tannehill. We just dont have available stats on the authors and musicians. All six of the Nittany Lions' Pro Football Hall of Famers come from those states, including Franco Harris and Jack Ham, who were Penn State teammates and then teammates with the Pittsburgh Steelers. 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. Troy Aikman, Jonathan Ogden and Jimmy Johnson all have rejected USC for Westwood and currently reside in the Hall of Fame. Note: All figures are NFL stats for players. Colorado . One of the first things we found was how many players have ever donned the teams uniform throughout the entirety of the franchises history. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. No. Check out the full list of 721 quarterbacks divided by state here. 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. Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. 1980 also stands as the midpoint for Georgia football and the NFL draft as 50 percent of all drafted Bulldogs were selected before 1980 while the other half came in 1980 or later. Dont forget to take advantage of Caesars Sportsbooks NCAAF odds week-in and week-out! 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. From there, we ranked which state currently has produced the most NFL players. Most touchdowns in NFL: James Lofton (76), Most games played in NFL: John Elway (234). 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. 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. As one of the oldest teams in the league, the Cardinals have one of the largest rosters of players all-time, clocking in at over 1,800! We also took the combined data we had gathered and made a slightly different graphic for the entire history of the NFL. 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. is known world wide for having some of the best athletes in the world. 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. Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. But the Texas total computes to only 8.5 players per 100,000, about one-third of what Mississippi has produced. North Dakota State's Trey Lance could be the first Minnesota QB selected in the first round. In Georgia, one NFL player is played for every 81,409 people, while in Florida, one is played for every 91,847 people. We do not target any individuals under the age of 21. 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. Warner collected 71 of his 311 career college wins at Stanford and changed the game with the forward pass. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Notre Dames lack of recent success bears out in the number of active players the Irish have in the NFL. Despite that, Washington has attracted many of the top players in the nation and its reach goes beyond its Seattle campus. We share information about your use of this site with our social media, advertising and analytics teams who may combine it with other information that youve provided to them. Bottom line:The dominance of Alabama under Nick Saban isnt limited to just the college game. The Sooners have only three Hall of Famers. Founded in 2016 as the states first nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom, Mississippi Todays roots in Capitol coverage have grown to encompass a myriad of beats beyond politics and policy, including education, public health, justice, environment, equity, and, yes, sports. Can you name the seven states that have not produced an NFL quarterback? The most notable star to come from the Sunshine State is Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. By continuing to navigate this site you are consenting to the collection of information via our use of cookies. Brett Favre, from Kiln and Southern Miss, is No. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using. The state of California has produced the most players in today's NFL. 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. While Brady (and his seven rings) is the headliner, the Golden State's dominance is more than just the Golden Boy, a sixth-round pick who graduated from Serra High School in 1995. a proud member of the Coming in at second for most NFL players on Week 1 rosters is Texas. Alabama is ranked first in the country in terms of NFL players per capita, with one NFL player per 74,683 residents. 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. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Now youre an History of Colleges Most Represented on NFL Rosters, 3300 West Camelback Road - Phoenix, AZ 85017, Criminal Justice, Government & Public Administration. 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). Be sure to visit the Action Networks NCAAF Odds page each week to the lay of the land for betting lines. North Carolina State has never been to a BCS bowl and hasn't won an ACC title since 1979. But see who makes up the rest of the top 5 in the state: North Carolina has produced a surprising number of NFL players. Heres a breakdown of every states active NFL players. Its not just quantity were talking about either. Oliver Luck hailed from St. Ignatius, but the 44113 doesn't get credit for his son Andrew, who went to high school in Texas. Yet Texas leads the U.S. in Super Bowl wins above expectation. All four of those states are among the top 10 in producing NFL players, so Penn State is in an ideal location to land top talent. And some make NFL players. The NFLs all-time leading receiver and touchdown scorer is Jerry Rice, from Crawford and Mississippi Valley State. The most prolific quarterback state of the 2010s is Florida with nine, including Lamar Jackson and Teddy Bridgewater. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The Ducks didn't win another "Granddaddy" until 2011, when Chip Kelly and his high-flying offense beat Wisconsin 45-38. In terms of 2018 rosters, however, it comes as no surprise that Alabama, the premier program in college football over the last decade, leads the way with 53 players, enough for an entire official NFL roster, suiting up during the most recent season. And now, theres even data that would appear to back it up. 2 is Louisiana (one in 76,837) .. No. Despite ranking ninth in all-time NFL players, the Huskers rank just 26th in active NFL players. These five state's account for close to 50% of. Penn State - 359 5. Over those100-plus years, they have won two national championships (1920 and 1922) and produced many pro players. Remember, were talking about per capita here. Current NFL players: 37. About Saturday Down South | Ethics and Editorial Standards | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Other Conferences: Big Ten | ACC | Pac-12. You make the call. Some regions of the country, though, have become well known for regularly producing NFL-caliber talent. Among states with SEC schools, the per capita numbers are: Mississippi (first, 26.6), Louisiana (fourth, 21.2), Alabama (fifth, 17), Arkansas (12th, 13.4), Tennessee (13th, 13.3), South Carolina (14th, 11.5), Kentucky (16th, 9.9), Texas (23rd, 8.5), Florida (34th, 6), Georgia (35th, 6) andMissouri (38th, 5.3). The Ohio State University has produced a total of 411 players since the 17th NFL season in 1936. 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. We support responsible gambling. 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. Heck, it doesnt even finish in the top two in its own division thanks to the two participants of "The Game" beating them out. Its quality, as well. And that Mississippi number doesnt count such NFL legends as Ray Guy, Robert Brazile and Gene Hickerson, who played their college ball in Mississippi after growing up in nearby states. USC - 479 3. These colleges have produced the most NFL players, and they have a track record of success on the gridiron. It's no surprise the schools that dominate on Saturdays see their alumni playing on Sundays. But that number dropped to 28 in 2022, due to some lean years for the Seminoles. 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. Florida State (275) 23. Another amazing fact: Jackson State, alone, has produced four Hall of Famers, three of them native Mississippians. AV refers to approximate value and is PFRs attempt to quantify a players career value. When you factor in population, the state produces 26.6 pro football players for every 100,000 people. Both J.J. Watt and Russell Wilson started their college careers elsewhere, then ended their playing days suiting up for the red and white of the Wisconsin Badgers. 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. Or should be. The one thing lacking from The Ohio States NFL resume is a great, or even good, or even above-average, quarterback. Mississippi averages 26.6 NFL players for every 100,000 citizens. Louisiana, with 25 NFL QBs, including Terry Bradshaw, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, is No. In fact, those three states rank 1-2-3 all-time for states where NFL. Ousmane Diallo, a data analyst for Rise at Seven, led a team of five that did the research and tallied the results. Keep this news free and accessible to all by becoming a member and giving a recurring donation of any amount today. But one school often overlooked in this conversation is Arizona State. Bledsoe, the No. Read on to see the results. We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities. 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. 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. We also identified the college football programs that sent the most players to the NFL within those states. LSUs alums rank fifth all-time in touchdowns scored, with most of their best players lining up on the offensive side of the ball. 2 Alabama, SEC Women's Basketball Tournament action suspended due to weather delay, 2 SEC players named to late-season watch list for Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Trophy, Overrated? The only thing UCLA is missing is an elite NFL receiver since theyve had Pro Bowlers at every position except out wide. 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. 13 Texas A&M at Kyle Field, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Here is a breakdown of the states where the most active NFL players were born Sign up for notifications from Insider! How 'bout them Hogs? Or should. Miami - 341 8. The sheer size of California and the number of universities within it has propelled the state to #2 on the list. More NFL players (199) graduated from Texas than any. Thats more than much larger states such as New York (7) and New Jersey (6). Even though Florida has had over 385 former Gators suit up in the NFL, none of those players were ever drafted first overall out of UF. But which high schools are "football factories" like major college programs such as Alabama, Ohio State and USC? A cleveland.com review of opening week rosters found Florida leads with the way with 193 players, based on the place of birth of each player. After starring at Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Woodson stayed close to home and became an All-American for the Boilermakers. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. The state of Mississippi has placed the most players in the NFL capita, according to a by Sidelines. Woodson has a Super Bowl ring, 71 career interceptions, 11 Pro Bowls and six All-Pro honors. Most games played:Sebastian Janikowski (284). The school has produced at least one player from every season of NFL football since the league resumed play in 2012. 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. 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. 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 . Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. West Virginia University's Morgantown recruits many of these athletes. 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. 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. But now, Florida has joined them as one of the three biggest producers of NFL talent. Switzer was a center, linebacker, and captain of the 1959 team that won the Southwest Conference and Gator Bowl. Nearly 900 players came from the USC and UCLA campuses (separated by just 11 miles), but the majority of those are singing "Fight On.". Heres the breakdown: There are three colleges that have dominated Florida football for decades. 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. Louisiana QBs have nine Super Bowl wins in 14 starts. Please reload the page and try again. Texas ranks last in ESPN's QB formula because of the expectations given the state's resources. Yale Lary is the only Hall of Famer in school history, and that one HOF selection is the fewest of any school on this list. 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. - Notre Dame, USC, and Ohio State are the schools with the most NFL players in history and the only colleges who have produced 400+ NFL players. And there are currently no players that were born in the state of Vermont. Alabama (17) was a distant fifth. So we didnt. In fact, since Saban became coach in 2007, the Crimson Tide have more first-round picks (39) than losses (27). The schools that dominate on Saturdays have their alumni playing on Sundays. He has covered the SEC since 2016. Eventually, we had gathered data on every player to ever appear on an active NFL roster, including their position, who they played for, how long they played in the league and of course which college they attended. 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. Data was culled from Pro Football Reference to figure out which states have over- or underperformed based on the expected number of NFL quarterbacks produced, decided by population size and the number of Division I programs in a 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. 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. The remaining seven states to crack the top 10 are Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Carolina and New Jersey. There are 151 NFL players that came from colleges across California. The 2022 season has seen 58 active players from the Alabama lineage. By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with Mississippi Today. That group includes former No. 1 overall picks and 6,532 TD passes. NFL draft picks since 2000: 57. But Michigan also has struggled when it comes to skill position players in the NFL. Here's a breakdown of the 10 states with the most NFL. 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. It only seems as though Tom Brady has been playing long enough to have hung out with the Lizard King himself, and that Jim Morrison was talking about Brady and California QBs when he crooned, "The West is the best, get here and we'll do the rest." 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. In the college game, Tennessee has fallen off over the last 20 years, recording just two top-10 finish over that span. But Knoxville, with its close location to the Gulf Coast, the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest, is still adept at attracting top college prospects.