This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. North Carolina can claim 121 current NFL players in the league. If youre not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: This story was originally published by Mississippi Today and include our website, You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor. Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Todays sports columnist since 2016. However, 13 Wolverines have reached 1,000 NFL rushing yards with the latest being the greatest, Tom Brady. Notre Dame and USC were actually tied for the most draft selections ever entering the 2021 draft with 511. Bottom line: Oregon won a Rose Bowl in their first season in 1916. as well as other partner offers and accept our. How Mississippis outdated application process keeps parents from getting child care assistance, Another Democratic defection adds to Republican supermajority in Legislature, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities. Thats a no-brainer. The Longhorns are no longer on top, and they are chasing Oklahoma for Big 12 supremacy in terms of NFL players produced. With 14 cities producing at least four players on Kickoff Weekend rosters, Texas surpassed Florida to lead the league in home states. 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. Check out the full list of 721 quarterbacks divided by state here. Ohio State - 426 4. Warner collected 71 of his 311 career college wins at Stanford and changed the game with the forward pass. Here is a breakdown of the states where the most active NFL players were born Sign up for notifications from Insider! You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. The Lone Star State produced a plethora of talented quarterbacks, such as Drew Brees, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Ryan Tannehill. 3 is Georgia (one in 78,761). Mississippi produces more NFL players per capita than any other state, and its not really that close. 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. The Penn State Nittany Lions, who began play in 1889, are among the most storied programs in . Texas is a football crazy state where towns live and die by their local teams at every level. We may be compensated for the links provided on this page. This makes up 2.79% of 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. The Sooners have only three Hall of Famers. 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. In fact, those three states rank 1-2-3 all-time for states where NFL players were born. All rights reserved (About Us). Would we Mississippians rather be ranked No. Did you also know that the streak started a dozen years before the NFL was founded so none of the players on those teams made it to the league? 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. 2 is Louisiana (one in 76,837) .. No. You could say it all started with the godfather of football, Pop Warner. Eleven ZIP codes have produced three NFL QBs, and 60 can boast two. Bottom line: The California Golden Bears have been playing football since 1916. Fortunately for the Sooners, Adrian Peterson is sure to increase that number five years after he retires. 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. It is reflected in the NFL as well. 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. Read on to see the results. Heres how the rest of the list shakes out: The college football landscape is already taking shape for the 2022-23 season. Arkansas (274) 24. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. 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. So we set out to determine what state produces the most NFL players. The most notable star to come from the Sunshine State is Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. 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. About 20 miles on I-75 separate the Georgia high school homes of two of the draft's top QB prospects. Don Majkowski. 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. Time will tell! Nick Saban has given NFL franchises 29 first-round picks during his time as Alabama's head coach Tittle, Steve Van Buren and Kevin Mawae. Others create politicians. Its highest touchdown scorer, Elroy Hirsch, found the end zone just 66 times. Together these seven states are the birthplaces of 846 NFL players. 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. a proud member of the 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 only thing UCLA is missing is an elite NFL receiver since theyve had Pro Bowlers at every position except out wide. By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with Mississippi Today. Ohio State's Justin Fields was a five-star recruit at Harrison High. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. California ranked second among all U.S. states with 151 players drafted. The rest of the country and other places around the world are home to 838 players. 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. Many of the schools on this list are poised to send another great class of rookies to the NFL next season. The schools other Hall of Famers are quarterback Bobby Layne, running back Earl Campbell and defensive back Bobby Dillon. Bottom line:Wisconsin has the most NFL players of any school to never win a national championship their highest season-ending finish was No. DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting. We also looked at career length to find which colleges players have the longest average careers on different NFL teams. Others create politicians. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not But the Texas total computes to only 8.5 players per 100,000, about one-third of what Mississippi has produced. Mississippi State upends No. We do not target any individuals under the age of 21. is known world wide for having some of the best athletes in the world. Dont forget to take advantage of Caesars Sportsbooks NCAAF odds week-in and week-out! (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images). Bottom line:The U may not have the same prestige it had at the turn of the century, but there is no denying Miamis presence in the NFL. You may have been obsessed with becoming You may have already come across the term senioritis while in high school, and perhaps youve dealt with a bout of it already as you prepared for your high school graduation. For more information on our cookie collection and use please visit our Privacy Policy. No. 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. Notably, however, LSU was the school most represented on the 2018 Cardinals roster. A bust is waiting for Brees in Canton. And where does the 2021 NFL draft class of quarterbacks come from? Jim Druckenmiller. 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. Help keep the momentum going by rejoining our member community today. With Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, Georgia will get a boost after the 2021 draft, climbing into the top five for the 2010s with six NFL quarterbacks. 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. Action Network conducted a study to identify which state produced the most current NFL talent, which determined that the Lone Star State was the home of 211 active players, which accounts for 1 in every 12 players. The school has produced at least one player from every season of NFL football since the league resumed play in 2012. But the Texas total computes to only 8.5 players per 100,000, about one-third of what Mississippi has produced. 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). Additionally, Miami wins the all-important Battle for Florida since it has more Pro Bowl selections (181) than Florida State (103) and Florida (89). And some make NFL players. Of the 16 Tigers to make at least one All-Pro first team, 11 were offensive players including Hall of Famers Y.A. Louisiana QBs have nine Super Bowl wins in 14 starts. 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. That Mississippi led all other states, said Diallo, was the part we found super interesting.. Trevor Lawrence, of Cartersville High, and Justin Fields, of Harrison High, became the top two recruits in the nation in 2018. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The District of Columbia, with one NFL player for every 54,702 residents, has the most NFL players per capita. Follow on Twitter @RichExner or see previous stories at cleveland.com/datacentral. These rankings are based on rosters published by Stats LLC on Monday afternoon, three days before the start of the season. Florida was also the home of superstars like Dalvin Cook, Amari Cooper, Lavonte David, Derrick Henry, Calvin Ridley and Matthew Stafford. 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). That is about 9% of the current active players in the league. The state also produced Richard Sherman, Tyron Smith, Bobby Wagner and several other stars. Penn State - 359 5. We're dedicated to keeping Mississippians informed with our thorough reporting. And there are currently no players that were born in the state of Vermont. 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. 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. By continuing to navigate this site you are consenting to the collection of information via our use of cookies. Louisiana is famous for its Cajun food, jazz music, Mardi Gras -- and quarterbacks. The schools that dominate on Saturdays have their alumni playing on Sundays. Some colleges excel at producing Fortune 500 CEOs. What state produces the most NFL players header image. But now, Florida has joined them as one of the three biggest producers of NFL talent. Bottom line:Most people think of Michigan State as a basketball school, but the Spartans are one of the best football programs in the nation in producing elite receivers. There are 151 NFL players that came from colleges across California. 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). Florida ranked third with 149. Johnson was on that same Arkansas team in 1964 and played defensive end during his college days. But that number dropped to 28 in 2022, due to some lean years for the Seminoles. Bottom line: Arkansas has a great football tradition. Action Network's list of the top 10 states with the most active NFL players is listed below: Texas- 211 California- 149 Florida- 149 North Carolina- 121 Alabama- 109 Pennsylvania- 106 Ohio- 104 Michigan- 103 Louisiana- 102 Georgia- 89 Advertise With Us For You Any amount helps us keep producing quality journalism for Mississippi. Alabama is ranked first in the country in terms of NFL players per capita, with one NFL player per 74,683 residents. 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. 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). Troy Aikman, Jonathan Ogden and Jimmy Johnson all have rejected USC for Westwood and currently reside in the Hall of Fame. They are followed by Florida, Texas, Georgia and then Ohio. The 2022 season has seen 58 active players from the Alabama lineage. Woodson has a Super Bowl ring, 71 career interceptions, 11 Pro Bowls and six All-Pro honors. Those three states currently have 597 players in the NFL. 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. The state of Mississippi has placed the most players in the NFL capita, according to a by Sidelines. And now, theres even data that would appear to back it up. 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. This site .css-110721q{color:#0079F0;}contains commercial content. Despite putting 54 defensive backs in the NFL, including 14 first-rounders, no Bama corner has ever made a Pro Bowl. 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. North Carolina can claim 121 current NFL players in the league. 2 is Louisiana (one in 76,837) .. No. California, with 141 quarterbacks, is tops in the union with 14 Super Bowl wins in 25 starts, three Hall of Famers, seven No. How 'bout them Cowboys? 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." Pitt has produced the best defensive lineman in a generation in Aaron Donald, but the DLU rsum increased in 2021 too, with three players selected in this year's draft. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. A study conducted by Grand Canyon University found that Notre Dame has produced the most players in NFL history, with 495 of the league's 25,453 all-time players coming out of the school. 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. Arkansas has sent almost 300 players to the NFL. Only five players in the program's history have been selected first . 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. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. We just dont have available stats on the authors and musicians. California alone, at 225 active players, accounts for more than ten percent of NFL players. Their list of 10 Hall of Famers is sure to grow in the near future as Larry Fitzgerald, Darrelle Revis and Aaron Donald likely will receive their gold jackets one day. Despite having the most players all-time, the Fighting Irish ranked eigth in active players for the 2022 NFL season. 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. Bottom line:Pittsburgh has just six Top 25 finishes in the last 35 years and hasnt won more than 10 games since 1981. Louisiana is the state with the best ratio (one NFL player per 76,837 people), followed by Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and South Carolina. There have been 149 players in NFL history to rush for 5,000 yards in a career, but none of them have donned the maize and blue. Oct 6, 2011, 8:10 AM Historically, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania have been hotbeds for football talent. Walter Payton, from Columbia and Jackson State, is the NFLs second all-time leading rusher. 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. The only thing missing from Alabamas NFL resume is a shutdown cornerback. 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. Bottom line:Perhaps the most impressive thing about the Buckeyes' NFL credentials is that they rank second in active players with 65. Oklahoma - 328 9. 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. 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. Florida, California, Texas, Georgia and Ohio are the states where the most NFL players were born, based on rosters the Monday before the start of the 2016 season, cleveland.com research found. The state of Mississippi has placed the most players in the NFL capita, according to a by Sidelines. And giving them three is a bit generous since Troy Aikman started his career at OU, but finished it at UCLA. Michigan - 346 7. USC - 479 3. 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. Weve looked at the top states for producing NFL players, but how about the most successful schools within those states? The Sunshine State comes in at #3 with 149 total players in the NFL. Texas A&M led all Texas college football programs with 37 current NFL players, followed by the University of Texas (29), TCU (25), Baylor (23) and Houston (20). More NFL players (199) graduated from Texas than any. The University of Alabama has produced the most pro athletes out of college, though, with 82. Bottom line:The dominance of Alabama under Nick Saban isnt limited to just the college game. All 11 of the school's conference championships have come under Spurrier and Meyer, who made Gainesville a pipeline to the NFL unlike previous coaches. The data was analyzed through the lenses of number of quarterbacks, Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Super Bowl wins and NFL approximate value (AV). And some make NFL players. We believe that an informed Mississippi is a better Mississippi. Colleges with the most NFL players all time . 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). He was sports editor of Hattiesburg American, executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. And that team just happens to be the only one that outpaced USC in NFL players produced. Mississippi State has no former players the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 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. Yes, Bulldogs Dak Prescott and perhaps Fletcher Cox are future Hall of Famers but thats a few years away. By Jackson. They often get those TV slots since their players will be playing in the NFL in a few years. 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. City of Miami, State of Florida, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Produce Most NFL Players Which state has most NFL players per capita? Most touchdowns in NFL: Tony Gonzalez (111), Most games played in NFL: Tony Gonzalez (270). Notre Dame, USC, and Ohio State have produced 400 or more NFL players in history. While USC comes up second on this list (for now), the Trojans rank first with a staggering 239 Pro Bowl selections. Vinny Testaverde. 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. SEC schools continually churn out the most NFL talent. 211 current NFL players came from a school in Texas. Mississippi averages 26.6 NFL players for every 100,000 citizens. The population of New York State is nearly 20 million, compared to Mississippis fewer than 3 million. Another amazing fact: Jackson State, alone, has produced four Hall of Famers, three of them native Mississippians. Action Network makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the information given or the outcome of any game or event. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. So we set out to determine what state produces the most NFL players. Florida State (275) 23. 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. Colorado . 1 in health, wealth and education? Brett Favre, from Kiln and Southern Miss, is No. Thats as many Pro Football Hall of Famers as both Florida State and Georgia have and twice as many as Auburn, Ole Miss and Southern Miss have produced. Ohio State is just one of three colleges to produce more than 400 NFL players. That's the highest start percentage of any state with at least 400 games played. He has covered the SEC since 2016. Or should. The answer may surprise you. Only 44 wide receivers in NFL history have reached 10,000 receiving yards, and three of them came from MSU Andre Rison, Muhsin Muhammad and Derrick Mason. 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). In fact, those three states rank 1-2-3 all-time for states where NFL. 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. Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services. Bottom line:Illinois never won a national championship, but the Illini had two of the most iconic players in NFL history. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Half the players on NFL rosters are from just seven states, with Ohio being among the top producers of pro football talent. 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 . 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. Youd probably expect huge numbers from the likes of Texas, California and Pennsylvania, but when you take into account population, it completely changes the outlook, Diallo said. Since 1936, 788 NFL players have come from Mississippi. But Texas surpassed the Golden State in the 2000s with 25 quarterbacks (to California's 22), and they are tied with eight in the 2010s. Nebraska,. Alabama, Ohio State, and LSU have been at the forefront of the supply chain of great talent for the NFL. Bledsoe, the No. In Ohio, Cuyahoga County alone is the birthplace of 17 players. A cleveland.com review of opening week. 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. U.S. News rank: 18 (tie), National Universities. But Michigan also has struggled when it comes to skill position players in the NFL. Many may not think of the Tar Heel State as a football-dominant state, but they sure know how to produce top-talent. The sheer size of California and the number of universities within it has propelled the state to #2 on the list. 3 is Georgia (one in 78,761). Here is an in-depth look at the top five states. Coming in at second for most NFL players on Week 1 rosters is Texas. That is more than 30 percent of all active players listed Pro-Football-Reference.com. And in 2018 and 2019, one out of four quarterbacks who started Week 1 hailed from the Lone Star State. necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. These high schools have produced the most NFL players. 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. We prefer Author Name, Mississippi Today in the byline. 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