Some colleges excel at producing Fortune 500 CEOs. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images). had produced 63 NFL players, the most among the nation . 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. We believe that an informed Mississippi is a better Mississippi. Now, Warner's name is synonymous with football in the United States, and Stanford has had a legacy of great passers who went on to shine in the NFL. Weve looked at the top states for producing NFL players, but how about the most successful schools within those states? Nearly 900 players came from the USC and UCLA campuses (separated by just 11 miles), but the majority of those are singing "Fight On.". Heck, it doesnt even finish in the top two in its own division thanks to the two participants of "The Game" beating them out. It's no surprise the schools that dominate on Saturdays see their alumni playing on Sundays. Subscribe to get the latest insight from Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay and all of our experts heading into the NFL draft, plus thousands of your favorite sporting events. 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. And where does the 2021 NFL draft class of quarterbacks come from? This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. That's reflective of Arizona's NFL history, which includes longtime backup Mike Pagel. 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. 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. 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. - 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. Not only have they sent the most players to the league, but they also have sent the most players to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (14), which is perhaps an even better measure of the talent produced by a program. Historically, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania have been hotbeds for football talent. Bottom line:Wisconsin has the most NFL players of any school to never win a national championship their highest season-ending finish was No. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelors in journalism, Rick has worked for the Monroe (La.) Since 1936, when the NFL began to keep accurate roster records, Mississippi has produced 788 NFL players. 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? 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. We are particularly interested in which colleges have been the most successful at sending players to the pros. 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). AV refers to approximate value and is PFRs attempt to quantify a players career value. Which ZIP code has produced the most NFL quarterbacks? Our site uses cookies to personalize content, to provide social media features/ads and to analyze site traffic. In Georgia, one NFL player is played for every 81,409 people, while in Florida, one is played for every 91,847 people. That is about 9% of the current active players in the league. Out of all colleges, Notre Dame has produced 521 players selected in the NFL draft. But one school often overlooked in this conversation is Arizona State. Rounding out the top five are USC (479), Ohio State (426), Penn State (359), and Nebraska (346). 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. accurate as of the publish date. Notre Dame - 495 2. Colleges with the most NFL players all time . Notre Dame, USC, and Ohio State have produced 400 or more NFL players in history. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. These five state's account for close to 50% of. Many of the schools on this list are poised to send another great class of rookies to the NFL next season. Colorado . 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. Meanwhile, the Magnolia State has plenty to celebrate when it comes to football or writers and entertainers, for that matter. North Carolina can claim 121 current NFL players in the league. 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. Action Network's list of the top 10 states with the most active NFL players is listed below. That is reflected by the Gators having the fifth-most active players in the NFL despite being outside the top 10 in total players. following organizations: Whoops! We support responsible gambling. 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. Stay up to date with what you want to know. But the Texas total computes to only 8.5 players per 100,000, about one-third of what Mississippi has produced. The Cornhuskers have won more games against Power 5 opponents than any other school in history, and their dominance stretches from the early 20th century all the way to the 1990s. Nevertheless, with names like Bo Jackson, Ronnie Brown, and Stephen Davis, the Tigers have been a football factory at producing NFL running backs. Florida ranked third with 149. You have to credit Mississippi Today. Once we started looking through historic roster data for various NFL teams, we really didnt want to stop. 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. When you factor in population, the state produces 26.6 pro football players for every 100,000 people. Only Purdue (676), Oregon (687) and Arkansas (706) have fewer NFL touchdowns. The higher the AV, the greater the career he had. So we set out to determine what state produces the most NFL players. 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. We also looked at career length to find which colleges players have the longest average careers on different NFL teams. Rod Woodson already has a gold jacket and is the greatest Purdue football alum not named Brees. Pennsylvania - 443.4 According to Pro Football Reference, Arizona has produced 19 NFL quarterbacks, eighth most in the country, but it has the lowest percentage of starts (55%) among states with at least 400 games . Thanks to a slew of legendary coaches and a tradition . 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. 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. They often get those TV slots since their players will be playing in the NFL in a few years. Alabama rounds out the top 5 with 109 active NFL players. Despite that, Washington has attracted many of the top players in the nation and its reach goes beyond its Seattle campus. The NFLs all-time leading receiver and touchdown scorer is Jerry Rice, from Crawford and Mississippi Valley State. In the college game, Tennessee has fallen off over the last 20 years, recording just two top-10 finish over that span. The Penn State Nittany Lions, who began play in 1889, are among the most storied programs in . The remaining seven states to crack the top 10 are Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Carolina and New Jersey. Penn State - 359 5. Mississippi State has no former players the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 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 . And now, theres even data that would appear to back it up. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. They are followed by Florida, Texas, Georgia and then Ohio. 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. Another amazing fact: Jackson State, alone, has produced four Hall of Famers, three of them native Mississippians. 1. Bottom line:Pittsburgh has just six Top 25 finishes in the last 35 years and hasnt won more than 10 games since 1981. Can you name the seven states that have not produced an NFL quarterback? Quarterbacks taken ahead of Fouts that year include Bert Jones (Baltimore Colts), Gary Huff (Chicago Bears), Ron Jaworski (Los Angeles Rams), Gary Keithley (St. Louis Cardinals) and Joe Ferguson (Buffalo Bills). We do not sell or share your information with anyone. Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports shared a chart on Twitter on Thursday that breaks down which states have the most NFL players per capita. Bottom line: Purdue is one of the oldest college football programs. What state produces the most NFL players header image. Or should. But in recent years, the states that are football factories has shifted a little. 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 We're dedicated to keeping Mississippians informed with our thorough reporting. 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. 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. The captain of Oregon's all-time NFL team is Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, a third-round pick (No. 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. We just dont have available stats on the authors and musicians. How 'bout them Cowboys? In the 1950s, 69 Spartans were drafted into the NFL, compared to just 59 from 2000 to 2019. That's the highest start percentage of any state with at least 400 games played. 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. Jones was a Razorback starter at offensive guard and co-captain when the team won the national title. Pennsylvania State University--University. The state of California has produced the most players in today's NFL. LSUs alums rank fifth all-time in touchdowns scored, with most of their best players lining up on the offensive side of the ball. Together these seven states are the birthplaces of 846 NFL players. 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. The content on this page is for informational purposes only. Walter Payton, from Columbia and Jackson State, is the NFLs second all-time leading rusher. 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. Ohio, a traditional Midwest football-mad state, is fifth on the list in terms of NFL players. Its highest touchdown scorer, Elroy Hirsch, found the end zone just 66 times. Some regions of the country, though, have become well known for regularly producing NFL-caliber talent. 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). 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! a proud member of the 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. Looking at the current NFL landscape, Action Network was able to identify several hot spots where top talent came from. Here is a breakdown of the states where the most active NFL players were born Sign up for notifications from Insider! In fact, those three states rank 1-2-3 all-time for states where NFL. And there are currently no players that were born in the state of Vermont. . This makes up 2.79% of the NFL. Alabama, Ohio State, and LSU have been at the forefront of the supply chain of great talent for the NFL. A bust is waiting for Brees in Canton. 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. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. 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). Bottom line:Perhaps the most impressive thing about the Buckeyes' NFL credentials is that they rank second in active players with 65. 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. These colleges have produced the most NFL players, and they have a track record of success on the gridiron. 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. Thats right, Mississippi, for its population, produces more pro football players than Texas, Florida, California and more than Louisiana and Alabama, as well. No. Heres how the rest of the list shakes out: The college football landscape is already taking shape for the 2022-23 season. After Georgia the drop-off is significant. With the 2021 NFL Draft now firmly in the rearview mirror, here's an updated look at the 25 schools with the most all-time NFL Draft picks. That Mississippi led all other states, said Diallo, was the part we found super interesting.. Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. 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. Newman had Peyton and Eli Manning, and Westlake's Drew Brees and Nick Foles also led world champions. A total of 721 quarterbacks have debuted and played at least one game in the NFL during the Super Bowl era (since 1966), and the Bayou State outperformed expectations the most in a study by ESPN and Pro Football Reference. We also identified the college football programs that sent the most players to the NFL within those states. With the 2020 season officially underway, CBS unveiled an incredible graphic that shows which states produce the most NFL players. Notre Dame and USC were actually tied for the most draft selections ever entering the 2021 draft with 511. 2 is Louisiana (one in 76,837) .. No. 1 overall pick in 1993, was one of four first-round picks from Washington and one of 12 taken within the first 100 selections. Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke dominated in the 1960s and '70s, and the Fighting Illinis success also is in yesteryear. The Sooners have only three Hall of Famers. 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. We know most people arent fans of the Arizona Cardinals, so we went ahead and made a similar graphic for every other team in the National Football League, which you can click through in the above slideshow. The most prolific quarterback state of the 2010s is Florida with nine, including Lamar Jackson and Teddy Bridgewater. 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). California and Texas are still at the top of the list. Brett Favre, from Kiln and Southern Miss, is No. These high schools have produced the most NFL players. No promotions available. But see who makes up the rest of the top 5 in the state: North Carolina has produced a surprising number of NFL players. Vinny Testaverde. 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. You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. Bottom line:Illinois never won a national championship, but the Illini had two of the most iconic players in NFL history. City of Miami, State of Florida, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Produce Most NFL Players Which state has 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. From there, we ranked which state currently has produced the most NFL players. 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. By Jackson. Mississippi averages 26.6 NFL players for every 100,000 citizens. Ohio State's Justin Fields was a five-star recruit at Harrison High. 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). 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. California is more than just Tom Brady, and the great state of Texas hasn't been so great when it comes to producing NFL QBs, according to our formula, which counts a player's home state as the one in which he finished his high school career. 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. 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. You could say it all started with the godfather of football, Pop Warner. While ranking 22nd in all-time NFL players, Auburn ranks 23rd in active players after ranking eighth in 2019, pointing to their recent struggles. Heres a breakdown of every states active NFL players. California - 460.6 Aaron Rodgers, Pleasant Valley (Chico) - 104.1 Tom Brady, Serra (San Mateo) - 96.4 Carson Palmer, Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) - 88.1 Jeff Garcia, Gilroy - 87.5 Alex Smith, Helix (La Mesa) - 84.5 2. second most all-time wins in college football history. Nick Saban has given NFL franchises 29 first-round picks during his time as Alabama's head coach Ohio State - 426 4. 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. 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. For the Cardinals, this means that Georgia Tech and Duke footballers last the longest with the franchise at nearly four seasons on average. 2 is Louisiana (one in 76,837) .. No. And some make NFL players. The data was analyzed through the lenses of number of quarterbacks, Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Super Bowl wins and NFL approximate value (AV). 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). These colleges have produced the most NFL players, and they have a track record of success on the gridiron. The one thing lacking from The Ohio States NFL resume is a great, or even good, or even above-average, quarterback. Bottom line:1980 was a landmark year for the Georgia Bulldogs football program as they claimed their first national championship while riding the legs of Herschel Walker. 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. 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. Still, they dont have decades of winning traditions, which is why they fall a little lower on this list than many might expect. While Washington D.C., which isnt a state, has the best ratio of any place, it is followed by six states that feature SEC schools. They grew up just 10 minutes from each other in Chicago and are universally known by their surnames: Butkus and Nitschke. Most touchdowns in NFL: Tony Gonzalez (111), Most games played in NFL: Tony Gonzalez (270). Please reload the page and try again. This college has also produced the second-most players in the 2021 season. Johnson was on that same Arkansas team in 1964 and played defensive end during his college days. 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? We also took the combined data we had gathered and made a slightly different graphic for the entire history of the NFL. Most touchdowns in NFL: Lance Alworth (87), Most games played in NFL: Jason Peters (238). 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. By continuing to navigate this site you are consenting to the collection of information via our use of cookies. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. In terms of schools that have produced the most NFL players all-time, Notre Dame just edged out USC for the top spot, with Ohio State joining those historic programs as the only ones to send more than 400 players to the NFL. More NFL players (199) graduated from Texas than any. This website does not fully support Internet Explorer. Highest AV in NFL: Randall McDaniel (129), Most touchdowns in NFL: Charley Taylor (90), Most games played in NFL: Terrell Suggs (244). 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. Most games played:Sebastian Janikowski (284). Here's a breakdown of the 10 states with the most NFL. 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. After all, our hometown Arizona Cardinals have the first overall pick! Switzer was a center, linebacker, and captain of the 1959 team that won the Southwest Conference and Gator Bowl. Jim Druckenmiller. 4 on the leagues all-time passing yardage list. The only thing missing from Alabamas NFL resume is a shutdown cornerback. Additionally, Miami wins the all-important Battle for Florida since it has more Pro Bowl selections (181) than Florida State (103) and Florida (89).