Greatest college football player born in each state
Connecticut is the third smallest U.S. state in terms of land mass, and ranks No. 29 in population. The Constitution State has large metro areas, such as Hartford and Bridgeport, but once the balance of college football power shifted away from the northeast in the early and mid 20th Century, Connecticut stopped producing star players in large numbers.
However, Connecticut is home to one of the greatest defensive ends in college football history – Dwight Freeney – who recorded 17.5 sacks as a senior at Syracuse in 2001, and got to the quarterback 34 times in his four seasons with the Orange. His 2001 performance earned Freeney All-American honors and he even finished in the top ten of the Heisman Trophy voting that year before being selected No. 11 overall in the 2002 NFL Draft and beginning what is likely to be a Hall of Fame pro career.
Interestingly enough, the 6-foot-1 Freeney, who still holds the Connecticut high school record for sacks, wanted to attend school elsewhere.
“Penn State was No. 1 on my list,” Freeney told the LA Times in January 2015. “They were calling me, wanted me to come out. I came out to a visit and all of a sudden it was like, ‘Hmmm.’ All of the calls stopped. Then, they called me one day and said, ‘Sorry, but we had to stop recruiting you because you’re not tall enough to play defensive end.’ ”
Freeney’s story is common for players considered to be undersized, especially if they hail from smaller states, but the Hartford native has proven that overlooked players can bloom into one of the greatest ever to play the game.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Connecticut:
- Walter Camp, HB, Yale
- Floyd Little, RB, Syracuse
- Eugene Robinson, DB, Colgate
- Bill Romanowski, LB, Boston College
Next: Delaware