Dec 13, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota kisses the Heisman Trophy during a press conference at the New York Marriott Marquis after winning the Heisman Trophy. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Certain US states produce more great football players than others, but stars come from all over. We select the best college football player born in each state.
Sure, you can name some of the greatest players in college football history that hail from recruiting hotbeds like Texas, Florida, Ohio and California.
Dozens (if not hundreds) of players from those four states alone have been All-Americans, each boasts multiple Heisman Trophy winners, and you can make a solid case for several home-state players that could be considered among the best to ever play the game.
But stars can come from anywhere.
All-time greats Jonathan Ogden and Andrew Luck are among the best players born in Washington D.C..
And several of the best players of all-time were born outside U.S. borders, including Ted Hendricks (Guatemala), Terry Kinard (Germany), Bronko Nagurski (Canada), Robert Griffin III (Japan), Tim Tebow (Philippines), and Frank Sinkwich (Croatia), among others.
There have been Heisman winners from Kansas and Maryland, All-Americans from North Dakota, South Dakota and Connecticut, and players that impressed enough in college to become first round NFL Draft picks from Maine, Montana, and Wyoming.
You can probably guess the best player born in Hawai’i (Hint: he won the Heisman last year), and Georgia should be pretty obvious, but who is the best player born in Rhode Island, Vermont, Nevada or Delaware?
With that in mind, we take a look at the greatest college football player born in each state.
*Note: Statistics used in the pages that follow come from Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise stated. In some cases, stats from bowl games may be used that are not officially recognized by the NCAA.
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There have been many great college football players from the state of Alabama, but Bo Jackson was the best. In fact, Jackson is one of the greatest pure athletes of all-time, but before he became a Pro Bowl player in the NFL and a Major League Baseball All-Star, Bo played both football and baseball at Auburn.
Jackson starred from his very first game with the Tigers as a freshman in 1982, picking up 123 rushing yards and scoring two touchdowns in the season opener against Wake Forest. The Bessemer, Alabama native went on to gain 829 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 127 carries (6.5 yards per attempt), and was the focus in one of the most celebrated plays in Auburn football history – a soaring one-yard TD on fourth down in which he leapt over the offensive and defensive lines to seal a 23-22 victory in the Iron Bowl known as “Bo Over the Top.”
Jackson was even better as a sophomore, and racked up 1,213 rushing yards and 12 TDs in addition to 73 receiving yards and two touchdown catches. The performance made Jackson an All-American. Injuries limited Bo to just 475 yards and five scores as a junior, but Jackson emerged as the nation’s best player as a senior.
With 1,786 rushing yards on 278 attempts – which pushed his career mark to 6.6 yards per carry, which is still an SEC record – and 17 touchdowns, Jackson was once again an All-American and won the Heisman Trophy – joining former Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan as the only players from the Yellowhammer State to ever win the award. Jameis Winston became the third in 2013.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Alabama:
- Cornelius Bennett, LB, Alabama
- Harry Gilmer, HB, Alabama
- Lee Roy Jordan, LB/C, Alabama
- Ozzie Newsome, TE, Alabama
- Kenny Stabler, QB, Alabama
- Pat Sullivan, QB, Auburn
- Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
Next: Alaska
Alabama has a rich history of producing high school football players that go on to star in college and eventually the NFL. Three have even won the Heisman Trophy – college football’s greatest honor. Alaska has no such history.
The 49th state joined the union January 3, 1959, and the cold climate (including literally frozen tundra) isn’t ideal for football. Though Alaska is the largest state by total area (663,268 sqare miles), and has a longer coastline than the entire continental United States, it is the least densely populated state by far.
Fewer than 750,000 people live within its borders – which is fewer than all but two other states (ahead of only Vermont and Wyoming) – and close to half of those residents live in Anchorage and the surrounding metropolitan area.
One player that was born in Anchorage, and grew up to become a star player in college and the NFL, is Mark Schlereth. An offensive lineman at the University of Idaho, Schlereth helped the Vandals win 37 games in four seasons, including three Big Sky titles. In 1988, Idaho advanced to the NCAA Division 1-AA national semifinals, and Schlereth was named a second team All-American.
Schlereth was drafted in the tenth round of the 1989 NFL Draft by Washington, and played five seasons in the nation’s capital, which included a victory in Super Bowl XXVI and a Pro Bowl season in 1991. In 1995, he joined the Denver Broncos and helped the squad win back-to-back Super Bowl titles and earned his second Pro Bowl nod. Since retiring in 2001, Schlereth has worked in television and radio, most notably for ESPN.
Other Notable College Football Players From Alaska:
- Reggie Tongue (Born in Maryland, attended high school in Alaska), DB, Oregon State
- Travis Hall, DL, BYU
- Daryn Colledge, OL, Boise State
Next: Arizona
Arizona has produced its share of talented football players, though the best college career belongs to quarterback Rodney Peete. A three-yaear starter at USC, Peete finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1988 after leading the Trojans to a 10-2 overall record, including a perfect 8-0 mark in the Pac-10 to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl. USC began the season 10-0 and rose to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 before losing to No. 1 Notre Dame in the season finale and to No. 11 Michigan in Pasadena.
Peete completed 223 of 359 passes (62.1 percent) for the Trojans in 1988 for 2,812 yards and 18 touchdowns with 12 interceptions, and gained 68 rushing yards and five more TDs on the ground, which made him an All-American and the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year. The Mesa, Arizona native also won the Pop Warner Trophy and the Johnny Unitas Award, becoming the first USC quarterback ever to win the trophy given to the nation’s top quarterback.
In four seasons with the Trojans, Peete threw for 8,225 yards and 54 touchdowns and was intercepted 42 times. He also ran for 415 yards and scored 12 rushing touchdowns. After college, Peete was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 1989 NFL Draft and he played 15 years in the league.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Arizona:
- Trung Candidate, RB, Arizona
- Curley Culp, DT, Arizona State
- Na’il Diggs, LB, Ohio State
- Todd Heap, TE, Arizona State
- Darren Woodson, LB/DB, Arizona State
Next: Arkansas
Though often overshadowed by the talent found in nearby Louisiana and Texas, Arkansas has also produced many great college football players over the years. The best of the best is Keith Jackson, who starred in the mid-1980s for the Oklahoma Sooners, and is one of the greatest tight ends in college football history.
Jackson was born in Little Rock, and was one of the most highly sought after high school players in the 1984 recruiting class. He signed with Oklahoma, and started as a freshman, but because the Sooners ran a powerful triple-option offense out of the wishbone, Jackson had just 15 receptions for 223 yards and three touchdowns in his first season on campus.
However, Jackson emerged as one of the team’s best offensive weapons as a sophomore by snagging a career-high 22 passes and 566 receiving yards with three scores. He also gained 153 rushing yards and a TD on seven carries, and the Sooners won the national championship.
Though his statistics took a dip in his junior season, Jackson was named a consensus All-American for the first time in 1986. He recorded 414 receiving yards on 15 catches with a career-best five touchdowns and added 107 rushing yards and three more scores on the ground.
Jackson had 13 receptions for 358 yards and four TDs as a senior, and was named an All-American for the second time, which pushed his career totals to 65 receptions for 1,561 yards – an incredible 24.0 yards per catch for a tight end – and 15 touchdowns. He also gained 298 career rushing yards on just 21 carries (14.2 yards per attempt!) and scored four TDs on the ground.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Arkansas:
- Cortez Kennedy, DT, Miami
- Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
- Willie Roaf, OT, Louisiana Tech
- DeAngelo Williams, RB, Memphis
Next: California
Simply put, it would be impossible to name the greatest college football player ever born in California beyond a shadow of a doubt. Because it is the third largest state in the U.S. by land mass and the largest overall by population, there have been countless great players born in the Golden State.
Literally hundreds of California players have garnered All-American recognition over the years, and 14 have won the Heisman Trophy – which is more than any other state.
However, few were as great as Marcus Allen. Allen spent his first two seasons at USC playing behind another great running back and California native, Charles White, and then exploded onto the national scene as a junior with 1,563 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns on a nation-leading 354 carries. The San Diego native also led the Trojans with 30 catches for 231 receiving yards and another TD. But that performance was nothing compared to Allen’s senior campaign.
In 1981, Allen put together what was then the greatest season in college football history for a running back. Allen became the first player to ever run for more than 2,000 yards in a season and blew past that mark with 2,427 rushing yards on an eye-popping 433 carries. He also led the nation with 22 rushing touchdowns, 23 total touchdowns, and set 14 NCAA records, including an average of 212.9 rushing yards per game.
Nearly all of those records would fall seven years later, but Allen’s production still makes him a worthy contender for the greatest player ever born in California.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in California:
- Reggie Bush, RB, USC
- Glenn Davis, RB, Army
- Matt Leinart, QB, USC
- Troy Polamalu, DB, USC
- Jerry Robinson, LB, UCLA
- O.J. Simpson, RB, USC
- Eric Turner, DB, UCLA
- Charles White, RB, USC
- Ricky Williams, RB, Texas
- Roy Williams, DB, Oklahoma
Next: Colorado
California obviously produces tons of talent, but players born elsewhere can still migrate to the Golden State and make a big impact. One of them was LenDale White, who signed with the USC Trojans out of Littleton, Colorado, and starred for the Trojans during one of the most successful periods in the program’s history.
As a freshman in 2003, White gained 754 rushing yards and scored 13 touchdowns on the ground, and was on the receiving end of one TD pass while helping USC win a share of the national championship (the Trojans were voted No. 1 by the Associated Press, although LSU won the BCS title).
Playing the thunder to eventual Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush’s lightning, the 235-pound White rumbled to 1,103 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior and added two more TD grabs for the Trojans, who won the BCS National Championship in dominant fashion.
White’s best season came in 2005 when he led the nation with 24 rushing touchdowns and 26 total TDs, and piled up a career-best 1,302 rushing yards. With a loss to Texas in the Rose Bowl, USC fell just short of a third consecutive national championship, which gave the Trojans a 37-2 record in White’s three seasons with the program. He left for the NFL, and was selected in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Colorado:
- Andre Carter, DE, Cal
- Vincent Jackson, WR, Northern Colorado
- Matt Hasselbeck, QB, Boston College
- Aaron Smith, DE, Northern Colorado
- Brian Walker, S, Washington State
- Andre Woolfolk, DB, Oklahoma
Next: Connecticut
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
The University of Delaware has a longstanding history of college football success, and claims six national championships – the most recent being the 2003 NCAA Division 1-AA title – and the Fighting’ Blue Hens finished as the runner-up in the FCS in both 2007 and 2010.
However, the greatest college football player ever born in the state of Delaware played at Vanderbilt – a program on the opposite end of the success spectrum. The 1990s was a particularly forgettable decade in what is a largely forgettable football history for the Commodores, but linebacker Jamie Duncan was a star at Vandy from 1994 to 1997.
The Wilmington native recorded 425 tackles in his career, was named an All-American twice, and was selected as the SEC’s co-Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 (the first and only time a Vanderbilt defender has earned that honor) despite playing for a team that finished the season 3-8. Duncan’s best season was his junior year, in which he had 152 total tackles, six sacks, 14 tackles for a loss and forced five fumbles.
Following his successful collegiate career, Duncan was selected in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He spent seven seasons in the NFL with the Bucs, the St. Louis Rams and the Atlanta Falcons.
Other Notable College Football Players From Delaware:
- Luke Petitgout, OL, Notre Dame
- Randy White (went to high school in Delaware), DE, Maryland
- Tim Wilson, RB, Maryland
Next: Florida
Like California, it is nearly impossible to come to a consensus on the greatest college football player born in the state of Florida, but it would be difficult to say that Deion Sanders isn’t a worthy candidate.
Sanders is arguably the greatest cornerback in college football history, and earned consensus All-American honors at Florida State in 1987 and 1988 and was a third-team All-American in 1986. Across four seasons with the Seminoles, Sanders intercepted 14 passes and returned three of them for touchdowns – including a 100-yard return on his first career interception as a freshman in 1985.
As a senior, Sanders captured the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988, which is given annually to the nation’s top defensive back, during a season in which he picked off a career-high five passes and took two of them to the house.Also a standout punt returner, Sanders also scored three special teams touchdowns during his collegiate career. Florida State retired his No. 2 jersey in 1995, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Sanders was selected No. 5 overall in the 1989 NFL Draft and played 14 seasons in the NFL in which he made eight Pro Bowls, won two Super Bowls, recorded 53 interceptions and scored 22 touchdowns. He was also elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
An incredible pure athlete, Sanders also excelled on the baseball field. A 30th round selection in the 1988 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees, Sanders made his big league debut in 1989 and played a total of nine seasons in the Major Leagues.
Other Notable College Football Players Florida:
- Michael Barrow, LB, Miami
- Anthony Carter, WR, Michigan
- Tommie Frazier, QB, Nebraska
- Marvin Jones, LB, Florida State
- Warren Sapp, DT, Miami
- Steve Spurrier, QB, Florida
- Derrick Thomas, LB, Alabama
- Danny Wuerffel, QB, Florida
- Jack Youngblood, LB, Florida
Next: Georgia
Georgia has also produced a large number of great college football players, including four Heisman Trophy winners. However, there is no debate when it comes to the greatest player ever to hail from the Peach State.
A native of Wrightsville, Georgia, Herschel Walker put together the greatest three-year career ever for a college football running back. In just 33 games, Walker ran for 5,259 yards, which comes to an average of 159.4 per contest. He averaged 1,753 yards per season and scored a total of 49 touchdowns while earning All-American honors in 1980 (when he helped the Bulldogs win the national championship as a freshman), 1981 and 1982 (when he won the Heisman Trophy).
Walker finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting as a true freshman, ranked second as a sophomore, and won the award as a senior to become the first and only player in college football history to finish in the top three in each of his three collegiate seasons.
Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders receive more attention as dual-sport athletes because both played Major League Baseball, but Walker was an All-American sprinter at Georgia and competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in the two-man bobsled. He also played 16 years of professional football in the USFL and NFL and even fought professionally in two MMA bouts.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Georgia:
- Champ Bailey, CB, Georgia
- Jim Brown, RB, Syracuse
- Kevin Butler, K, Georgia
- Ray Guy, P, Southern Miss
- John Hannah, OL, Alabama
- Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech
- Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
- Jim Parker, OL, Ohio State
- David Pollack, DL, Georgia
- George Rogers, RB, South Carolina
- Charlie Ward, QB, Florida State
Next: Hawaii
Jan 12, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) throws during the first quarter in the 2015 CFP National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium. Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Oregon Ducks 42-20. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Hawai’i ranks No. 43 among the 50 United States in land area, and No. 40 in population. Located 2,390 miles from the US mainland, the 50th state was long considered off the beaten path for most college football programs. The University of Hawai’i has had intermittent success on the gridiron, and several Pac-10/Pac-12 schools have recruited the islands heavily over the years (with offensive and defensive linemen often being the primary focus), but Hawai’i also produced a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback in Marcus Mariota.
Lightly recruited out of Honolulu, Mariota emerged as a star as a redshirt freshman at the University of Oregon, where he threw for 2,677 yards and 32 touchdowns with six interceptions and gained 752 rushing yards and five rushing TDs, and also scored on a touchdown catch and led the Ducks to a 12-1 record and a No. 2 final ranking in the AP Top 25. As a sophomore, Mariota improved his passing numbers to 3,665 yards and 31 TDs with four interceptions, and held steady with 715 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
In his third season as a starter, Mariota led Oregon to a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game following a 12-1 regular season that included a victory in the Pac-12 Championship Game, and a victory over Florida State in the semifinals. Mariota won the Heisman in a landslide and finished with 4,454 passing yards and 42 TD passes with just four interceptions, and added 770 rushing yards and 15 scores, as well as a 27-yard TD catch.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Hawai’i:
- Timmy Chang, QB, Hawai’i
- Olin Kreutz, OL, Washington
- Vince Manuwai, OL, Hawai’i
- Mantei T’eo, LB, Notre Dame
- Mark Tuinei, OL, UCLA/Hawai’i
- Kimo von Oelhoffen, DL, Hawai’i/Boise State
Next: Idaho
The great state of Idaho has made a big impact on the college football landscape over the last two decades because of the rise of the Boise State program, which has finished ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams by the Associated Press ten times since 2002, including top ten finishes in 2006, 2009, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The Broncos have certainly relied on in-state talent as part of their rise, but many of the best Idahoans to play college football chose to play elsewhere.
A native of Boise, Jake Plummer left the state in 1993 (three years before Boise State rose to the NCAA Division 1-A level) to play for the Arizona State Sun Devils. Plummer appeared in nine games as a freshman, in which he threw for 1,650 yards and nine touchdowns and seven interceptions, and followed with slightly better production as a sophomore (2,179 passing yards, 15 TD, 9 INT) and a junior (2,222 passing yards, 17 TD, 9 INT), before becoming a household name as a senior in 1996.
After directing Arizona State to records of 6-5, 3-8 and 6-5 in his first three seasons, Plummer and the Sun Devils took the college football world by storm in ’96 when they upset No. 1-ranked, two-time defending national champion Nebraska 19-0. Arizona State rolled to an 11-1 record, with a 20-17 loss to Ohio State being the only blemish on a Pac-10 Championship season that nearly resulted in a national title.
Plummer finished third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy following a season in which he threw for 2,575 yards and 23 TDs with nine interceptions, and added three rushing touchdowns and even a TD grab.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Idaho:
- Jordan Gross, OL, Utah
- Rich Moran, OL, San Diego State
- Rob Morris, LB, BYU
- Jerramy Stevens, TE, Washington
- Larry Wilson, DB, Utah
Next: Illinois
Many great college football players hail from Illinois as a whole, and Chicago in particular, but Dick Butkus is the greatest of them all. An argument could even be made for Butkus as the greatest football player of All-Time (he was ranked No. 10 all-time by NFL Network in 2010 and No. 19 among college football players by ESPN in 2007, after all).
A two-time All-American linebacker at the University of Illinois, Butkus also played center and fullback for the Fighting Illini. Butkus was named the Big Ten’s Most Valuable player and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1963, and also set a record with 23 tackles in a single game against Ohio State. The Illini also won the Big Ten that season and beat Washington 17-7 in the Rose Bowl, in which Butkus recorded an important interception.
As a senior, Butkus was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association as the national Player of the Year and he finished third in the Heisman race. Butkus was elected to the College football Hall of Fame in 1983, and since 1985 the best linebacker in college football has been awarded the Butkus Award.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Illinois:
- Alex Agase, OL/LB, Illinois/Purdue
- Otto Graham, QB, Northwestern
- Howard Griffith, RB, Illinois
- Napoleon Harris, LB, Northwestern
- Rodney Harrison, DB, Western Illinois
- Dana Howard, LB, Illinois
- John Lynch, DB, Stanford
- Russell Maryland, DL, Miami
- Donovan McNabb, QB, Syracuse
- Simeon Rice, DL, Illinois
- Shannon Sharpe, TE, Savannah State
- Michael Turner, RB, Northern Illinois
Next: Indiana
A standout high school athlete in Fort Wayne, Indiana that earned Parade and USA Today All-American honors as both a junior and senior, Rod Woodson chose to stay close to home to play college football and signed with Purdue in 1983.
Woodson saw playing time as a defensive back during his freshman season, and earned the first of his 11 career interceptions for the Boilermakers, three of which he returned for touchdowns. He had three interceptions as a sophomore, and helped Purdue finish 7-5 and earn a spot in the Peach Bowl, and picked off five passes as a junior. A speedster that was also a NCAA record holder in the 60 and 110 meter hurdles, Woodson also contributes on special teams as a punt returner and kick returner and amassed more than 1,700 return yards in his college career.
Purdue had only one winning season during Woodson’s four-year career, but he excelled on the field and earned All-American honors as a senior in 1986. That season, Woodson intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown, and also scored on a kick return. In an effort for the team to create more offense, Woodson also ran for 93 yards on 15 carries and caught seven passes for 129 yards.
After the season, Woodson was selected No. 10 overall in the 1987 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he went on to a Hall of Fame career that also included stops in San Francisco, Baltimore and Oakland.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Indiana:
- Tom Harmon, QB, Michigan
- Jeff George, QB, Purdue/Illinois
- Rex Grossman, QB, Florida
- Kevin Hardy, LB, Illinois
- Alex Karras, DL, Iowa
- Anthony Thompson, RB, Indiana
- Troy Walters, WR, Stanford
- Eugene Wilson, DB, Illinois
Next: Iowa
Choosing the greatest college football player born in Iowa was one of the most difficult decisions of this exercise. Two Iowans have won the Heisman Trophy (Jay Berwanger in 1935, the first year of the award, and Nile Kinnick four years later), and many players have had successful careers with in-state programs Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa, as well as programs across the country ranging from Cal to Georgia.
However, there is something very unique about Chad Hennings’ career on the football field – both in college and afterwards – that deserves special recognition.
A standout high school player in Van Horne, Iowa, Hennings received many scholarship offers from schools across the country before deciding to sign with the United States Air Force Academy. Originally a tight end, Hennings switched to defensive line prior to his sophomore season in 1985, in which he played a key role on the greatest Air Force team of all-time. The Falcons went 12-1, beat Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl, and finished ranked No. 5 in the nation in the coaches poll.
Hennings became an All-WAC performer as a junior in 1986, but exploded onto the national scene as a senior in 1987. That year the Elberon native recorded 24 sacks, was named a consensus All-American and won the Outland Trophy. A standout in the classroom as well, Hennings was named the WAC’s top scholar-athlete in 1987 and earned a spot on the Academic All-WAC team for the third time.
After graduation, Hennings began serving an eight-year commitment in the United States Air Force, and was deployed for two tours of duty in the Persian Gulf. After the Gulf War ended, Hennings was able to forego his final four years of military commitment, and signed to play with the Dallas Cowboys, who had taken a flier on him in the 11th round of the 1988 NFL Draft.
Hennings played nine seasons with the Cowboys and was a member of three Super Bowl-winning teams.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Iowa:
- Tavian Banks, RB, Iowa
- Steve Bartkowski, QB, Cal
- Jay Berwanger, HB, Chicago
- Dallas Clark, TE, Iowa
- Roger Craig, RB, Nebraska
- Jared DeVries, DE, Iowa
- Tim Dwight, WR, Iowa
- Chad Hennings, DL, Air Force
- Terry Hoage, DB, Georgia
- Nile Kinnick, HB, Iowa
- Darren Sproles, RB, Kansas State
- Kyle Vanden Bosch, Nebraska
Next: Kansas
No one in college football history has ever had a season like Wichita, Kansas native Barry Sanders in 1988. After spending his first two seasons at Oklahoma State second on the running back depth chart to Thurman Thomas and as a return man on special teams, Sanders exploded as the primary ball carrier for the Cowboys as a junior and set just about every NCAA rushing record in the book.
In only 11 games, Sanders amassed an NCAA record 2,628 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns, meaning he averaged a practically unbreakable 238.9 rushing yards per game. All of those records still stand as the best in Division I history, despite the fact that bowl game statistics didn’t yet count in the official NCAA record books (Sanders actually had 2,850 rushing yards and 42 TDs if you take his Holiday Bowl performance into account).
Understandably, Sanders earned All-American honors, won the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and the Heisman Trophy.
Because the college football season is getting longer and longer, Sanders’ records may one day be broken. But right now, it’s still the unquestioned all-time best performance by a running back, and it’s the biggest reason Sanders is the best college football player ever born in Kansas.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Kansas:
- Lynn Dickey, QB, Kansas State
- Jim Everett, QB, Purdue
- Kendall Gammon, TE, Pittsburg State
- Mark Haynes, DB, Colorado
- Billy Kilmer, QB, UCLA
- Ron Kramer, E, Michigan
- Terrence Newman, DB, Kansas State
- John Riggins, RB, Kansas
- Will Shields, OL, Nebraska
- Mark Simoneau, LB, Kansas State
- Mal Stevens, HB, Yale
Next: Kentucky
The numbers don’t jump out on the page, especially compared to the statistics high-powered offenses produce in today’s college football, but Notre Dame halfback Paul Horning was one of the greatest players ever in college football.
The 1956 Heisman Trophy winner, Hornung won the award despite playing for a disappointing Fighting Irish squad that finished with a 2-8 record. He led the team in both rushing and passing, and was the primary kick and punt returner, handled the punting duties and also played defense.
Hornung threw for 917 yards and three touchdowns in 1956, and was intercepted 13 times, but also added 420 rushing yards and six touchdowns. As a junior in 1955, Hornung was named to the All-American team and finished second in the country with 1,337 total yards.
Yes, Hornung won the Heisman Trophy as a halfback at Notre Dame in 1956 and was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he had some stiff competition among the best college football players from the Bluegrass State.
Former Alabama tailback Shaun Alexander played for the Crimson Tide from 1996-99, and ran for 3,565 yards and 41 touchdowns in a four-year career. Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch rewrote the SEC record book in three years with the Wildcats, and several great offensive linemen hail from the state, including Alabama’s Fred Davis and UK’s Dermontti Dawson.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Kentucky:
- Shaun Alexander, RB, Alabama
- Tim Couch, QB, Kentucky
- Fred Davis, OL, Alabama
- Dermontti Dawson, OL, Kentucky
- Cris Dishman, DB, Purdue
- Paul Hornung, HB, Notre Dame
- Phil Simms, QB, Morehead State
Next: Louisiana
Louisiana ranks No. 31 in land mass and No. 25 in population, but is one of the most talent-rich states in the nation when it comes to producing college football players. The list of All-Americans is long, but one name stands out above the rest as the best: former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning.
The son of former New Orleans Saints and Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning, Peyton Manning made a surprising decision to attend the University of Tennessee. He didn’t earn the starting QB job for the Vols right away, but emerged as the starter midway through his true freshman season in 1994 and threw for 1,141 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.
In his first full year as a starter, Manning accounted for 2,954 passing yards and 22 touchdowns (as well as five rushing TDs) and only threw four interceptions and led Tennessee to an 11-1 record and a No. 2 final ranking in the AP Top 25. As a junior, Manning surpassed 3,000 passing yards for the first time with 3,287 yards and 20 touchdowns, but was intercepted 12 times. The Vols finished 10-2 and fell short of Florida in the SEC East.
Surprisingly, Manning returned to Knoxville for his senior season, and finally led Tennessee to the SEC Championship in 1997. That year, he completed 287 of 477 pass attempts (60.2 percent – the fourth year in a row he completed more than 60 percent of his passes) for 3,819 yards and 36 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.
Manning won the Davey O’Brien Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the Maxwell Award, was named the SEC player of the Year and a consensus All-American, and finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Louisiana:
- Eric Bieniemy, RB, Colorado
- Terry Bradshaw, QB, Louisiana Tech
- Alan Faneca, OL, LSU
- Marshall Faulk, RB, San Diego State
- Matt Forte, RB, Tulane
- Dalton Hilliard, WR, LSU
- Bradie James, LB, LSU
- Charlie Joiner, WR, Grambling State
- Bert Jones, QB, LSU
- Eli Manning, QB, Ole Miss
- Brian Mitchell, QB, Louisiana-Lafayette
- Ed Reed, DB, Miami
- Josh Reed, WR, LSU
- Doug Williams, QB, Grambling State
Next: Maine
The great state of Maine is anything but a football hotbed. Located farther north than any of the continental United States, surrounded on three sides by Canada, and with a population that ranks No. 41 out of 50, Maine has just one Division I college football program (the University of Maine), and none that play in the FBS. Nevertheless, the Pine Tree State has produced several great college football players.
The best of the bunch is Al Harris, who was was born in Bangor, attended high school in Hawaii and landed at Arizona State, where he was part of the 12-0 team that finished No. 2 in the country in 1975. Harris became an All-American defensive lineman in 1978 – the first season in which the Sun Devils played in the Pac-10 after transitioning from the WAC.
In fact, Harris was the first unanimous All-American selection in Arizona State history and earned the honor on the strength of 19 sacks, which ranks second on the school’s all-time list. Harris was a finalist for the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award.
After college, Harris was drafted in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. Harris was an important member of a punishing Chicago defensive line in the 1980s, but missed the historic 1985 Super Bowl-winning season because of a contract dispute. Harris played for the Bears until 1988, then spent two years with the Philadelphia Eagles before retiring.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Maine:
- Chester Bulger, OL, Auburn
- John Bunting, LB, North Carolina
- Stan Hindman, DL, Ole Miss
- John Huard, LB, Maine
- Will Montgomery, OL, Virginia Tech
Next: Maryland
There was a time when it was very rare for quarterbacks to win the Heisman Trophy. In fact, when Boston College’s Doug Flutie won the award in 1984, it was the first time that a QB won the Heisman in 13 years, but Flutie put together an incredible season as a senior by passing for 3,634 yards and throwing 30 touchdowns with 13 interceptions to take home the hardware.
The 5-foot-9 signal caller was also an elusive scrambler, and in a time when running quarterbacks were rare, Flutie gained 379 yards on the ground with three rushing touchdowns.
BC finished the 1984 season 10-2. Flutie was a big reason for that success, and his “Hail Flutie” pass at the end of a 47-45 victory over Miami at the Orange Bowl is still considered one of the greatest plays in college football history. That win helped the Eagles secure a spot in the Cotton Bowl, where BC beat Houston 45-28, and it also helped Flutie win the Heisman Trophy in addition to the Davey O’Brien Award, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. He was also named a consensus All-American.
But Flutie was no one-year wonder. With 2,724 passing yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior, the Manchester, Maryland native finished third in the voting for the Heisman in 1983 behind Nebraska’s Mike Rozier and BYU’s Steve Young.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Maryland:
- Antonio Freeman, WR, Virginia Tech
- E.J. Henderson, LB, Maryland
- Calvin Hill, RB, Yale
- Shawne Merriman, LB, Maryland
- Keith Sims, OL, Iowa State
- Donell Woolford, DB, Clemson
Next: Massachusetts
Sep 19, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; A general view of the library building prior to the game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Believe it or not, many of the greatest college football players in history hailed from Massachusetts; it’s only that the heyday for the state occurred long ago when the game itself was in its infancy. With college football’s roots dating back to New England in the second half of the 19th Century, and with the game’s early powers such as Princeton, Yale and Harvard populated primarily with students from prestigious prep schools in the region, most of the early stars of the game were Massachusetts-born.
Unfortunately, in part because of the stark differences between football’s earliest days and now but also because of the many decades that have passed, many of those great players have been lost to history. And, with the popularity of the sport spreading elsewhere, fewer and fewer Bay Staters have become college football stars in recent years. Still, there are several legends worth celebrating.
One of the greatest was Notre Dame quarterback/single-wing tailback Angelo Bertelli, who led the Fighting Irish to a record of 24-3-3 in three years from 1941-43. Bertelli was named a consensus All-American in 1943 and won the Heisman Trophy (despite playing in only six games) on the strength of 512 passing yards and ten touchdowns with only four interceptions.
He also finished as the runner-up in 1941 when he threw for 1,027 yards and was sixth in the voting in 1942. Bertelli was the first overall pick in the 1944 NFL Draft and played three seasons in the league with the Los Angeles Done (1946) and Chicago Rockets (1947-48)
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Massachusetts:
- Joe Bellino, HB, Navy
- Eddie Casey, HB, Harvard
- Pete Kendall, OL, Boston College
- Myles Layne, HB, Dartmouth
- Howie Long, DL, Villanova
- Don McCauley, RB, North Carolina
- Swede Oberlander, QB, Dartmouth
- Tom Nalen, OL, Boston College
- Frank Varrichione, OL, Notre Dame
Next: Michigan
Nov 22, 2014; West Point, NY, USA; A general view of Michie Stadium between the Army Black Knights and the Fordham Rams. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Many great college football players hail from Michigan, though one of the best and most unique is Pete Dawkins, who was the third and final Heisman Trophy winner from Army. Dawkins accounted for 919 total yards (which ranked third in the country), scored six touchdowns for the Black Knights in 1958, and helped the team finish ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll with an 8-0-1 record. An incredible receiver, Dawkins averaged 30.7 yards per catch that year.
In his three years in West Point, Dawkins ran for 1,123 yards and scored 11 touchdowns on the ground and added 716 receiving yards with nine TD grabs. He also had 88 passing yards and another score through the air.
Of course, Dawkins’ impact reached far beyond his college football career. As Kieran Darcy of ESPN.com pointed out in 2011:
"Academically, Dawkins also was a superstar, winning a Rhodes Scholarship and going on to study philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford. Before that, he was Brigade Commander, president of his class, captain of the football team and a Star Man (in the top 5 percent of his class academically) — the only cadet in West Point history to hold all four honors at once. Following his time at Oxford, Dawkins served 24 years in the Army, winning two Bronze Stars for Valor in Vietnam and rising to the rank of Brigadier General. After his retirement from the armed forces in 1983, he entered the business world. He ran for a U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey as a Republican in 1988, but lost to incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg."
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Michigan:
- Jerome Bettis, RB, Notre Dame
- Jon Jansen, OL, Michigan
- Pepper Johnson, LB, Ohio State
- Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan
- Andre Rison, WR, Michigan State
- Jim Seymour, WR, Notre Dame
- Chester Taylor, RB, Toledo
- Tyrone Wheatley, RB, Michigan
- Reggie Williams, LB, Dartmouth
Next: Minnesota
Two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks were born in the state of Minnesota (Oregon State’s Terry Baker and Florida State’s Chris Weinke), and the state is also home to sack-master Terrell Suggs, who had 44 career sacks at Arizona State, but the greatest college football player from the Land of 10,000 Lakes is former Pitt wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who was the runner-up for the nation’s top individual honor in 2003.
After redshirting in 2001, Fitzgerald played only two seasons with the Panthers before entering the NFL Draft and becoming one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history, but they were memorable. In 2002, Fitzgerald caught a Big East-leading 69 passes and 12 touchdowns, and finished second in the league with 1,005 receiving yards.
As a sophomore, Fitzgerald exploded onto the national scene with 92 catches for a nation-leading 1,672 receiving yards (which currently ranks No. 25 all-time for a single-season) and 22 touchdowns (the third best performance ever at the time, and currently ranks No. 5 on the single-season list).
The performance made the Minneapolis native a unanimous All-American and he was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year and won both the Fred Biletnikoff Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. Fitzgerald missed out on the Heisman Trophy to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White in a very close vote.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Minnesota:
- Terry Baker, QB, Oregon State
- Marion Barber III, RB, Minnesota
- Matt Birk, OL, Harvard
- Tom Brown, DL, Minnesota
- Pudge Heffelfinger, OL, Yale
- Steve Kiner, LB, Tennessee
- Tom Shelvin, E, Yale
- Terrell Suggs, DE, Arizona State
- Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State
Next: Mississippi
Despite ranking just 31st in population, the state of Mississippi has produced several of the greatest football players ever to play the game – and arguably the greatest of all-time. Though he did it on a small level at Mississippi Valley State, Jerry Rice became one of the greatest receivers in college football history.
Rice recorded his first of three 1,000-yard seasons as a sophomore in 1982 with 66 receptions for 1,133 yards and nine touchdowns. The following season, Rice had 102 receptions – including an NCAA record 24 catches in a single game – for 1,450 receiving yards.
As a senior, Rice set records by catching 112 passes for 1,845 yards (which ranks No. 7 on the current Division I list) and 27 touchdowns (which is still the Division I record, having been tied by Troy Edwards in 1998) – including two games in which he caught five TD passes. He was named a consensus All-American and finished in the top ten of the Heisman Trophy voting. Rice caught 50 career TD passes, an NCAA record that stood until 2006.
After college, Rice was selected No. 16 overall in the 1985 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and went on to break every major receiving record in NFL history. After a Hall of Fame career, Rice was selected as the No. 1 Greatest Player of All-Time by NFL Network in 2010.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Mississippi:
- Terrell Buckley, DB, Florida State
- Billy Cannon, RB, LSU
- Brett Favre, QB, Southern Miss
- Hugh Green, DL, Pitt
- Archie Manning, QB, Ole Miss
- Steve McNair, QB, Alcorn State
- Walter Payton, RB, Jackson State
- Riley Smith, QB, Alabama
Next: Missouri
If not for injuries that held him to just 552 yards in his first three years at Oklahoma, St. Louis native Billy Sims may have gone down as one of the very best running backs in college football history. As it stands, thanks to two incredible season, including a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign in 1978, Sims is still the best player ever born in the state of Missouri (though he did go to high school in Texas).
Sims led the nation with 20 touchdowns in 1978 and racked up 1,762 rushing yards for the Sooners during his junior season, in which Oklahoma finished 11-1 and ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll, and became the sixth player in college football history to win the Heisman as a junior. His 1,896 total yards was an Oklahoma single-season record until Adrian Peterson broke it in 2004.
The following year, Sims again paced the nation with 22 touchdown runs, and gained 1,506 yards on the ground, but fell short of a second Heisman, and finished as the runner-up to USC’s Charles White and was a consensus All-American for the second time. With 4,023 career rushing yards, Sims left Norman as the school’s all-time leader. He also scored 51 career touchdowns, was the first overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Missouri:
- Bryan Cox, DL, Western Illinois
- Jamar Fletcher, DB, Wisconsin
- Clint Frank, HB, Yale
- Lawyer Milloy, DB, Washington
- Justin Smith, DE, Missouri
- Kellen Winslow, TE, Missouri
- Grant Wistrom, DL, Nebraska
Next: Montana
Montana does not have a college football program that plays at the FBS level, though both the University of Montana and Montana State have a rich football history in Division 1-AA/FCS and Carroll College is a longstanding NAIA powerhouse. The state, which ranks No. 4 in total land area but No. 44 in population hasn’t produced college football legends in large numbers, but there have been several players born in the Treasure State that have made a big impact.
The most noteworthy Montana native is former Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf, who exploded onto the national scene in 1997 when he led the nation in passing with 3,968 yards and tossed 34 touchdowns, ran for six more scores, and helped the Cougars win ten games, capture a share of the Pac-10 title, and play in the Rose Bowl. Leaf won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, was named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy – finishing behind Charles Woodson and Peyton Manning.
Under Leaf’s direction, Wazzu scored 40.2 points per game, which ranked second in the country, and they nearly upset Woodson’s Wolverines in the Rose Bowl, but lost 21-16 to the co-national champions. Listed at a prototypical 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, the Great Falls native was selected No. 2 overall int he 1998 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers.
Unfortunately, Leaf did not live up to high expectations in the NFL, played only four seasons, and has suffered through various legal troubles since leaving the league in 2002.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Montana:
- John Friesz, QB, Idaho
- Tim Hauck, DB, Montana
- Wayne Hawkins, OL, Pacific
- Jerry Kramer, OL, Idaho
- Matt Miller, WR, Boise State
Next: Nebraska
The football program at the University of Nebraska has a longstanding tradition of college football excellence, and the Cornhuskers emerged as one of the nation’s powerhouse programs in the early 1970s under head coach Bob Devaney, who led the team to national championships in 1970 and 1971 before Tom Osborne took over in 1973.
One of the players at the forefront of Nebraska’s glory years was Johnny Rodgers, who played running back, receiver and special teams for the Huskers from 1970-72 and amassed what was then an NCAA record 5,586 total yards. He was also responsible for eight touchdowns on special teams – seven punt returns and a kick return.
A native of Omaha, Rodgers ran for 219 yards and two touchdowns and added 710 receiving yards and seven TDs as a sophomore in 1970. Rodgers earned All-American honors the following season with 269 rushing yards and two scores as well as 956 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on 57 catches. In 1972, Rodgers won the Heisman Trophy and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and was a consensus All-American for the second time.
His unbelievable production that season included 348 rushing yards and ten touchdowns on the ground, 1,013 receiving yards and nine TD receptions and a 52-yard touchdown pass. Arguably the greatest game Rodgers ever played didn’t even count in his official statistics. In the 1973 Orange Bowl against Notre Dame, Rodgers scored three rushing touchdowns, caught a 50-yard TD pass and threw a 54-yard TD pass in a 40-6 victory.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Nebraska:
- Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
- Ahmad Green, RB, Nebraska
- Chris Kelsay, DL, Nebraska
- Dave Rimington, OL, Nebraska
- Dean Steinkuhler, OL, Nebraska
- Zach Wiegert, OL, Nebraska
Next: Nevada
Despite being one of the fastest growing major metropolitan areas in the United States, Las Vegas was long overlooked by college football programs aiming to recruit top-flight talent. However, the area, and Nevada as a whole, has become more of a recruiting hot spot since Steven Jackson signed with Oregon State in 2001 and gained national attention as one of the best running backs of the early 2000s.
After contributing 435 yards of total offense and six touchdowns, plus a kick return TD, as a freshman, Jackson took over as the primary ball carrier for the Beavers as a sophomore and gained 1,690 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on 319 carries (5.3 yards per attempt). A terrific receiver out of the backfield, Jackson also gained 165 receiving yards and scored on two TD catches.
The ultra-durable Jackson was even better as a junior and led the nation with 350 carries, 394 touches and 22 total touchdowns. Jackson gained 1,545 yards and scored 19 touchdowns on the ground and added 44 receptions for 470 yards and had three TD grabs. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Jackson set an Oregon State single-season record with 2,015 yards of total offense before declaring for the NFL Draft. He was selected No. 24 overall by the St. Louis Rams and spent 11 seasons in the NFL.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Nevada:
- Chris Carr, DB, Boise State
- Harvey Dahl, OL, Nevada
- Andre Dyson, DB, Utah
- Tony Graziani, QB, Oregon
- Frank Hawkins, RB, Nevada
- Brian Kelly, DB, USC
- Eric Sanders, OL, Nevada
Next: New Hampshire
Despite not having a college football program in the NCAA’s top level since the split between Division I into 1-A and 1-AA prior to the 1978 season, the state of New Hampshire has still had great success on the gridiron. Dartmouth claims a football national championship from 1925, and the University of New Hampshire has appeared in the FCS playoffs 13 times since 1991, including trips to the national semifinals in both 2013 and 2014.
However, because the state ranks No. 46 in land area and No. 42 in population, New Hampshire is one of the smallest states in the union, and it’s therefore understandable that there is a small number of star players that were born in the Granite State.
Perhaps the greatest college football player ever born in New Hampshire is former UMass quarterback Greg Landry. A native of Nashua, Landry was a dual threat signal caller that led the Minutemen in passing in three seasons as a starter, but also led the team in rushing in 1965 and 1967. Under his direction, UMass won two Yankee Conference titles, and Landry played well enough for the Minutemen to be selected No. 11 overall in the 1968 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. Landry played 15 seasons in the NFL and two in the USFL and was selected as an All-Pro in 1971.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in New Hampshire:
- Chad Eaton, DL, Washington State
- Don Macek, OL, Boston College
- Joe Murphy, OL, Dartmouth
- Sherman White, DE, Cal
Next: New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey native Mike Rozier didn’t receive a lot of attention coming out of high school, and began his collegiate career at Coffeyville Junior College before catching the attention of the Nebraska coaching staff. Rozier arrived in Lincoln as a sophomore in 1981 and split carries with Roger Craig that season, gaining 943 rushing yards and five touchdowns – including a 93-yarder that offered a glimpse Rozier’s true talent.
As a junior in 1982, Rozier exploded for 1,689 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns and gained an average of 7.0 yards per carry in an All-American season while helping the Cornhuskers finish 12-1 with a No. 3 final ranking in the AP Poll. In 1983, Rozier won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award with 2,148 rushing yards, which was the second best ever at the time. Rozier broke the NCAA record with 29 rushing touchdowns and gained an incredible 7.8 yards per attempt as a senior.
The 1983 season was also one of the best ever for Nebraska, though the Cornhuskers came one point shy of a national championship with a 31-30 loss to Miami in the Orange Bowl, famously attempting a two-point conversion in the final minute of the game. We can only imagine how the game (and the following Miami football dynasty) would have turned out had Rozier not missed the second half of the game with an ankle injury.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in New Jersey:
- Joe Flacco, QB, Pitt/Delaware
- Irving Fryar, WR, Nebraska
- Franco Harris, RB, Penn State
- Ironhead Heyward, RB, Pitt
- Mark Ingram, Jr., RB, Alabama
- Raghib Ismail, WR, Notre Dame
- Jim Jeffcoat, DL, Arizona State
- Bryant McKinnie, OL, Miami
- Joe Theismann, QB, Notre Dame
- Richard Wood, LB, USC
- Danny Stubbs, DL, Miami
Next: New Mexico
The fifth largest state in the US in terms of land area, New Mexico is one of the least densely populated states in the union, ranking No. 36 in total population. Therefore, it is understandable that the Land of Enrichment hasn’t produced huge numbers of college football stars – but they did produce one of the very best to ever play the game: Ronnie Lott (and it should be noted that Washington-born Brian Urlacher, who attended high school in New Mexico and played his college ball with the Lobos, is also a legend in the state).
Born in Albuquerque, Lott moved to California at a young age and attended college at USC. Lott helped the Trojans win a share of the 1978 national championship and USC posted an 11-0-1 record and a No. 2 final ranking in the AP Poll in 1979, and recorded three interceptions in each season. While USC’s record took a dip in 1980, the team made it back to the Rose Bowl for the second consecutive year and Lott had his best individual season. He recorded eight interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and earned All-American recognition.
A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Lott was selected No. 8 overall in the 1981 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and went on to have a 15-year Hall of Fame career that included ten seasons in San Francisco, followed by stops with the Los Angeles Raiders, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in New Mexico:
- Hank Baskett, WR, New Mexico
- Ray Berry, LB, Baylor
- Norm Evans, OL, TCU
- Arian Foster, RB, Tennessee
- Aaron Graham, OL, Nebraska
- Tommy McDonald, WR, Oklahoma
- John Wooten, OL, Colorado
Next: New York
Despite being one of the most populated states in the country, New York has not produced a large number of star college football players in recent seasons compared to other recruiting hotbeds such as Florida, Texas, California and Georgia.
Of course, because college football was developed in nearby New Jersey, and many of the early powerhouse football programs were located in the northeast, there were many New Yorkers among the first All-Americans of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
And, over the years, the state has produced talented players such as Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde, and College Football Hall of Famers like Mark May and Art Monk, among others. However, lost in the shuffle between football’s earliest days and the stars of the 1980s was New York native and Cornell running back Ed Marinaro, who set an NCAA record with 4,715 rushing yards in just three seasons from 1969-71, which was one of 16 national records the great running back set during his collegiate career.
Because freshmen weren’t yet eligible to play varsity football, Marinaro’s first official action came as a sophomore, and he ran for 1,409 yards and 14 touchdowns, which he followed with 1,425 rushing yards and 12 TDs as a junior. In 1971, Marinaro led the nation (and set an NCAA record) with 1,881 rushing yards, which still ranks in the top 50 all-time for a single season. Mariano found the end zone 24 times as a senior, which pushed his career total to 50 rushing TDs, and made him an All-American and the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.
Marinaro’s production is unique because he played only nine game per season due to Ivy League scheduling rules, which means he averaged an incredible 174.6 rushing yards per game. Despite playing only 27 games across three seasons, Marinaro still ranks No. 35 on the Division I all-time rushing list.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in New York:
- Douglass Bomeisler, Yale
- Keith Bullock, LB, Syracuse
- Boomer Esiason, QB, Maryland
- D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Virginia
- Kevin Greene, LB, Auburn
- Mike Hart, RB Michigan
- Darryl Johnston, FB, Syracuse
- Mark May, OL, Pitt
- Art Monk, WR, Syracuse
- Vinny Testaverde, QB, Miami
Next: North Carolina
One of the most dominant defensive players in college football history, Wilson, North Carolina native Julius Peppers starred for his in-state Tar Heels from 1999-2001. A Freshman All-American as a redshirt freshman, Peppers led UNC with six sacks and ten tackles for loss and also recorded an interception, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.
Peppers led the nation with 15 sacks as a sophomore, which was one shy of Lawrence Taylor’s school record, and was recognized by multiple outlets as an All-American. He also scored two touchdowns – one on a fumble return and another on an interception return – and was responsible for three forced fumbles.
As a junior in 2001, Peppers recorded 9.5 sacks and intercepted three passes (which was more than any defensive lineman in the nation), one of which he returned for a touchdown. Peppers earned unanimous All-American honors, won the Bednarik Award as the nation’s best defensive player and the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman. In just three seasons, Peppers finished his career with a school-record 57 tackles for loss and finished second with 30.5 career sacks.
An incredible athlete that also played two seasons as a walk-on for the Tar Heels’ basketball team, Peppers was selected No. 2 overall by the Carolina Panthers in the 2002 NFL Draft.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in North Carolina:
- J.J. Arrington, RB, Cal
- Carl Eller, DL, Minnesota
- Greg Ellis, DL, North Carolina
- Roman Gabriel, QB, N.C. State
- Torry Holt, WR, N.C. State
- Leonard Little, LB, Tennessee
- Bruce Matthews, OL, USC
- Natrone Means, RB, North Carolina
- Carl Pickens, WR, Tennessee
- Jack Tatum, S, Ohio State
- Mario Williams, DL, N.C. State
Next: North Dakota
The great state of North Dakota has seen its fair share of college football success, most recently with the dominant four-year FCS national championship run by the North Dakota State Bison. NDSU won 12 Division II titles, and the University of North Dakota won a Division II national title in 2001 and was the runner-up in 2003, and both teams have relied on in-state players to achieve that success.
Still, you might not expect a North Dakota native to be featured on the Football Writers Association’s 75th Anniversary Team, but Minot-born Derek Abney’s incredible career as a return man for the Kentucky Wildcats earned him a spot among the greatest to ever play the game.
Abney, who attended high school in Wisconsin, was a wide receiver at UK and recorded 197 career receptions for 2,339 yards (which was the second most in school history at the end of his career) and 18 touchdowns across four seasons. However, his greatest success came on special teams, where he returned eight kicks for touchdowns, including an incredible six TD returns (two kickoffs and four punts) in 2002, which made him a consensus All-American.
Overall, Abney averaged 11.8 yards per return fielding 88 punts, and returned six for touchdowns. He added 2,315 kick return yards on 95 kickoffs and took two to the house, which combined with his production as a receiver and 160 rushing yards gave Abney the second most all-purpose yards in SEC history.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in North Dakota:
- Ronald Bradford, DB, Colorado
- Phil Hanson, DL, North Dakota State
- Andy Heck, OL, Notre Dame
- Jim Kleinsasser, FB, North Dakota
- Gary Larsen, DL, Concordia College
- David Logan, WR, Colorado
Next: Ohio
It’s is incredibly difficult to select the greatest Ohio native to ever play college football. And, this is probably going to make a lot of Ohio State fans mad, especially since former Buckeye running back Archie Griffin is the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in college football history and Orlando Pace is arguably the greatest offensive lineman to ever play the game (unbelievably, Pace finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1996!).
Plus, Navy’s Roger Staubach was voted the first-team quarterback on the FWAA 75th Anniversary team, but our nod for the greatest college football player born in the state of Ohio goes to a Michigan man – Charles Woodson.
Ohio has produced the second most Heisman Trophy winners of any state in the nation behind only California, and perhaps the most impressive of the bunch was Woodson’s, which the cornerback earned over Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf, Randy Moss, and Ricky Williams in 1997.
That season, Woodson intercepted seven passes for the national champion Wolverines, which brought his career total to 16 picks. He also caught 11 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, scored on a both a TD run and a punt return in one of the most well-rounded seasons ever for a college football player – and arguably the best all-around performance of the last half century.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Ohio:
- Dave Brown, DB, Michigan
- Howard Cassady, HB, Ohio State
- Randy Gradishar, LB, Ohio State
- Archie Griffin, RB, Ohio State
- John Hicks, OL, Ohio State
- Desmond Howard, WR, Michigan
- Vic Janowicz, HB, Ohio State
- Luke Kuechley, LB, Boston College
- Orlando Pace, OL, Ohio State
- Jim Richter, OL, N.C. State
- Chris Spielman, LB, Ohio State
- Roger Staubach, QB, Navy
Next: Oklahoma
Many great college football players were born in the state of Oklahoma, including Heisman Trophy winners Sam Bradford, Jason White and Steve Owens, all of whom starred for the in-state Sooners, as well as arguably the greatest pure athlete of all time, Jim Thorpe. However, our nod for the greatest player from the Sooner State is Brian Bosworth.
The Boz, as he was commonly called, was a wild-haired, controversial player whose career ended after he missed the 1987 Orange Bowl because of a positive steroids test and wore a T-shirt on the sidelines calling the NCAA the “National Communists Against Athletes” (a decision he later said he regretted on the ESPN 30 for 30 film Brian and the Boz). Bosworth, who was born in Oklahoma City but later moved to Texas, entered the NFL Supplemental Draft and eventually landed with the Seattle Seahawks, with whom he played only three seasons.
However, aside from he controversy, Bosworth was an incredible football player that collected 395 tackles in his three seasons, earned consensus All-American honors in 1985 and 1986 and won the Butkus Award, which is given to the nation’s top linebacker, in both seasons. As a junior, Bosworth finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. He was also voted to the All-Big 8 squad in all three seasons in which he played for the Sooners.
While Bosworth led the Sooners defense, Oklahoma went 31-4-1, won the league title each season and won the 1985 national championship. And, off the field, Bosworth was a standout student that earned Academic All-Conference honors three times and was an Academic All-American in 1986.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Oklahoma:
- Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
- Rick Bryan, DL, Oklahoma
- Kurt Burris, OL, Oklahoma
- Rocky Calmus, LB, Oklahoma
- Tony Casillas, DL, Oklahoma
- LeShon Johnson, RB, Northern Illinois
- Steve Largent, WR, Tulsa
- Kevin Lockett, WR, Kansas State
- Jeremy Shockey, TE, Miami
- Jim Thorpe, Carlisle
- Steve Owens, RB, Oklahoma
- Lee Roy Selmon, DL, Oklahoma
- Rashaun Woods, WR, Oklahoma State
- Jason White, QB, Oklahoma
Next: Oregon
One of the most dominant defensive linemen ever to play college football, Portland, Oregon native Ndamukong Suh put together one of the best single-season performances of all-time in 2009, which he recorded 85 tackles, 12 sacks, 28 quarterback hurries, 24 tackles for loss, ten pass breakups, three blocked kicks, and an interception. For his performance, Suh received the following honors:
- Associated Press College Player of the Year
- Heisman Trophy Finalist (No. 4 in the voting)
- Unanimous First-Team All-American
- Rotary Lombardi Award Winner
- Bronko Nagurski Trophy Winner
- Chuck Bednarik Award Winner
- Bill Willis Award Winner
- Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award Finalist
- Lott Trophy Finalist
- CBSSports.com National Defensive Player of the Year
- Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year
- Big 12 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year
- Guy Chamberlin Award Winner
- Nebraska Team MVP
- Nebraska Defensive MVP
- Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, FWAA National Player of the Week, Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week (vs. Missouri)
- Lott Trophy Impact Player of the Week (vs. Missouri, vs. Iowa State)
- Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
- Big 12 Commissioner’s Spring Academic Honor Roll
Suh was also a great player in 2008 when he was named to the First-Team All-Big 12 squad and an Honorable Mention All-American by multiple media outlets and was picked as a second-teamer by the league’s coaches. He had 76 tackles, including 7.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss and two interceptions, both of which he returned for TDs.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Oregon:
- Derek Anderson, QB, Oregon State
- Stan Brock, OL, Colorado
- Joey Harrington, QB, Oregon
- Neil Lomax, QB, Portland State
- Cade McNown, QB, UCLA
Next: Pennsylvania
A state that has produced a large number of talented college football players since the earliest days of the game, Pennsylvania’s greatest player is former Pitt running back Tony Dorsett, who set nearly every NCAA rushing record during his time with the Panthers.
Dorsett took full advantage of the NCAA rule change that allowed freshmen to compete on Saturdays, and ran for 1,686 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on a nation-leading 318 carries in his first collegiate season, and also led the nation with 1,777 yards from scrimmage.
The Rochester, Pennsylvania native added 1,004 rushing yards as a sophomore and 1,686 yards as a junior, and then exploded as a senior in 1976 for 2,150 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns on 370 carries. Dorsett won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award and was name an All-American, and the Panthers won the national championship with a 12-0 record.
With statistics added from bowl games, Dorsett had 6,526 career rushing yards, which stood as the NCAA Division I record until Ron Dayne broke it in 1999, and remains No. 2 on the all-time list. Dorsett also set a Division I record with 59 career rushing touchdowns, which currently ranks No. 8 all-time.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Pennsylvania:
- LaVar Arrington, LB, Penn State
- Chuck Bednarik, LB/C, Penn
- Fred Biletkikoff, WR, Florida State
- Mike Ditka, TE, Pitt
- Bill Fralic, OL, Pitt
- Eddie George, RB, Ohio State
- Red Grange, HB, Illinois
- Jack Ham, LB, Penn State
- Leon Hart, E, Notre Dame
- Dan Marino, QB, Pitt
- Joe Montana, QB, Notre Dame
Next: Rhode Island
With a total land area of 1,214 square miles, Rhode Island is the smallest state in the nation, and with a population just north of one million people, the Ocean State ranks No. 43 in total population. Also, there is no FBS football in Rhode Island. Therefore, the number of star college football players to hail from the state is relatively low, even when compared with others in the northeast.
However, former Boston College standout Will Blackmon was a standout on offense, defense and special teams during his four-year career with the Eagles. As a freshman in 2002, Blackmon was a cornerback and kick returner responsible for 630 kick return yards (22.5 average) and an interception.
Blackmon picked off four passes as a sophomore, and posted a career-high 922 kick return yards, but proved to be even more dynamic with the football in his hands as a junior with a 27.2-yard kick return average and returned his first kickoff for a touchdown. He also took over as BC’s primary punt returner and averaged 11.3 yards on 23 returns, including a TD, and added three interceptions.
Needing a spark on offense in 2005, Blackmon shifted to wide receiver for the Eagles and caught 51 passes for 763 yards and four touchdowns as a senior. He added 22.2 yards per kick return and 8.3 yards per punt return and helped Boston College win nine games for the third time in his four seasons in Chestnut Hill.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Rhode Island:
- Al Del Greco, K, Auburn
- Steve Furness, DL, Rhode Island
- Tom Mitchell, TE, Bucknell
Next: South Carolina
Nov 2, 2013; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (7) stands on the sidelines during a timeout against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks defeated the Bulldogs 34-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Largely recognized as the No. 1 high school player in the nation out of Rock Hill, South Carolina, Jadeveon Clowney signed with his home state Gamecocks in 2011 and made an immediate impact. Clooney started every game for South Carolina and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and a First-Team Freshman All-American, after setting an SEC freshman record with eight sacks. He also recorded 36 tackles, including 12 tackles for a loss, and forced five fumbles.
Clowney was even more dominant as a sophomore and was named a unanimous All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year after recording 13 sacks, which set a single-season school record, 54 tackles, 23.5 tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He also won the Ted Hendricks Award, which is given annually to the nation’s best defensive end, and finished sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
Heading into his junior season, after which he would be eligible for the NFL Draft, Clowney was considered a virtual lock to be the No. 1 overall pick (which raised the conversation that he should sit out), and many considered him to be the best legitimate chance for a defensive player to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson in 1997.
Under constant double- and triple-teams, in addition to injuries, Clowney’s production suffered (he recorded only three sacks), but South Carolina won 11 games for the third consecutive season to mark the best stretch in school history.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in South Carolina:
- John Abraham, DL, South Carolina
- Doc Blanchard, RB, Army
- Peter Boulware, LB, Florida State
- Robert Brooks, WR, South Carolina
- Courtney Brown, DL, Penn State
- Troy Brown, WR, Marshall
- Woody Dantzler, QB, Clemson
- A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
- William Perry, DL, Clemson
- Michael Dean Perry, DL, Clemson
- Jake Scott, S, Georgia
- Anthony Simmons, LB, Clemson
- George Webster, LB, Michigan State
Next: South Dakota
Like several states on our list, South Dakota is a lightly populated state (it ranks No. 46 overall with roughly 850,000 people) without an FBS football program. Therefore, it is understandable that few relatively few South Dakotans have gone on to highly celebrated college football careers.
Known more for his pro career with the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys, in which he was a five-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro and a three-time Super Bowl champion, Martin, South Dakota native Jay Novacek was a College Football Hall of Famer as a tight end at the University of Wyoming.
Even though the Cowboys largely employed a run-heavy wishbone offense during his time in Laramie, Novacek was on the receiving end of 83 passes and recorded 1,536 career receiving yards and ten touchdowns. His first action came in 1982, when Novacek’s 18 catches went for 288 yards and three touchdowns. Novacek added three more TD catches and also scored on a touchdown run the following season, and accounted for 504 receiving yards on 34 receptions and 42 rushing yards on two carries.
In 1984, Novacek earned All-WAC and consensus All-American honors with 33 catches for 745 yards (a tight end-record 22.0 yards per catch) and four touchdowns, which placed him in the top five in the high-flying WAC in receiving yards.
A well-rounded athlete, Novacek was also an All-American for the Wyoming track team, winning the WAC decathlon and setting a school record in decathlon points and in the pole jump.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in South Dakota:
- John Dutton, DL, Nebraska
- Adam Vinatieri, K, South Dakota State
Next: Tennessee
One of the greatest defensive ends in football history, Chattanooga, Tennessee native Reggie White starred at the University of Tennessee before embarking on a legendary professional career, and was elected to both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Known most as devastating pass rusher, White only recorded two sacks for the Vols as a freshman, but contributed 51 tackles, recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt. In 1981, White led Tennessee with eight sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss and blocked three extra point attempts. Hampered by injuries as a junior, White still managed to record seven sacks, which led the squad.
As a senior, White had the best season of his collegiate career and was named SEC Player of the Year and a consensus All-American by recording 100 total tackles and setting a school record with 15 sacks and nine attritional TFLs as well as an interception. White was also a finalist for the Lombardi Trophy and set a school record with four sacks in a game against The Citadel, which stood for more than 20 years.
After college, White played two seasons in the USFL before moving on to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1985. In 16 NFL seasons, the “Minister of Defense” recorded 198 sacks.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Tennessee:
- Doug Atkins, DL, Tennessee
- John Henderson, DL, Tennessee
- Claude Humphrey, DL, Tennessee State
- Barrett Jones, OL, Alabama
- Ed “Too Tall” Jones, DL, Tennessee State
- Lynn Swan, WR, USC
- Bill Wade, QB, Vanderbilt
- Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss
Next: Texas
It’s nearly impossible to designate one college football player as the best ever born in Texas, so we decided to choose between the two Texans voted to the First Team of the FWAA 75th Anniversary All-American Team: former Baylor linebacker Mike Singletary and Texas linebacker Tommy Nobis.
Because he won the Maxwell Award (given to the nation’s best overall player), the Outland Trophy, and finished seventh in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1965, and helped the Longhorns win the national championship in 1963, Nobis gets the edge.
In three seasons in Austin, Nobis was recognized on the All-Southwest Conference twice three times and was named an All-American twice – including a consensus All-America selection in 1965. He also started at guard on the Texas offensive line.
After his college career was over, Nobis became the first draft pick for the NFL’s expansion Atlanta Falcons in 1966. Nobis spent 11 seasons in Atlanta, was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of the NFL’s All Decade Team of the 1960s, but has yet to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is a member of the College Hall of Fame, and is widely recognized as one of the greatest linebackers ever. His No. 60 jersey is retired at Texas and Atlanta.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Texas:
- Tim Brown, WR, Notre Dame
- Earl Campbell, RB, Texas
- Eric Dickerson, RB, SMU
- Jerry Gray, DB, Texas
- John Kimbrough, QB, Texas A&M
- Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
- Davey O’Brien, QB, TCU
- Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma
- Jerry Sisemore, OL, Texas
- Bubba Smith, DL, Michigan State
- Jim Swink, HB, TCU
- Doak Walker, RB, SMU
- Vince Young, QB, Texas
Next: Utah
One of the most athletic quarterbacks of his generation, Salt Lake City native Steve Young took over as the starting quarterback at BYU as a junior in 1982, following in the footsteps of the great Jim McMahon.
Young struggled with his accuracy early in his career. As a sophomore understudy to McMahon, Young threw for 731 yards with six touchdowns, but only completed 50 percent of his passes and was intercepted six times. Young also gained 233 rushing yards on 53 carries in limited playing time.
As a junior, Young threw for 3,100 yards and completed 62.7 percent of his passes with 18 TDs, but also threw 18 interceptions. He did run for 407 yards and ten touchdowns, but the Cougars slumped to 8-4 after winning 11 games the previous season.
The lefty calmed down as a senior, and led BYU to an 11-1 record and a No. 7 final ranking in the AP Poll on the strength of a nation-leading 3,902 passing yards and 33 touchdown passes with just ten interceptions. Young also led the nation with 306 completions, a 71.3 percent completion percentage and a 168.5 QB rating, and added 444 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground.
The performance helped Young win WAC Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, and earned him the Davey O’Brien and Sammy Baugh Awards. Young was a consensus All-American and finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Utah:
- Carnell Lake, DB, UCLA
- Haloti Ngate, DL, Oregon
- Merlin Olsen, DL, Utah State
- Kyle Turley, OL, San Diego State
Next: Vermont
A starting guard on the undefeated 1986 Penn State national championship team, and a three-year starter for the Nittany Lions, Rutland, Vermont-born Steve Wisniewski was also selected as an All-American in both 1987 and 1988 by The Sporting News, which made him only the second Nittany Lions offensive linemen to be honored as an All-American in two separate seasons. He was also one of only two Penn State linemen to be designated as the team’s MVP.
After his college career, Wisniewski was selected in the second round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, but was then traded to the Los Angeles Raiders. Wisniewski played 13 seasons with the Raiders in Los Angeles and Oakland, and started all 206 of the games he played during his career, including a streak of 175 in a row.
“Wiz” was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times as a guard with the Raiders (1991-98 and 2000), and was a First-Team All-Pro selection in 1991 and 1992, a seven-time team captain, a member of the 50-Year All-Raiders team, and earned a spot on the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Vermont:
- David Ball, WR, New Hampshire
- Scott Curtis, LB, New Hampshire
- Jim Laird, Colgate
Next: Virginia
Some of the greatest players in college football history were born in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher Ron Dayne (who later moved to New Jersey), and North Carolina’s legendary pass rusher Lawrence Taylor, as well as Dre Bly, who was a two-time All-American for the Tar Heels. But the edge for the greatest college football player from Virginia goes to former Virginia Tech defensive end Bruce Smith.
A two-time All-American for the Hokies, Smith won the Outland Trophy in 1984. “The Sack Man” earned his nickname with 46 career sacks at Virginia Tech, which would rank among the best in NCAA history had sacks been an official statistic when Smith was terrorizing opposing offensive linemen. Smith was credited with 22 sacks as a junior in 1983.
After college, Smith was selected No. 1 overall in the 1985 NFL Draft and played nearly two decades in the league while racking up an NFL career record 200 career sacks. Smith was selected to 11 Pro Bowls, nine All-Pro teams, appeared in four Super Bowls and won various NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards in five different seasons. He is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Virginia:
- Ronde Barber, DB, Virginia
- Tiki Barber, RB, Virginia
- Dre Bly, DB, North Carolina
- Ahmad Brooks, LB, Virginia
- Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin
- Kenny Easley, DB, UCLA
- Lawrence Taylor, LB, North Carolina
Next: Washington
John Elway was born in Washington, and spent much of his early life following his father Jack’s college coaching career that included stops at Grays Harbor Community College, Montana, Washington State, Idaho, Cal State-Northridge and San Jose State.
After attending high school in California, Elway chose to attend Stanford University, where he became one of the greatest players in school history and a College Football Hall of Famer prior to a Hall of Fame career with the Denver Broncos, which included two Super Bowl titles.
At Stanford, Elway appeared in nine games as a freshman, and completed 50 of 96 pass attempts for 544 yards and six touchdowns with three interceptions. Elway was the full-time starter as a sophomore and threw for 2,889 yards and 27 TDs with only 11 interceptions and added four rushing scores, which earned him Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors, and posted similar numbers as a junior with 2,674 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and one TD on the ground.
Elway’s best year came during his senior campaign in 1982. Despite Stanford finishing with a 5-6 record (which gave the Cardinal three losing seasons in Elway’s four years on campus), Elway finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy on the strength of 3,242 passing yards and a nation-leading 24 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. Elway won the Pac-10 Player of the Year Award as well as the Sammy Baugh Trophy and was a consensus All-American.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Washington:
- Drew Bledsoe, QB, Washington State
- Mark Bruener, TE, Washington
- Corey Dillon, RB, Washington
- Steve Emtman, DL, Washington
- Gordon Hudson, TE, BYU
- Eric Metcalf, RB/WR, Texas
- Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
- Anthony Newman, DB, Oregon
- Marcus Trufant, DB, Washington State
- Brian Urlacher, LB, New Mexico
Next: West Virginia
Several great players were born in West (by God) Virginia, and the state is home to Nick Saban, who is arguably the best college football coach of this generation. However, there is no question that the greatest college football player born in West Virginia is Randy Moss.
Moss’ college career got off to a rocky start. He signed with Notre Dame, but was denied enrollment due to an off-field incident in high school, and landed at Florida State where he was forced to sit out a year because he was considered a transfer. Moss was eventually dismissed from Florida State, and made his way back to his home state and signed with Marshall.
The Thundering Herd was in its final season as a member of NCAA Division 1-A, which made Moss immediately eligible, and he dominated. The 6-foot-4 Rand native tied Jerry Rice’s NCAA record with 28 touchdown catches, and gained 1,709 receiving yards on 78 receptions while helping Marshall win the national championship.
Moss was even better as a sophomore, and exploded onto the national scene with a consensus All-American season in 1997. He caught 96 passes for a nation-leading 1,820 yards and 26 touchdowns and won the Biletnikoff Award and was also named MAC Offensive Player of the Year. He finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
Draft eligible because of the season he lost at Florida State, Moss declared for the NFL Draft and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round, and immediately set an NFL record for touchdown catches by a rookie (17), and later set the league record with 23 TDs. .
Other Notable College Football Players Born in West Virginia:
- Rich Braham, OL, West Virginia
- Marshall Goldberg, RB, Pitt
- Dennis Harrah, OL, Miami
- Curt Warner, RB, Penn State
Next: Wisconsin
Jan 1, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon (25) stiff arms Auburn Tigers defensive back Johnathan Ford (23) during the first half in the 2015 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The great state of Wisconsin is known for producing many great offensive and defensive linemen, but most of the great skill position players that choose to sign with the state’s only FBS program come from other parts of the country. However, the greatest player in Badger State history had one of the greatest seasons ever for the Badgers in 2014.
A native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, Melvin Gordon III ran for 2,587 yards – which ranks second on the single-season rushing list behind Barry Sanders’ incredible 1988 season – and scored 29 rushing touchdowns as a junior. Believe it or not, Gordon actually needed only 241 carries to break the 2,000-yard mark, which made him the fastest to 2,000 yards in college football history. He also broke the single-game rushing record with 408 yards in only three quarters against Nebraska (which was unfortunately broken again the very next week).
Gordon accounted for 2,740 total yards and scored 32 touchdowns in 2014, both of which led the nation. He won the Doak Walker Award, was selected as a unanimous All-American and was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy behind another player on our list, Marcus Mariota.
His incredible season capped off a strong career for Gordon that included 4,915 career rushing yards – an average of 109.2 per game over the course of his 45-game career.Gordon also scored 45 career rushing touchdowns before leaving for the NFL Draft.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Wisconsin:
- Alan Ameche, FB, Wisconsin
- John Anderson, LB, Michigan
- Jim Bakken, Wisconsin
- Michael Bennett, RB, Wisconsin
- Jim Leonhard, DB, Wisconsin
- Jim Otto, OL, Miami
- J.J. Watt, TE/DL, Central Michigan/Wisconsin
Next: Wyoming
Sep 19, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; A general view of renovations at Notre Dame Stadium prior to the game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Last but certainly not least (well, Wyoming actually is the least populated state in the U.S.), is Rock Springs, Wyoming native Jack Snow, who played wide receiver at Notre Dame from 1962-64 and earns the destination as the greatest football player born in Wyoming.
Snow earned consensus All-American honors for the Fighting Irish as a senior in 1964 by catching 60 passes for 1,114 yards and nine touchdowns, all of which were school records. He also also set a new school record with 217 receiving yards in a single game against Wisconsin. Snow’s performance earned him a top-five finish in the voting for the Heisman Trophy behind his teammate, quarterback John Huarte, and the 9-1 Irish finished No. 3 in the final AP Poll.
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Though he only caught 10 passes for 128 yards combined between his sophomore and junior seasons, Snow also set a Notre Dame school record with 1,242 career receiving yards. After his college career was over, Snow was drafted with the No. 8 overall pick in the 1965 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. Snow played with the Rams until 1975, and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1967. He also served as the team’s wide receivers coach in 1982, spent time with the team’s radio broadcast team and also acted in television and movies.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Wyoming:
- Adam Archuleta, DB, Arizona State
- Chris Cooley, TE, Utah State