St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has most NFL players of any U.S. high school

By Steve Alic | Posted 9/24/2015

St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 15 players tops the list of high schools with the most players on 2015 NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters.

“My time at St. Thomas was great. St. Thomas gave me the opportunity to be able to chase my dreams like I always wanted to,” said Indianapolis rookie wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, who attended St. Thomas Aquinas. “Transferring there after my freshman year, I knew I could become what I wanted to be with that school.”

Dorsett played at the University of Miami and was selected 29th overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.

NFL players hail from 1,387 high schools in 47 states and the District of Columbia as well as eight countries and two U.S. territories – American Samoa and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The totals are based on the 1,695 men on Kickoff Weekend rosters.

High schools with most NFL players

High school, city, state

No.

Players

St. Thomas Aquinas
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

15

Geno Atkins, CIN; Giovani Bernard, CIN; Phillip Dorsett, IND; Marcus Gilbert, PIT; Rashad Greene, JAX; Leonard Hankerson, ATL; Bobby Hart, NYG; Gabe Holmes, OAK; Brandon Linder, JAX; Cody Riggs, TEN; Marcus Roberson, STL; Dezmen Southward, ATL; James White, NE; Major Wright, TB; Sam Young, JAX

Glenville High School
Cleveland, Ohio

6

Frank Clark, SEA; Davon Coleman, DAL; Jayrone Elliott, GB; Ted Ginn, Jr., CAR; Jonathan Newsome, IND; Donte Whitner, CLE

Miami Norland High School
Miami, Fla.

6

Dwayne Bowe, CLE; Antonio Brown, PIT; Ereck Flowers, NYG; Duke Johnson, CLE; Xavier Rhodes, MIN; Tourek Williams, SD

DeMatha Catholic High School
Hyattsville, Md.

5

Arie Kouandjio, WAS; Cyrus Kouandjio, BUF; Rodney McLeod, STL; Cameron Wake, MIA; Josh Wilson, DET

 

Fifteen high schools have four players each in the NFL this year. Thirty-nine schools boast three NFL players, while 157 have two players apiece.

 

The following high schools each have four NFL players:

  • Atlantic Community, Delray Beach, Fla.
  • Notre Dame, Los Angeles, Calif.
  • Centerville, Ohio
  • Oaks Christian, Westlake Village, Calif.
  • DeSoto, Texas
  • Robert E. Lee, Tyler, Texas
  • Elder, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Servite, Anaheim, Calif.
  • Helix, La Mesa, Calif.
  • Skyline, Dallas, Texas
  • Junipero Serra, San Mateo, Calif.
  • Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Ga.
  • Long Beach Polytechnic, Long Beach, Calif.
  • Tucker, Ga.
  • Miami Central, Miami, Fla.                

Number of high schools with three NFL players: 39

Number of high schools with two NFL players: 157

Number of high schools with one NFL player: 1,172

Florida tops the list of states with the most NFL players (204), followed by California (203) and Texas (181):

States with most NFL players:

  • Florida 204
  • California 203
  • Texas 181
  • Georgia 114
  • Ohio 78
  • Alabama 63
  • Louisiana 58
  • North Carolina 55
  • Pennsylvania 55
  • New Jersey 52
  • Michigan 49
  • South Carolina 47
  • Virginia 46
  • Maryland 35

Miami heads the list of hometowns with the most players (31), followed by Fort Lauderdale (20), Atlanta (16) and Houston (14):

Hometowns with most NFL players

  • Miami 31
  • Fort Lauderdale 20
  • Atlanta 16
  • Houston 14
  • New Orleans 13
  • Dallas 13
  • Cincinnati 12
  • Mobile 12
  • Columbus 11
  • Detroit 11
  • Cleveland 10
  • Jacksonville 10
  • Los Angeles 10
  • Philadelphia 10

Alabama, with one NFL player for every 75,869 residents, leads the list of NFL players per capita. Louisiana (one in 78,162) and Georgia (one in 84,979) round out the top three. The national average is one NFL player per 185,099 U.S. residents.

States with most NFL players per capita

State

Population*

Players

Players Per Capita

Alabama

4,779,736

63

1 NFL player per 75,869

Louisiana

4,533,372

58

1 NFL player per 78,162

Georgia

9,687,653

114

1 NFL player per 84,979

Florida

18,801,310

204

1 NFL player per 92,163

Mississippi

2,967,297

32

1 NFL player per 92,728

South Carolina

4,625,364

47

1 NFL player per 98,412

Montana

989,415

9

1 NFL player per 109,935

District of Columbia

601,723

5

1 NFL player per 120,345

Texas

25,145,561

181

1 NFL player per 138,926

Ohio

11,536,504

78

1 NFL player per 147,904

United States

308,745,538

1,668

1 NFL player per 185,099

*-Based on most recent published U.S. Census Data (2010).

The United States territory of American Samoa has two NFL players: Cincinnati DT Domata Peko and Atlanta DT Paul Soliai.

NOTE: To obtain a complete list of NFL players’ high schools, states and hometowns, visit www.nflmedia.com.

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