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NEWS RELEASE 9/16/16 Contact: Steve Alic, USA Football, [email protected] twitter.com/usafootball Jake Gellerman, NFL, [email protected]

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS HIGH SCHOOL OF FORT LAUDERDALE HAS MOST NFL PLAYERS; LEADS ALL STATES; TOPS HOMETOWNS

Saint Thomas Aquinas High School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), with nine players, tops the list of high schools with the most players on 2016 NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters, USA Football announced today.

“Playing at Aquinas was one of the best things that I could have ever done,” said center BRANDON LINDER. “Just the tradition of that place. Not even in football, but in life, the coaches made sure we excelled in class and off of the field as well. I’m very grateful to have gone there in high school and I’m proud to see so many alums in the league today.”

NFL players hail from 1,369 high schools in 47 states and the District of Columbia, nine countries and a U.S. territory (American Samoa). The totals are based on the 1,695 men on Kickoff Weekend rosters.

“I congratulate the high school coaches that have had the pleasure of molding young men who eventually achieved their dream of playing in the ,” said ROMAN OBEN, NFL senior director of youth and high school football. “More than one million high school players, coaches and parents around the country believe in the benefits of football participation, and we applaud and salute the entire high school football community for their contributions to the game we love.”

HIGH SCHOOLS WITH THE MOST NFL PLAYERS

High School, City, State Number NFL Players Saint Thomas Aquinas, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 9 Geno Atkins, CIN; Giovani Bernard, CIN; , IND; Marcus Gilbert, PIT; Rashad Greene, JAX; Bobby Hart, NYG; , LA; Brandon Linder, JAX; James White, NE Glades Central High School, Belle Glade, FL 6 , CAR; Travis Benjamin, SD; Jatavis Brown, SD; Cre’Von LeBlanc, CHI; Deonte Thompson, CHI; , OAK Colton High School, Colton California 5 Nat Berhe, NYG; Tyler Ervin, HOU; Jimmy Smith, BAL; Daniel Sorensen, KC; Shareece Wright, MIN DeSoto High School, DeSoto, TX 5 Tony Jerod-Eddie, SF; Von Miller, DEN; Jalen Mills. PHI; Marcus Murphy, NO; Zach Orr, BAL Glenville High School, Cleveland, OH 5 Willie Henry, BAL; Cardale Jones, BUF; Ted Ginn, CAR; Jay Elliott, GB; Frank Clark, SEA Miami Norland Senior High School, Miami, FL 5 , PIT; , NYG; , CLE; Xavier Rhodes, MIN; Tourek Williams, SD Miami Northwestern, Miami, FL 5 Artie Burns, PIT; , OAK; , TB; Eli Rogers, PIT; Sean Spence, TEN

Sixteen high schools have four players each in the NFL this year. Thirty schools boast three NFLers, while 185 have two players apiece:

High School, City, State NFL Players High School, City, State NFL Players Chandler, Chandler AZ 4 Miami Central, Miami, FL 4 Crenshaw, Los Angeles, CA 4 Peachtree Ridge, Suwanee, GA 4 De La Salle, Concord, CA 4 Piscataway, Piscataway, NJ 4 Dwyer, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 4 Serra, San Diego, CA 4 Elder, Cincinnati, OH 4 Servite, Anaheim, CA 4 Helix, La Mesa, CA 4 Stephenson, Stone Mountain, GA 4 Long Beach Polytechnic, Long Beach, CA 4 Vigor, Mobile, AL 4 Mansfield, Mansfield, TX 4 Woodland Hills, Pittsburgh, PA 4

Number of high schools with 3 NFL players: 30 Number of high schools with 2 NFL players: 185 Number of high schools with 1 NFL player: 1,131

HOME STATES: Florida tops the list of states with the most NFL players (202), followed by California (192) and Texas (187):

STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS

State NFL Players State NFL Players Florida 202 Louisiana 60 California 192 North Carolina 51 Texas 187 South Carolina 48 Georgia 103 New Jersey 47 Ohio 80 Michigan 45 Pennsylvania 65 Virginia 42 Alabama 62 Illinois 36

HOMETOWNS: Miami heads the list of hometowns with the most players (27), followed by Houston (18), Cincinnati (17) and New Orleans (15):

HOMETOWNS WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS

Hometown NFL Players Hometown NFL Players Miami 27 Philadelphia 12 Houston 18 Pittsburgh 11 Cincinnati 17 Atlanta 11 New Orleans 15 Columbus 10 Mobile 13 Cleveland 10 Dallas 13 Jacksonville 10 Fort Lauderdale 12 Washington, D.C. 10

NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA: The District of Columbia, with one NFL player for every 66,858 residents, leads the list of NFL players per capita. Louisiana (one in 75,556) and Alabama (one in 77,093) round out the top three. The national average is one NFL player per 184,656 U.S. residents.

STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA

State Population * NFL Players NFL Players Per Capita District of Columbia 601,723 9 1 NFL player per 66,858 people Louisiana 4,533,372 60 1 NFL player per 75,556 people Alabama 4,779,736 62 1 NFL player per 77,093 people Florida 18,801,310 202 1 NFL player per 93,076 people Georgia 9,687,653 103 1 NFL player per 94,055 people South Carolina 4,625,364 48 1 NFL player per 96,362 people Mississippi 2,967,297 29 1 NFL player per 102,321 people Delaware 897,934 7 1 NFL player per 128,276 people Texas 25,145,561 187 1 NFL player per 134,468 people Nebraska 1,826,341 13 1 NFL player per 140,488 people United States 308,745,538 1,672 1 NFL player per 184,656 people * Based on most recent published U.S. Census Data (2010).

NOTE: To obtain a complete list of NFL players’ high schools, states and hometowns, log on to www.nflcommunications.com.

About USA Football: USA Football (www.usafootball.com) evolves and grows the sport through innovative standards and best practices to advance coach and player development, participation and safety within the fun of the game and its inherent values. As the sport’s national governing body and member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Football partners with leaders in medicine, child advocacy and athletics to support positive football experiences for youth, high school and other amateur players. Follow USA Football at www.facebook.com/usafootball or on Twitter @USAFootball.