The City of Houston has started another pipeline.
With 24 players on Kickoff Weekend rosters, Houston led all cities in NFL hometowns. More 2020 NFL players graduated from high school there than any other community.
That’s no surprise to OTARO ALAKA of the Baltimore Ravens, who travel to play the Houston Texans Sunday (4:25 PM ET, CBS). A graduate of Houston’s Cypress Falls High School, Alaka knows what brought his hometown to the top of the list.
“When you come from Houston,” Alaka said, “there’s a lot of competition amongst the 5A and the 6A schools. Everyone from Houston knows that it’s stacked, and you take great pride in it. That Texas high school football in Houston – it’s just a hotbed for talent, and there’s going to continue to be a lot of talent that comes out of there every year.”
That talent helped Houston dethrone Miami, which finished second with 19, for the NFL’s top hometown.
HOMETOWNS WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS
| Hometown | NFL Players | Hometown | NFL Players |
| Houston | 24 | New Orleans | 12 |
| Miami | 19 | Atlanta | 11 |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | 14 | Philadelphia | 11 |
| Tampa, FL | 14 | St. Louis | 10 |
| Detroit | 12 |
While Houston edged Miami for the most NFL hometowns, Florida continued to lead the league in home states. More NFL players (194) graduated from high schools in Florida than any other state, according to 2020 NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters. Texas (192) finished a close second.
STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS
| State | NFL Players | State | NFL Players |
| Florida | 194 | North Carolina | 59 |
| Texas | 192 | New Jersey | 57 |
| California | 170 | Illinois | 53 |
| Georgia | 134 | Tennessee | 45 |
| Ohio | 71 | Michigan | 44 |
| Alabama | 60 | Virginia | 44 |
| Pennsylvania | 60 | South Carolina | 39 |
| Louisiana | 59 | Maryland | 39 |
Specifically, the South Florida region continues to produce a plethora of NFL talent. Individuals who played high school football in Miami (19) and Fort Lauderdale (14) combined to fill 33 slots on NFL rosters last weekend. Another South Florida community, Deerfield Beach, contributed an additional six NFL players.
Fort Lauderdale’s Saint Thomas Aquinas High School, with 11 individuals, again tops the list of high schools with the most NFL players. The school, which also produced Pro Football Hall of Famer MICHAEL IRVIN, has led the nation in players on NFL Kickoff rosters for eight of the past nine seasons (2012, 2014-20). It tied for the lead in 2013.
HIGH SCHOOLS WITH THE MOST NFL PLAYERS
| High School, City, State | Number | NFL Players |
| Saint Thomas Aquinas High School;Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 11 | Damon Arnette, LV; Geno Atkins, CIN; Giovani Bernard, CIN; Joey Bosa, LAC; Nick Bosa, SF; Phillip Dorsett, SEA; Bobby Hart, CIN; Lamarcus Joyner, LV; Brandon Linder, JAX; James White, NE; Sam Young, LV |
| Allen High School; Allen, TX | 6 | Bobby Evans, LAR; Jalen Guyton, LAC; Greg Little, CAR; Kyler Murray, ARI; Cedric Ogbuehi, SEA; Jonathan Williams, DET |
| Deerfield Beach High School; Deefield Beach, FL | 6 | Jerry Jeudy, DEN; James Pierre, PIT; Jason Pierre-Paul, TB; Brandon Powell, ATL; Riley Ridley, CHI; Jason Strowbridge, MIA |
| Cass Technical High School; Detroit, MI | 5 | Delano Hill, SEA; Jourdan Lewis, DAL; Michael Onwenu, NE; Donovan Peoples-Jones, CLE; Del’Shawn Phillips, BUF |
| Dematha Catholic High School; Hyattsville, MD | 5 | Ja’Whaun Bentley, NE; John Lovett, GB; Anthony McFarland, PIT; Rodney McLeod, PHI; Chase Young, WAS |
| IMG Academy; Bradenton, FL | 5 | Hjalte Froholdt, NE; K.J. Hamler, DEN; K.J. Osborn, MIN; Cesar Ruiz, NO; Tyree St. Louis, LAC |
| Lakewood High School; St. Petersburg, FL | 5 | Dante Fowler, ATL; Shaquill Griffin, SEA; Austin Reiter, KC; Marquez Valdes-Scantling, GB; Isaiah Wynn, NE |
| Long Beach Polytechnic High School;Long Beach, CA | 5 | Jayon Brown, TEN; Jurrell Casey, DEN; DeSean Jackson, PHI; Marcedes Lewis, GB; JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT |
| North Shore High School; Houston, TX | 5 | Dorance Armstrong, DAL; K’Lavon Chaisson, JAX; Emeke Egbule, LAC; Trey Hopkins, CIN; Jamal Perry, MIA |
| Stephenson High School; Stone Mountain, GA | 5 | Mike Davis, CAR; Bruce Irvin, SEA; Preston Smith, GB; Montez Sweat, WAS; D.J. Wonnum, MIN |
Thirteen high schools had four players each on NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters this year:
| High School; City, State | NFL Players | High School; City, State | NFL Players |
| Desoto High School; Desoto, TX | 4 | Peachtree Ridge High School; Suwanee, GA | 4 |
| Glenville High School; Cleveland | 4 | Pickerington High School; Pickerington, OH | 4 |
| Grant High School; Sacramento | 4 | Saint Louis High School; Honolulu | 4 |
| Immokalee High School; Immokalee, FL | 4 | Tucker High School; Tucker, GA | 4 |
| Lawrence Elkins High School; Sugar Land, TX | 4 | Westlake High School; Austin, TX | 4 |
| Norcross High School; Norcross, GA | 4 | West Monroe High School; Monroe, LA | 4 |
| Norland High School; Miami | 4 |
Overall, NFL players hail from high schools in 46 states and the District of Columbia, seven countries – Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, Estonia, Germany and the United States – and a U.S. territory (American Samoa). The totals are based on the 1,730 players on Kickoff Weekend rosters.
NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA: Georgia, with one NFL player for every 73,952 residents, leads the list of NFL players per capita. Louisiana (one in 78,162) and Alabama (one in 82,409) round out the top three. The national average is one NFL player per 180,447 U.S. residents.
STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA
| State | Population * | NFL Players | NFL Players Per Capita |
| Georgia | 9,687,653 | 134 | 1 NFL player per 72,296 people |
| Louisiana | 4,533,372 | 59 | 1 NFL player per 76,837 people |
| Alabama | 4,779,736 | 60 | 1 NFL player per 79,662 people |
| Mississippi | 2,967,297 | 35 | 1 NFL player per 84,780 people |
| Florida | 18,801,310 | 194 | 1 NFL player per 96,914 people |
| District of Columbia | 601,723 | 6 | 1 NFL player per 100,287 people |
| Delaware | 897,934 | 8 | 1 NFL player per 112,242 people |
| South Carolina | 4,625,364 | 39 | 1 NFL player per 118,599 people |
| Hawaii | 1,360,301 | 11 | 1 NFL player per 123,664 people |
| Texas | 25,145,561 | 192 | 1 NFL player per 130,966 people |
| Utah | 2,763,885 | 20 | 1 NFL player per 138,194 people |
| Tennessee | 6,346,105 | 45 | 1 NFL player per 141,025 people |
| United States | 308,745,538 | 1,711 | 1 NFL player per 180,447 people |
*Based on most recent published U.S. Census Data (2010)
