I suspect one has to be more than a bit odd to find any of this interesting, which makes it just perfect for me. I was the type of kid who studied the statistics on the back of his Topps baseball cards in the 70's (except for the Cincinnati Reds cards that I glued inside my school notebook to preserve them forever--ugh). I think Total Football II is an important part of any fans library, and believe that the Book of Lists and the Guinness Book of World Records should be required reading for all young men of a certain age.
I spent some time this week "borrowing" from the work of the giants who manage this site: www.localsports.ca/nfl_rosters. Someday I'll figure out how to repay them. With the borrowed data, I've learned a bit I thought worth sharing. I'll cover, briefly, a variety of topics and see if there's any desire for a more in-depth analysis.
1) There are 2164 players on NFL rosters today. This includes all active players, practice squad members, suspended, physically unable to perform, etc.
2) Those 2164 players came from 287 different schools.
3) 101 of those 287 schools produced one player each.
4) Five of those 287 schools produced at least 44 players each (1.7% of the schools; 11.1% of the players).
5) 10 additional schools produced at least 30 players each (3.5% of the schools; 16.3% of the players)
6) Based upon the 401 NFL rookies, you'd figure the following schools did well last year:
Florida (11) [13-1, SEC champs, National Champs, #1 AP]
Ohio State (11) [12-1, Big 10 champs, national runner-up, #2 AP]
Notre Dame (9) [10-3, Sugar Bowl loss , #17 AP]
Texas (9) [10-3, Big 12 South runner-up, Alamo Bowl win, #13 AP]
Michigan (8) [11-2, Big 10 runner-up, Rose Bowl loss, #8 AP]
Georgia (7) [9-4, #23 AP]
Louisville (7) [12-1, Orange Bowl win, #6 AP]
Michigan State (7) [4-8, new coach hired, unranked]
Arizona (6) [6-6, unranked]
Auburn (6) [11-2, #9 AP]
California (6) [10-3, #14 AP]
Hawaii (6) [11-3, unranked AP]
Maryland (6) [9-4, unranked AP]
Penn State (6) [9-4, #24 AP]
Tennessee (6) [9-4, #25 AP]
USC (6) [11-2, #4 AP]
7) Top 15 AP schools with fewer NFL rookies, suggesting some were still loaded for this season, and others played in an easier conference:
AP #3 LSU (5)
AP #5 Boise State (4)
AP #7 Wisconsin (2)
AP #10 West Virginia (1)
AP #11 Oklahoma (3)
AP #12 Rutgers (4)
AP #15 Arkansas (5)
8 ) 138 players have 11+ years in the NFL; 520 have 6-10 seasons; 619 have 3-5.
9) 2 NFL players admit to being 5'6; three to 5'7; 26 to 5'8; 56 to 5'9; 155 to 5'10. The two shortest are both from the Big 12. We may not make 'em big, but they're tough. :-)
10 ) 3 NFL players claim heights of 6-9--two play tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.