ESPN The Magazine Breaks Down NFL Demographics

When no relevant pictures are available, why not Elisha Cuthbert?

I'm not a big fan of ESPN The Magazine, but I started getting it for free, so I skim through it every couple weeks.  There are a few interesting graphs in the April 18 issue about where NFL football players come from.  I won't publish the whole set of information and I can't find a link, but I'll pick out some interesting statistics for you.

BIRTHPLACES OF NFL PLAYERS
1. California: 251
2. Texas: 211
3. Florida: 184
4. Ohio: 100
5. Louisiana: 91
6. Georgia: 88
7. New Jersey: 65
7. Pennsylvania: 65
9. New York: 64
10. Michigan: 60

New York isn't typically considered to be a big recruiting hotbed, but the numbers don't lie, I guess.  None of the other states were a big surprise.

NCAA CONFERENCES OF NFL PLAYERS
1. SEC: 308
2. ACC: 278
3. Big Ten: 256
4. Big 12: 221
5. Pac-10: 215
6. Big East: 115
7. Others: 641

No big surprises there.

SCHOOLS OF NFL PLAYERS
1. Miami: 45
2. LSU: 44
3. Ohio State: 42
3. Texas: 42
5. USC: 39
6. Georgia: 38
7. Florida: 36
8. Tennessee: 35
9. Michigan: 33
9. Cal: 33

Tennessee and Cal surprised me a little bit.  Tennessee hasn't been good for awhile, and Cal is only good on occasion.  There was a time a few years ago when Michigan would have been higher on this list, but a few guys have retired and the Wolverines haven't put out many NFL-caliber players since Lloyd Carr left.