Have you ever wondered how Minnesota fares when it comes to producing NFL players? Well, local man Bob Bradford not only wondered such a thing, but also did something about it. Bradford, formerly the sports editor at the Northfield News, e-mailed the Star Tribune with some rather exhaustive research detailing the numbers of players, by state, on NFL rosters this season. The players counted were either on active rosters or injured reserve (not practice squads), and a player was considered a native of a particular state based on where they played high school football. Some of his findings:

*California leads the NFL with 246 players, accounting for more than 12 percent of the entire league. Florida (225) and Texas (208) are close behind; after that, it drops considerably to Georgia and Ohio (107 apiece).

*Minnesota is in the middle at No. 25, having placed 23 players on NFL rosters this year (more than Wisconsin, 22, or Iowa, 18).

Those players ($ denotes Pro Bowler this year):

Brandon Archer, LB (Cretin-Derham Hall) with Colts
$Marion Barber, RB (Wayzata H.S.) with Cowboys
$Matt Birk, C (Cretin-Derham Hall) with Vikings
Todd Bouman, QB (Russel-Tyler-Ruthton H.S.) with Rams
Dominique Byrd, TE (Breck Academy/Golden Valley) with Rams
Craig Dahl, S (Mankato East H.S.) with Giants
$Larry Fitzgerald, WR (Holy Angels Academy/Richfield) with Cardinals (pictured above in his high school days)
Adam Goldberg, RT (Edina H.S.) with Rams
Ben Hamilton, G/C (Wayzata H.S.) with Broncos
Ryan Harris, OT (Cretin-Derham Hall) with Broncos
Steve Heiden, TE (Rushford-Peterson H.S.) with Browns
Ben Joppru, TE (Minnetonka H.S.) with Seahawks
Kevin Kaesviharn, S (Lakeville H.S.) with Saints
Michael Lehan, CB (Hopkins H.S.) with Dolphins
Mark LeVoir, LT (Eden Prairie H.S.) with Rams
Rhys Lloyd, K (Eastview H.S.) with Ravens
Derek Robinson, DE (DeLaSalle H.S.) with Dolphins
Mark Setterstrom, LG (Northfield H.S.) with Rams
Isaac Snell, G (Pipestone H.S.) with Broncos
Matt Spaeth, TE (St. Michael-Albertville H.S.) with Steelers
Thomas Tapeh, RB (St. Paul Johnson H.S.) with Eagles
Ben Utecht, TE (Hastings H.S.) with Colts
Chris Weinke, QB (Cretin-Derham Hall) with 49ers

*Vermont and Maine produced 0 NFL players apiece, putting them squarely at the bottom of the list. If you want maple syrup, go there. If you want good football, go elsewhere.

*What this means (our thoughts): We were pleasantly surprised that there were 23 Minnesotans, according to Mr. Bradford’s research. It somewhat refutes the notion that there is a dearth of talent here. That said: The fact that one-third of all players come from the top three states underscores the absolute need to recruit those areas to be a top college program.

*Your thoughts?

(Thanks again to Bob for this dogged research, culled 75 percent from NFL.com rosters and 25 percent from digging to fill in the gaps).

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