Food for thought: high school football in Minnesota
Posted on January 2nd, 2008 – 12:53 PMBy Michael Rand
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).
31 Responses to "Food for thought: high school football in Minnesota"
What is Bradford’s current job, that allows for free time to do said research? And where do I submit my resume?
Kevin Kaesviharn, S
Are they counting practice squads, too?
At least the great state of South Dakota did not finish last. Thank you Adam Vinatieri and Chad Greenway.
I know Weinke got a call and made a start for the 49ers but really was he playing football out there?
The fact that the Little Sioux Conference has produced more NFL players than, say, the Northwest Suburban - well, that’s just about the most surprising fact ever.
The “dearth of talent” myth was entirely a creation of the Glen Mason Spin Machine, in order to give the prevaricating egomaniac a reason to tell us that we should all be so thrilled to watch yet another 3-5 team.
[…] Here’s another interesting post I read today by Randball […]
Which state had the most NFL players per person?
Jama - I would guess North Dakota, the longer Kleinsasser stays in the league, the better their numbers get.
Hell, every time NDSU plays the Gophers at the Dome, at least 400 people just decide not to go back to North Dakota. Can you really blame them?
To Jama: Here you go, top-5 outright. By the way MN ranks 29th per-capita with 1 in 23,111 odds, more than the doubling the odds of 46th New York (1 in 52,304)
PER-CAPITA RANKING
1. Louisiana (440,729) — state’s male population for 20-34 age range
1 in 5,185 — state’s ratio/ odds making 2007 NFL roster
2. Mississippi (290,872)
1 in 5,703
3. District of Columbia (72,240)
1 in 6,567
4. South Carolina (428,917)
1 in 7,031
5. Alabama (448,349)
1 in 7,350
Jama … most per capita (defined as most NFL players per male ages 20-34 in the state) was Louisiana. Minnesota finished 29th in that regard.
oops … didnt’ see Bob chimed in. Thanks, good sir.
Here you go Jama:
PER-CAPITA RANKING
1. Louisiana (440,729) — state’s male population for 20-34 age range
1 in 5,185 — state’s ratio/ odds making 2007 NFL roster
2. Mississippi (290,872)
1 in 5,703
3. District of Columbia (72,240)
1 in 6,567
4. South Carolina (428,917)
1 in 7,031
5. Alabama (448,349)
1 in 7,350
By the way, MN ranks 29th per-capita with 1 in 23,111 odds, more than doubling the odds of 46th New York (1 in 52,304).
The “dearth of talent” myth was entirely a creation of the Glen Mason Spin Machine, in order to give the prevaricating egomaniac a reason to tell us that we should all be so thrilled to watch yet another 3-5 team.
Anyone else notice that whenever a Cowboys or Patriots game is on, and the announcers mention that Barber and Maroney were in the same backfield, there’s a noticeable silence as they try and fail to remember what Rose Bowl those two played in?
I’ve yet to hear anyone then state the obvious, “Sweet Mother of God, they never even played on New Year’s Day! How is that possible?” But it’s just a matter of time.
Thanks, Stu, I need a reminder every year of how the Gophers did nothing with two how-the-hell-did-they-end-up-here running backs…
Okay, you just re-justified Mason’s firing in my mind…
I now see why the SEC has a little bit better talent than an unnamed conference based in the North.
Funny…Brewster’s main focus was to ensure that Minnesota’s top recruits don’t leave the state to go to school elsewhere.
I lived just south of Dallas for a couple years, and it’s pretty unbelievable how much that state is like Varsity Blues. There was 2 bars in the town. If you were a starter on your HS football team, you drank free whenever you want. I even made the comment “who cares, it’s high school football!!” when people were arguing about who would win the big Waxahachie vs. Ennis game at work…need less to say I got a black eye, and I fired 2 people…
ANSWER TO TOONCES:
I currently average about 60 hours a week with my ‘A’ job (a medical courier), and the time it took to do this research doesn’t take any more than it does to play 18 holes of golf 6 times in 3 weeks. I also get weekends off (you can only watch so much TV)
ANSWER TO DAVE MN: Kevin Kaesviharn was not on the “practice roster”, at least when I researched the Saints roster, which was probably around the weekend of NFL’s Week 16. My time frame on this research was approx Week 14 thru 17. With injuries or roster changes, names are going to be added or subtracted week-to-week. The time-frame when I checked, Kaesviharn was either on the actice or IR roster.
I went to grad scool in Fla. for only a few years B4 switching to Wisc ( Fla seemed a very nasty place to live for pot smoking longhairs ) but if I was a kid from any northern clime looking out the window on a day like today, I’d be thinking of jumping to a Ga or Fla or Louisiana or anyplace but here. The issue isn’t producing this high school talent. That’s a given. It’s keeping them around, and having the greatest practice facilities and nonsense like that just won’t cut it (unless cheerleader rights are thrown in ;). Kids want to play on winning teams and those teams are south of the Mason-Dixon line (although watching Michigan kick some serious butt was the best bowl game so far)
Hmmm…18 holes of golf six times in 3 weeks. I’ll take that. Except I’ll need to buy new clubs at least twice a month (or get re-certified for scuba diving).
I don’t think Kevin Kaesviharn would even be eligible for a practice squad–he’s like a seven year veteran of the NFL (not to mention the AFL and XFL).
What about Todd Bouman, I’m suprised he isn’t in jail yet. How much did the Vikings have to pay to get his little sexual misconduct swept under the table?
The best part is after he has tried every drug made and almost gone to jail, he is now helping coach HS players.
Stu- Can Todd Bouman be your next Huntdown?
Okay, I was being an uneducated [redacted] by joking that Kaesviharn would be on a practice squad…
There are definitely a few “who?” names on that list, though.
Dave MN
I completely agree. I watch way too much sports, follow both college an pro football, and spend countless hours on my fantasy football teams and I have never heard of
Ben Joppru, TE (Minnetonka H.S.) with Seahawks
Most of the other guys I have at least heard of but this Joppru character has me thinking I need to start watching more sports!
Since when is DC a state?
It isn’t the United States of America AND The District of Columbia.
Man, I love colbert.
Rookie: he’s back on Monday night, as you no doubt know.
I have done some research and I have found out why I had never heard of Ben Joppru… He goes by Bennie
A little OT but thinking of Bouman, he was released by the Rams and replaced at 3rd string by…
Brock Berlin.
Why have a 3rd string QB named Todd when you can have one named Brock?
BBIII - Great to know you’re keeping up the research on whether MN is producing its proportion of NFL players.
So if you’re a MN high school senior what does your research say about where you should play college ball to have the best chance of getting in the pros?
Next project - Basketball!!
[…] Food for thought: high school football in Minnesota […]
[…] Food for thought: high school football in Minnesota […]
Thanks for sharing
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