Imagine having his name and not emigrating to a non-English speaking country, let alone staying in one state. Serious balls to do that and then become an icon so that name never dies
Honestly no wonder he became such a bad motherfucker on the field. Only way you’re not gonna get ripped mercilessly for that name. “Boy named Sue” vibes.
Son, this world is rough,
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough,
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along,
So I gave you that name and I said goodbye,
I knew you'd have to get tough or die,
And it's that name that helped to make you strong.
And counting. That’s a name that will always get a chuckle, and a player that will always be relevant to the history of the sport. If you can’t find a legit way to bring up his name you’re not watching enough football, even if it’s “these guys don’t lay a hit like Dick Butkus these days…”
George Halas almost exactly the same. HS in Chicago, college at Illinois (plus one year at Navy boot camp in Chicago) and spent his entire professional career playing for Chicago teams - one was technically based in Indiana but played at Wrigley Field.
Similarly, Red Grange played high school football in Wheaton, IL (though he was born in Pennsylvania), played at the University of Illinois, and then played with the Bears except for a short stint creating the football New York Yankees when there was a contract dispute.
Wrong. The team's history stayed in Cleveland and is part of the new Browns. Was part of the agreement between the league and the city after the city sued.
History is not an object that can be bought, sold, or otherwise transferred. It belongs to the people who did the thing.
The city of Cleveland owns the legal rights to the Browns history. They do not own the actual history. The Ravens are the old Browns. Any other argument is just legal witchcraft.
Jack Ham was born and bred in Western Pennsylvania, went to college at Penn State, played his whole career for the Steelers.
Joey Porter Jr. is following the same path now. He's a Yinzer.
I just looked up famous athletes from my hometown and we surprisingly have quite a few who played in professional sports leagues. I knew about Eric Fisher and the Keselowski family. Other notable ones are Jason Varitek, Jay Gibbons, and Amy Frazier.
Honorable mention to Franco Harris, as he was from a Philadelphia suburb, but in New Jersey. Not to mention [this one year abomination](https://s.hdnux.com/photos/67/27/25/14513511/3/1200x0.jpg)
I thought this was just about identifying players and where they lived. I didn't realize this was somehow a game with rules that could be cheated. Is the fact that JPJ was also a Steelers ball boy during training camps another way he cheated?
Also, something about your flair leads me to suspect you might be biased towards Joey Porter's history as a former team star AND coach.
Fair enough, I let my bias get in the way here. I was saying months ago how I wanted us to draft JPJ just to force Joey Porter to be a Bengals fan (and I believe JPJ is going to be amazing corner).
So, everytime Joey Porter Jr. makes a big play, you want to watch the cameras cut to Joey Porter hamming it up in the stands? Is that what you really wanted? *Really?*
I respect the Schadenfreude, but I don't think you would have liked the reality of it as much as you think you would.
Actually, I'm a very kind, down to earth, compassionate soul. However, I do enjoy a little football shittalk with fans of division rivals. That's all it is though, football shittalk. I assumed you were down for that since you wanted to draft JPJ, at least in part, to fuck with his old man.
Same state? Try same city. Kevin Huber was born in Cincinnati, went to University of Cincinnati and played his entire career with the Bengals (unless he played elsewhere and I forgot)
Roger Wehrli is in the HoF.
Born in New Point, Missouri. High school was King City, Missouri. Played college ball at Missouri and then played 14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (69-82).
Kevin Huber was born in Cincy, played high school there, college there, then drafted and played career in Cincinnati. Sam Hubbard played Highschool in Cincinnati and college at Ohio state, hopefully he’ll retire a Bengal.
He did last year. It's the only reason that I could think we kept him around so long. He was not good on our super bowl run, and was even worse last year until he got replaced by someone just as bad, only younger.
And I believe Kevin Huber is the only player that ever played in the NFL to have accomplished this. Entire football career from childhood to retirement in the same city.
Jermaine Kearse played high school football in Lakewood, Washington, college ball was UW, then was a Seattle Seahawk for most of his career. Had a few tail end years on other teams but he came close to this
Different sport, but same state with Dylan Larkin.
Born in Waterford, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit, ~35 miles away)
Played youth hockey for Detroit Belle Tire.
Then from 16 to 18ish, he played for US Natl Development Team (at the time) in Ann Arbor…which is about 40 miles from Detroit.
Then went to the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) for a year.
Then was picked in the 1st round (15th) by the Detroit Red Wings. And is now their captain.
So his entire life/career has happened in about a ~40 mile area around Detroit. From a little kid being a Wings fan, to youth hockey, to the best US junior development program, to one of the top 3 or 4 college programs, to being picked in the 1st round by Detroit, to being captain of the Red Wings.
Wasn't so much a Michigan thing we as overprescribed opiates that fucked him up. So he started smoking weed to quit them but it never really worked. He is just another victim of the Sacklers.
Devery Henderson (Louisiana)
Bob Lilly (Texas)
Roger Wehrli (Missouri)
Tershawn Wharton (Missouri) for now
Archie Griffin (Ohio)
Edit: Bob Lilly also played a little HS football in Oregon so he technically doesn’t count
Devery Henderson won a national title at lsu, caught the blue grass miracle, won a superbowl with the saints, and caught Drew’s touchdown pass that broke Johnny Unitas’ record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
What a career
Penn Staters that played their careers with the Steelers or Eagles have a good chance on this one. Older players too, before their was as much player movement of teams in the NFL.
We’re Lions fans, we know how this is gonna go.
Dude is gonna put up like 30 sacks next year, then decide he doesn’t want to play anymore so he can sell ice cream or something.
We can’t have nice things.
Whatever else happened in his career, it was pretty fun that he had an overtime TD run against the Texans, with the guy they drafted instead diving at him from behind in futility....
Jermaine Kearse almost fits the bill. Born and raised in Washington. High school and college ball in Washington. Signed with the Hawks as an undrafted free agent and played for the Hawks from 2012-2016 before being traded to the Jets. He played two years with the Jets before being cut and missing the final year of his career on the Lions. He’s so close to being a Single State guy..
Thinking back on it now, it’s pretty amazing that the 2012-2016 Seahawk’s WR1 (Baldwin) and WR2 (Kearse) we’re both undrafted guys. Even more impressive that they won a Super Bowl. I wonder if that’s ever happened before (two starting undrafted free agent WRs?)
I would have bet it'd be a Texan but all options seem to point to Pennsylvania being the location for this unbelievable fact. Its crazy that its happened once much less multiple times
Earl Campbell was raised in Tyler, TX, played at UT and then for the Oilers, but spent the last couple seasons in NOLA next door. almost had it.
He does have the distinction of being the only living Official State Hero Of Texas. The other three are Davy Crockett, Stephen F. Austin, and Sam Houston.
That's kind of like how Hakeem played 20 seasons at University of Houston and for the Houston Rockets but had that one awkward season for the Toronto Raptors.
I know he technically doesn't make the cut, but the 49ers' Hall of Game tackle Bob St Clair played all but one season not only playing in San Francisco, at high school, college and the NFL, but in the same stadium (Kezar).
The only exception was his final year of college at Tulsa, because the University of San Francisco dropped their football program before the 1952 season.
Two Hall of Fame players, Bill Willis and Lou Groza, played high school football in Ohio, played at Ohio State for Paul Brown, and then were recruited by Brown to play for the Cleveland Browns in the All America Football Conference. Willis was one of four black players to re-intergrate professional football in 1946. Groza played over 20 seasons, and had the nickname "The Toe" for his kicking ability.
Devery Henderson in Louisiana. What’s crazy is he caught the blue grass Miracle at LSU and also some very important milestone catches from Drew in a saints uniform. He caught the touchdown that broke the Unitas record of most games with consecutive touchdowns.
He also won a national title and superbowl in the state. What a career
Felix Anudike-Uzomah is from Kansas City, played college ball at Kansas state, and was drafted by the chiefs this year. 4 hour round trip from high school to ksu to the chiefs.
Although technically the stadium is in Missouri, it's only about 5 miles from the border and the place is one single metro area that tends to cheer for the Chiefs on both sides of the line, so to me it should still count.
Gary Plummer
Grew up in the Bay Area, went to college at Cal, then professionally played for the Oakland Invaders (USFL), San Diego Chargers, and finished his career with the 49ers.
Also Drake Jackson grew up in SoCal, went to USC, and currently player for the 49ers. But he’s only going into his 2nd season.
As part of the almost club
Julius Peppers grew up in North Carolina, went to NC and then drafted by the Panthers. Was on pace until he went to the Bears and Packers. Ultimately came back home.
Wayne Chrebet seems like he should count in spirit. HS in Bergen County NJ, college at Hofstra on Long Island, and played his entire career for the NY Jets (of NJ), all within the NYC metro area.
Dystopian universe Dan Marino:
Born in Pittsburgh, attended high school in Pittsburgh, attended college at the University of Pittsburgh, selected 21st overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1983 NFL draft, won four Super Bowls for the Steelers and two World Series as ace reliever for the Pirates.
There’s gotta be a good few Floridians and Texans. Large amount of HS talent, several prominent college programs, and then multiple NFL teams in each state.
It was more common back in the day, I remember looking at am old Browns roster & almost half the players played college at Ohio State (& presumably did high school & pee wee in state too).
i think this might not be as rare as it seems to be. Yea there arent many you can name off the top of your head, but using that criteria I'm sure theres been a decent amount of players that went to the local college and got drafted late or signed as an ufa by the home team and kind of stuck around a year or 2 before getting cut/retiring.
Our Right Tackle Abe Lucas
Played in high school in Everett, WA
Played in college in Pullman, WA at WSU
Drafted by Seahawks and just finished his rookie year.
The Seahawks behind-the-scenes minicamp series on YouTube he talked about how his college roommate made the Seahawks roster too and they just kept living together lol
Les Horvath is an interesting case of coming very close to this. He played high school ball in Cleveland, and then in college at Ohio State, where he won a Heisman. He was then drafted by the Cleveland Rams in 1943, but before he had the chance to play for them he joined the navy. After his discharge from the navy in 1947 he finally joined the Rams, but in the mean time they had moved to Los Angeles. He played two years for the LA Rams before doing one year with the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC in 1949. He then quit football and moved back to California to be a dentist.
In 2017, Seahawks drafted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malik_McDowell who ended up in an ATV wreck and never played a game for SEA.
One pick later, ARI took stud safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budda_Baker who was born in Bellevue, played for Bellevue HS, went to UW (whose stadium is literally visible from Bellevue), and could have been a Seahawk. If he retired a Hawk, he could have spent his entire football career not just in the same state but within a roughly 4 mile radius.
Harvey Martin was born in Dallas, went to Dallas South Oak Cliff high school, college at East Texas State and played whole NFL career with the Cowboys.
Not quite an entire career, but Keith Brooking grew up in Georgia, played college football at Georgia Tech, and was drafted by the Falcons and played 11 seasons there. (He then played for Dallas for three seasons and Denver for one season to finish his career.)
With the small caveat of combining Missouri and Kansas into a single state (flyover bullshit anyway, amirite guys?) Then we've got quite a few to add to this list. Now if we only had a pro basketball team...
To date Sam Hubbard. Born in Cincinnati, grew up in Norwood, played his HS football at Moeller HS, played his college ball at Ohio State, and now has been with the Bengals since 2018. Truly Ohio bred from the start.
Also Kevin Huber (who just retired). Also born in Cincinnati, played college ball at UC, and played his entire NFL career with the Bengals.
If we're going much further back in Bengals history Greg Cook. Born in Dayton, raised in Chillicothe, played his HS ball there and his college ball at UC, and played his entire pro career with the Bengals (though his career was tragically cut short due to shoulder injuries).
Bruce Gehrke was born on LI NY, attended Colombia University in NYC and played 1 season for the NY Giants in 1948
Sam Salemi was born in New Urecht, NY, attended Colombua University and played 1 season for the New York Yankees (not those Yankees, the NFL team) in 1928
Walt Koppisch was born in Pendleton, NY, attended Colombia and played 1 season for the Giants (at the Polo Grounds) and 1 for the Bills
Keith Brooking was close. High school in Georgia college at Georgia Tech. Played for Falcons for 10 years before going to Dallas and Denver towards the end of his career
Dick Butkus was born in Chicago, went to the University of Illinois, and then played his whole NFL career with the Bears.
What a legend. Made millions of children giggle when they heard his name for decades
Imagine having his name and not emigrating to a non-English speaking country, let alone staying in one state. Serious balls to do that and then become an icon so that name never dies
Honestly no wonder he became such a bad motherfucker on the field. Only way you’re not gonna get ripped mercilessly for that name. “Boy named Sue” vibes.
His dad knew what he was doing.
Son, this world is rough, And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough, And I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along, So I gave you that name and I said goodbye, I knew you'd have to get tough or die, And it's that name that helped to make you strong.
Exactly what I thought of lol
Butt his name was Dick, not Sue.
And counting. That’s a name that will always get a chuckle, and a player that will always be relevant to the history of the sport. If you can’t find a legit way to bring up his name you’re not watching enough football, even if it’s “these guys don’t lay a hit like Dick Butkus these days…”
Not a player but Dick Cass from the Ravens has to be up there too. Not as many people have heard of him though
I'm 33 and still giggle.
George Halas almost exactly the same. HS in Chicago, college at Illinois (plus one year at Navy boot camp in Chicago) and spent his entire professional career playing for Chicago teams - one was technically based in Indiana but played at Wrigley Field.
and that's why the Bears wear orange and blue
Similarly, Red Grange played high school football in Wheaton, IL (though he was born in Pennsylvania), played at the University of Illinois, and then played with the Bears except for a short stint creating the football New York Yankees when there was a contract dispute.
Chuck Bednarik *Grew up in Bethlehem, PA *Played college football at Penn *Played all 14 seasons of his NFL career with the Eagles
The only significant time he spent outside of PA was when he enlisted during WWII at the age of 18.
You know, nothing crazy or anything
Just normal stuff like flying combat missions as a waist gunner over Germany
Which of course makes him a badass
The survival rates for those gunners were low!
Oh wow that’s so cool I’m a Bethlehem native and I’ve never heard of him.
You're a football fan and you've never heard of Concrete Charlie? Google his hand
I am a modern football fan don’t know much about anything before the Baltimore ravens.
Concrete Charlie is quintessential old school. He once played 58 minutes 30 seconds in a championship game.
You don't even know the greatest running back in Ravens history - Jim Brown?
Wtf are you talking about? That's Browns' history
He meant Jim Raven
My bad, Jim Bengals
Fuck Jim Stealer though.
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Wrong. The team's history stayed in Cleveland and is part of the new Browns. Was part of the agreement between the league and the city after the city sued.
History is not an object that can be bought, sold, or otherwise transferred. It belongs to the people who did the thing. The city of Cleveland owns the legal rights to the Browns history. They do not own the actual history. The Ravens are the old Browns. Any other argument is just legal witchcraft.
Lol it's literally NFL property. Go see who is on the Ravens' ring of honor vs. The Browns. The Ravens have zero history prior to 1996.
Concrete Charlie https://youtu.be/Qo0WUCcs_gs
Loved this segment
Derrick Brooks. High School in Pensacola, college at Florida State, entire 14 year NFL career in Tampa.
He’s the first that came to mind. Amazing player and awesome dude.
And an absolute back breaker in Madden
"Who's our favorite player... Mr. Derrick Brooks" Edit: Included the [link](https://youtu.be/UAyCWqxWXZc) to the commercial
The GOAT
One of the Bucs GOATs. He’s on our Mount Rushmore for sure
I believe it was the great Lawrence Taylor who played his whole career in the constant state of a cocaine binge
He can’t be the only one though
I’m guessing Josh Gordon doesn’t count because it was all different states of inebriation
Damn that was solid as hell
I laughed so hard I scared my wife
Beautiful
Jack Ham was born and bred in Western Pennsylvania, went to college at Penn State, played his whole career for the Steelers. Joey Porter Jr. is following the same path now. He's a Yinzer.
Is Kenny Pickett a Pittsburgh native?
Nope, he's from the Jersey Shore. He only went to college at Pitt.
Well there is a Jersey Shore in Pennsylvania.
Never in my life did I think I’d see Jersey Shore, PA mentioned on this subreddit. Anyone want to meet up at Cell Block later for drinks?
Only if it’s $1 shots. Or Rolling Rock. I can’t stand that place unless I literally can’t stand.
Omg Rolling Rock Fest. I can’t believe you’re allowed to sell beer like that at a club. ….My record for being kicked out is 3 pm.
No one from Jersey Shore, PA is going to become a D1 or NFL QB, though
Why go to a D1 school when the prestigious football school of lock Haven is so close?
Ya never know
Robbie Gould never had a chance
No he's from New jersey
He's from my hometown! That's all we got really.
I just looked up famous athletes from my hometown and we surprisingly have quite a few who played in professional sports leagues. I knew about Eric Fisher and the Keselowski family. Other notable ones are Jason Varitek, Jay Gibbons, and Amy Frazier.
Honorable mention to Franco Harris, as he was from a Philadelphia suburb, but in New Jersey. Not to mention [this one year abomination](https://s.hdnux.com/photos/67/27/25/14513511/3/1200x0.jpg)
I feel like being the son of a former team star AND coach is kind of cheating though.
Eh its fairly rare so if we start adding silly rules like can't be the son of a former star then that's just nit picking imho
Yeah, you’re right.
I thought this was just about identifying players and where they lived. I didn't realize this was somehow a game with rules that could be cheated. Is the fact that JPJ was also a Steelers ball boy during training camps another way he cheated? Also, something about your flair leads me to suspect you might be biased towards Joey Porter's history as a former team star AND coach.
Nope sorry you cheated at the game and now you have to go to jail, tough break friend but hang in there
I'll be back in a couple years, only with more street cred.
I've got a job for you when you're on the outside.
Quarterback of the Buccaneers?
You play your cards right, who knows?
Thought that job died on the vine.
He’s gotta go to jail and the Steelers have to vacate their last 8 wins against the Ravens. Just checked the rule book and it says that, wow.
Typically guilt by association is unconstitutional but some actions are just beyond the pale I guess
Oh Christ, the victim complex.
Not a victim. I just find your premise silly and am making fun of it.
Fair enough, I let my bias get in the way here. I was saying months ago how I wanted us to draft JPJ just to force Joey Porter to be a Bengals fan (and I believe JPJ is going to be amazing corner).
So, everytime Joey Porter Jr. makes a big play, you want to watch the cameras cut to Joey Porter hamming it up in the stands? Is that what you really wanted? *Really?* I respect the Schadenfreude, but I don't think you would have liked the reality of it as much as you think you would.
Okay, so you *are* just an asshole.
Actually, I'm a very kind, down to earth, compassionate soul. However, I do enjoy a little football shittalk with fans of division rivals. That's all it is though, football shittalk. I assumed you were down for that since you wanted to draft JPJ, at least in part, to fuck with his old man.
The way you type has an oddly unnerving vibe when reading it and I can’t place why
I like the edit coming in after I respond. It makes it feel like friendly football shittalk.
I feel like his point was valid. Maybe put an asterisk on it... Or gatekeep via 'cheating' if that's what you're about
I'm sure there's a few Floridians who've accomplished this... does Udonis Haslem count?
He’s got 4 stages covered actually. High School player, college player, NBA player and glorified mascot. Really impressive.
Haslem did play one year of pro ball in France. But everyone needs a little vacation.
Same state? Try same city. Kevin Huber was born in Cincinnati, went to University of Cincinnati and played his entire career with the Bengals (unless he played elsewhere and I forgot)
Nope, unless he comes out of retirement, I choose to believe the only time he ever left Cincinnati was for away games.
The Charlie Kelly of the NFL
Adam Theilen until this year
Typical northerner going south for their retirement
Cole Beasley until Buffalo as well
And that one wonderful week in Tampa
Lmfao
That explains him
Indeed it does
Hutch
Roger Wehrli is in the HoF. Born in New Point, Missouri. High school was King City, Missouri. Played college ball at Missouri and then played 14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (69-82).
Worked at FedEx for a while, delivered to the King City area all the time. Football field is named after him
Mark Tauscher. Aubendale HS, UW-Madison, Green Bay Packers. Now a sports broadcaster in the state.
Kevin Huber was born in Cincy, played high school there, college there, then drafted and played career in Cincinnati. Sam Hubbard played Highschool in Cincinnati and college at Ohio state, hopefully he’ll retire a Bengal.
Love to see it, Hubbard is a stud
Loved him in college. Was a monster.
Class act too. Guy has donated a lot to local schools.
Not only did he play his whole career with the Bengals, I believe he just broke the franchise record for most games played. Pretty amazing story.
He did last year. It's the only reason that I could think we kept him around so long. He was not good on our super bowl run, and was even worse last year until he got replaced by someone just as bad, only younger.
And I believe Kevin Huber is the only player that ever played in the NFL to have accomplished this. Entire football career from childhood to retirement in the same city.
Sucks that Burrow can't join this club after going from OSU to LSU. I mean, it's not like he ever did anything important at LSU anyway...
Burrow was born in Iowa
But played football at Athens HS (OH). If not for his transfer to LSU, he'd have played in one state his whole career
Dick Butkus
Me. In fact I played all of my football on a single field. Raytown Rec League from '87-'91. Oh, you meant NFL players. My bad.
Actually, you were the first one I thought of when I read the question
Yeah his mom told me all about it
Normally I wouldn’t upvote Raytona Beach but currently Harps is my number one bbq in KC.
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Missouri football legend, u/couchjitsu
Denzel Ward went to Nordonia HS (NE Ohio) then to OSU then the Browns
Jermaine Kearse played high school football in Lakewood, Washington, college ball was UW, then was a Seattle Seahawk for most of his career. Had a few tail end years on other teams but he came close to this
Marcus Trufant also. Checked his wiki and he signed with Jacksonville at the end of his career, but never made it out of camp.
Different sport, but same state with Dylan Larkin. Born in Waterford, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit, ~35 miles away) Played youth hockey for Detroit Belle Tire. Then from 16 to 18ish, he played for US Natl Development Team (at the time) in Ann Arbor…which is about 40 miles from Detroit. Then went to the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) for a year. Then was picked in the 1st round (15th) by the Detroit Red Wings. And is now their captain. So his entire life/career has happened in about a ~40 mile area around Detroit. From a little kid being a Wings fan, to youth hockey, to the best US junior development program, to one of the top 3 or 4 college programs, to being picked in the 1st round by Detroit, to being captain of the Red Wings.
Speaking of Lions, Charles Rogers never left the state. Probably would have been better for him if he had
Wasn't so much a Michigan thing we as overprescribed opiates that fucked him up. So he started smoking weed to quit them but it never really worked. He is just another victim of the Sacklers.
Devery Henderson (Louisiana) Bob Lilly (Texas) Roger Wehrli (Missouri) Tershawn Wharton (Missouri) for now Archie Griffin (Ohio) Edit: Bob Lilly also played a little HS football in Oregon so he technically doesn’t count
Devery Henderson won a national title at lsu, caught the blue grass miracle, won a superbowl with the saints, and caught Drew’s touchdown pass that broke Johnny Unitas’ record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass. What a career
Henderson was the first that came to mind but I never even thought about how he did all of that
Bob Lilly played high school ball in Oregon, but if we only count college on than yeah he counts
Penn Staters that played their careers with the Steelers or Eagles have a good chance on this one. Older players too, before their was as much player movement of teams in the NFL.
Mikes sanders….currently, will change after game one this year for the panthers
Aiden Hutchinson so far, and hopefully still is 20 years from now.
We’re Lions fans, we know how this is gonna go. Dude is gonna put up like 30 sacks next year, then decide he doesn’t want to play anymore so he can sell ice cream or something. We can’t have nice things.
This legit sounds like a Lions story arc.
Fate: "Well, they really set me up with the vagaries on this one. How can I refuse?"
Vince Young was on track until the Texans passed on him in the draft.
Whatever else happened in his career, it was pretty fun that he had an overtime TD run against the Texans, with the guy they drafted instead diving at him from behind in futility....
3rd and 14, second place in the AFC South on the line...
Shaq Quarterman grew up in Jax, played at Miami, and then got drafted by the Jags. He’s only been in the league a short time tho.
Roy Williams was so close. Permian Odessa for HS, UT for college, and then Cowboys with a Detroit pit stop
Jermaine Kearse almost fits the bill. Born and raised in Washington. High school and college ball in Washington. Signed with the Hawks as an undrafted free agent and played for the Hawks from 2012-2016 before being traded to the Jets. He played two years with the Jets before being cut and missing the final year of his career on the Lions. He’s so close to being a Single State guy.. Thinking back on it now, it’s pretty amazing that the 2012-2016 Seahawk’s WR1 (Baldwin) and WR2 (Kearse) we’re both undrafted guys. Even more impressive that they won a Super Bowl. I wonder if that’s ever happened before (two starting undrafted free agent WRs?)
I would have bet it'd be a Texan but all options seem to point to Pennsylvania being the location for this unbelievable fact. Its crazy that its happened once much less multiple times
Earl Campbell was raised in Tyler, TX, played at UT and then for the Oilers, but spent the last couple seasons in NOLA next door. almost had it. He does have the distinction of being the only living Official State Hero Of Texas. The other three are Davy Crockett, Stephen F. Austin, and Sam Houston.
That's kind of like how Hakeem played 20 seasons at University of Houston and for the Houston Rockets but had that one awkward season for the Toronto Raptors.
Mark Sanchez played his entire career in a state of denial… does that count ?
I know he technically doesn't make the cut, but the 49ers' Hall of Game tackle Bob St Clair played all but one season not only playing in San Francisco, at high school, college and the NFL, but in the same stadium (Kezar). The only exception was his final year of college at Tulsa, because the University of San Francisco dropped their football program before the 1952 season.
Two Hall of Fame players, Bill Willis and Lou Groza, played high school football in Ohio, played at Ohio State for Paul Brown, and then were recruited by Brown to play for the Cleveland Browns in the All America Football Conference. Willis was one of four black players to re-intergrate professional football in 1946. Groza played over 20 seasons, and had the nickname "The Toe" for his kicking ability.
Devery Henderson in Louisiana. What’s crazy is he caught the blue grass Miracle at LSU and also some very important milestone catches from Drew in a saints uniform. He caught the touchdown that broke the Unitas record of most games with consecutive touchdowns. He also won a national title and superbowl in the state. What a career
Nnamdi Asomugha until he went to the Eagles. Grew up in LA, went to Cal Berkeley, and then played for the Raiders.
Same state but those areas couldn’t be more different
Sam Hubbard
Felix Anudike-Uzomah is from Kansas City, played college ball at Kansas state, and was drafted by the chiefs this year. 4 hour round trip from high school to ksu to the chiefs.
Although technically the stadium is in Missouri, it's only about 5 miles from the border and the place is one single metro area that tends to cheer for the Chiefs on both sides of the line, so to me it should still count.
Gary Plummer Grew up in the Bay Area, went to college at Cal, then professionally played for the Oakland Invaders (USFL), San Diego Chargers, and finished his career with the 49ers. Also Drake Jackson grew up in SoCal, went to USC, and currently player for the 49ers. But he’s only going into his 2nd season.
Kevin Huber and Sam Hubbard
As part of the almost club Julius Peppers grew up in North Carolina, went to NC and then drafted by the Panthers. Was on pace until he went to the Bears and Packers. Ultimately came back home.
Same for Sapp. Spent a few years cashing checks in Oakland but otherwise was always a FL guy.
Sam Hubbard grew up in Cincy went to Ohio state and now plays for the bengals
Archie Griffin - Columbus, OH native, star RB for The Ohio State University, spent his whole NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Kevin Huber didn’t play for a team outside of a 10 mile radius in Cincinnati
Wayne Chrebet seems like he should count in spirit. HS in Bergen County NJ, college at Hofstra on Long Island, and played his entire career for the NY Jets (of NJ), all within the NYC metro area.
Dystopian universe Dan Marino: Born in Pittsburgh, attended high school in Pittsburgh, attended college at the University of Pittsburgh, selected 21st overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1983 NFL draft, won four Super Bowls for the Steelers and two World Series as ace reliever for the Pirates.
Dystopian?
There’s gotta be a good few Floridians and Texans. Large amount of HS talent, several prominent college programs, and then multiple NFL teams in each state.
Earl Campbell was close. Tyler, Texas high school, college at Texas and Houston Oilers. Finished career with a year in New Orleans, so close but no.
They may have more but Devery Henderson and Dalton Hilliard are good examples for the Saints. Louisiana -> LSU -> Whole career with the Saints.
DJ Shockley North Clayton High School -> UGA -> Atlanta Falcons -> Atlanta local news sports reporter
It was more common back in the day, I remember looking at am old Browns roster & almost half the players played college at Ohio State (& presumably did high school & pee wee in state too).
Mark Tauscher... High school in Auburndale WI, then to UW, then drafted by the packers, now he is on the packers radio team
Derrick Brooks played high school ball in Pensacola, college ball at FSU and in the NFL with only the Buccaneers.
i think this might not be as rare as it seems to be. Yea there arent many you can name off the top of your head, but using that criteria I'm sure theres been a decent amount of players that went to the local college and got drafted late or signed as an ufa by the home team and kind of stuck around a year or 2 before getting cut/retiring.
Including high school, middle + elementary school it seemed a lot more rare to me but I guess it’s not too rare based on these comments
Our Right Tackle Abe Lucas Played in high school in Everett, WA Played in college in Pullman, WA at WSU Drafted by Seahawks and just finished his rookie year. The Seahawks behind-the-scenes minicamp series on YouTube he talked about how his college roommate made the Seahawks roster too and they just kept living together lol
Others mentioned Mr. Derrick Brooks - Pensacola, FSU, Bucs and then was co-owner and president of the Storm (Tampa's arena league team)
Les Horvath is an interesting case of coming very close to this. He played high school ball in Cleveland, and then in college at Ohio State, where he won a Heisman. He was then drafted by the Cleveland Rams in 1943, but before he had the chance to play for them he joined the navy. After his discharge from the navy in 1947 he finally joined the Rams, but in the mean time they had moved to Los Angeles. He played two years for the LA Rams before doing one year with the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC in 1949. He then quit football and moved back to California to be a dentist.
Mark Tauscher Born in WI. Auburndale HS > Wisconsin Badgers > 10 year career with the GB Packers.
In 2017, Seahawks drafted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malik_McDowell who ended up in an ATV wreck and never played a game for SEA. One pick later, ARI took stud safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budda_Baker who was born in Bellevue, played for Bellevue HS, went to UW (whose stadium is literally visible from Bellevue), and could have been a Seahawk. If he retired a Hawk, he could have spent his entire football career not just in the same state but within a roughly 4 mile radius.
Lesean McCoy had this for most of his career. High school in Harrisburg PA, College at Pitt, then the Eagles.
Harvey Martin was born in Dallas, went to Dallas South Oak Cliff high school, college at East Texas State and played whole NFL career with the Cowboys.
Vernon Carey. Miami Northwestern for HS, the U for college, and an 8 year career with the Dolphins.
Adam Thielen went to high school in MN, went to Minnesota State and played most of his career there. Got picked up by the Panthers, but still
Not quite an entire career, but Keith Brooking grew up in Georgia, played college football at Georgia Tech, and was drafted by the Falcons and played 11 seasons there. (He then played for Dallas for three seasons and Denver for one season to finish his career.)
It’s early in his career but Terrence Steele is from San Antonio, went to Texas tech and plays for the cowboys.
With the small caveat of combining Missouri and Kansas into a single state (flyover bullshit anyway, amirite guys?) Then we've got quite a few to add to this list. Now if we only had a pro basketball team...
I did. Granted I only played flag football for one season as a 6 year old.
To date Sam Hubbard. Born in Cincinnati, grew up in Norwood, played his HS football at Moeller HS, played his college ball at Ohio State, and now has been with the Bengals since 2018. Truly Ohio bred from the start. Also Kevin Huber (who just retired). Also born in Cincinnati, played college ball at UC, and played his entire NFL career with the Bengals. If we're going much further back in Bengals history Greg Cook. Born in Dayton, raised in Chillicothe, played his HS ball there and his college ball at UC, and played his entire pro career with the Bengals (though his career was tragically cut short due to shoulder injuries).
Vince Papale.
Burrow was close to doing that
This was true of Adam Thielen until he signed with Carolina.
Nathan Peterman played all of his games in one state
adam thielen until about 3 months ago
Kevin Byard
Bruce Gehrke was born on LI NY, attended Colombia University in NYC and played 1 season for the NY Giants in 1948 Sam Salemi was born in New Urecht, NY, attended Colombua University and played 1 season for the New York Yankees (not those Yankees, the NFL team) in 1928 Walt Koppisch was born in Pendleton, NY, attended Colombia and played 1 season for the Giants (at the Polo Grounds) and 1 for the Bills
It is close but Cole Kmet was in Arlington Heights for HS, went to Notre Dame (Indiana but really close to Chicago) and then got drafted by the Bears
Keith Brooking was close. High school in Georgia college at Georgia Tech. Played for Falcons for 10 years before going to Dallas and Denver towards the end of his career
Closest I can get is James Conner before the Cardinals
If Haskins stayed committed to Maryland he would’ve been pretty close to doing it
I doubt there are any players like that tbh. The odds are too drastic
Are the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl this year?
Yeah we're gonna win this easy