Back in December of 2015, I did a blog about the astronomical
odds of college football players that make it to the next level (Who’s Pimpin
Who?) For the 2015 season, 255 out of the 15,842 draft eligible players were
drafted. That’s 0.016% Less than two percent. A recent article by Rick Maese
that I read rekindled my interest.
Actually, the article was a can of gasoline.
This article dealt with the top 100 high school football
recruits from ten years ago. Let me give you the paperback version: of that top
100, only 39 were eventually drafted into the NFL. Out of that group, twenty
are still in the league. Seven made the Pro Bowl. Four are deceased.
Some of the recruits from that class have familiar names.
Cam Newton recently won the league MVP award. Dez Bryant, Eric Berry and Joe
Haden are part of the Pro Bowl class. Other more infamous names include Rolando
McClain who is currently under suspension for repeated substance-abuse
violations and Aaron Hernandez, recruit #66 who is now inmate #W106228, having
been convicted of murder. The facility he is in is an hour away from
Foxborough, Mass., where his former Patriots teammates are preparing for this
weekend’s Super Bowl.
The reasons as to why the others didn’t make it are as
varied as the football positions. For some it was a blown out knee here, torn
ligament there. For others, it was self-inflicted robbery here, assault there. There
are some who say that not making it was the best thing that happened to them.
But at the end of the day, only one out of five of this
group is still living their initial dream of playing professional football.
By the way, the high school National Signing Day is this
Wednesday.
