From Sauce Gardner to Brandon Graham, Detroit has more players in NFL than any other city
Forget Hockeytown — is Detroit the new Footballtown, U.S.A.?
The city had more players on NFL rosters during the opening week than any other city in the country, according to the NFL.
Detroit — the city proper, and not including the suburbs — had 19 high-school alumni suit up in Week 1. That tops Bradenton, Florida, which was second with 17 players in large part due to IMG Academy being in town.
What makes the accomplishment for Detroit extra impressive is the depth of talent across multiple high schools. For comparison, 14 of the 17 NFL players from Bradenton attended IMG, a school that brings in players from around the country and is known as an NFL factory.
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However, the Detroit high school with the most NFL players was Cass Tech, with five. That means there are 14 other players who attended various other high schools around the city, suggesting a high level of competition.
“Detroit football is tough, it's real gritty and grimy there," said New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, who attended Detroit King before attending Cincinnati, becoming a first-round pick in 2022 and winning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors last season. “There's a lot of talent though. Lots of people with a story. The majority of people that I know in the league from Detroit, they worked really hard to get out, and they made it."
Other notable players from Detroit include Brandon Graham of the Philadelphia Eagles, Desmond King of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Donovan Peoples-Jones of the Cleveland Browns, William Gholston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jourdan Lewis of the Dallas Cowboys.
The San Francisco 49ers alone have four Detroiters, while the Cowboys have three. The Detroit Lions do not have any, although they feature metro Detroiters Aidan Hutchinson (Dearborn Divine Child, Michigan) and Antonio Pittman (Birmingham Groves, Wayne State).
In total, eight Detroit high schools have players currently in the NFL: Allen Academy, Cass Tech, Crockett Tech, East English Village, King, Renaissance, Southeastern Tech, and Voyageur College Prep.
“High school football is the bedrock for advancement in our great game," said Roman Oben, the NFL's vice president of football development, in a release. “Recently, we have experienced growth in high school participation. It is amazing to see players making NFL rosters who come from nontraditional states not considered hotbed recruiting regions. Talent can come from all over the globe, and it takes growth from all areas to make up NFL rosters."
Despite Detroit's dominance, the rest of Michigan is not as prolific in getting high school players to the NFL. Michigan ranks 10th with 51 players suiting up, in Week 1, well behind Texas, at 187 NFL players, Florida (178) and California (173).
You can take a look at the entire list by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit has more NFL players than any other U.S. city
