I did this once with baseball. The idea was to see who were the best players from the brainiest, most elite schools out there. So, why not do football?
One thing before we get started... So, to get on this list, you’re going to have to have
some alumni actually make the NFL. And that eliminates MIT, Johns Hopkins, CMU,
Emory, and Cal Tech.
Let’s see how the rest shake out.
Swarthmore
Ned Wilcox, OB
I always thought Swarthmore was a girls school. Bad on me.
It was, though, one of the first co-educational institutions out there. Another
thing that makes it unique is there is no grad school.
It’s one of the Little Ivys, and has been voted the top
liberal arts school in the country a number of times. Alumni include five Nobel
Prize winners and 11 MacArthur Foundation Fellows.
At one time, it was a big football school, along with the other
private schools in the Northeast. In the early 1920s, though, the program was geared
back in favor of academics. And in 2000, football was eliminated altogether.
Swarthmore has only 5 NFL alumni. I picked Ned Wilcox as the
best of the 5 based solely on the number of games he played in – 26 total, 17
as a starter. He played for 2 years, 1926 and 1927, for the Frankford Yellow
Jackets.
And, yes, that is indeed an NFL team. In fact, they won the
championship in 1926, one of the years Wilcox played with them. Frankford is a
suburb of Philadelphia, and the team was basically the first representative of
Philly in the NFL. They folded in 1931, just 2 years before the Eagles entered
the league.
That’s our man, last row, 2nd from the right
Georgetown
Augie Lio, OL/K/P
With due respect to Notre Dame and Boston College,
Georgetown is the most elite Catholic school out there. This Jesuit-run school
in DC was founded in 1789, and lists 28 Rhodes Scholars, 429 Fulbright
Scholars, 8 billionaires, 2 Supreme Court Justices, 2 Presidents, and 14
foreign heads of state among their alumni. It’s also produced more U.S.
diplomats than any other school.
I think we’re all familiar with their basketball team. Though
the football team dates back to 1874 and made an Orange Bowl appearance in 1941,
it’s seen some pretty hard times as of late. In fact, the program was suspended
from 1951 to 1970. Offering no scholarships, they’ve only had one winning
season since 2000.
That said, they do have a fair amount of NFL alumni – 59, to
be exact. Augie Lio is probably the
best. He played for 7 years, from 1941 to 1947. An offensive lineman, he was
also a kicker/punter, and was selected to the Pro Bowl twice.
Lio became an award-winning sportswriter after hanging up
his cleats.
Fun fact: Augie’s
full name was Agostine Salvatore.
Univ of Chicago
Solly Sherman, QB
Probably the best university not on either coast, the
University of Chicago has turned out an incredible 99 Nobel laureates. It was
also the site of the first nuclear reactor and is the home of radiocarbon
dating.
Interestingly, it was also once known for its football team.
Coached by Hall of Famer Amos Alonzo Stagg, the Maroons were a founding member
of the Big 10, winning 7 conference titles. The team was disbanded in 1939, however,
in an attempt to emphasize academics. It was reinstated 30 years later, in Div
III.
A local boy, Solly Sherman played
for the University of Chicago and also for the Chicago Bears. Though he was
with the latter for only 2 seasons (leaving to fight in WWII), he made the Pro
Bowl for one of those. Probably his lasting legacy, though, was teaching the then-novel
T formation to Sid Luckman (see below), who used it power a HoF career.
Solly, whose real name was Saul, lived to the ripe old age
of 93. And, yes, he was indeed Jewish.
Tufts
Mark Buben, NT/DE
There are so many good schools in Boston that I think Tufts often
gets overlooked. Like Georgetown, it’s known in particular for its
international relations program. Alumni & faculty include 3 Nobel Laureates,
12 Pulitzer winners, 5 governors, 2 senators, 4 Emmy winners, 3 Oscar winners, 17
Fulbright scholars & 4 Rhodes scholars. Specific alumni include Jamie Dimon
(head of Citibank), Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay) & politician Daniel
Patrick Moynihan.
The football team has fielded a team consecutively since
1874, have played in over 1,000 games & was a participant in what may have
been the first football game ever, beating Harvard 1-0. They play today in Div
III.
They’ve had 9 players make the NFL, mostly back in the
1920s. Their best player, though, is recent grad Mark Buben. He played from
1979 to 1981, getting in 35 games, mostly with the New England Patriots.
Fun fact: Tufts
sports teams are known as the Jumbos after one of donor PT Barnum’s elephants.
Williams
Scott Perry, DB
Williams is another of the Little Ivys. Dating back to 1793,
its alumni include a president (Garfield), 9 Pulitzer Prize winners, 14
billionaires, 71 members of Congress, 22 governors & 40 Rhodes scholars.
It’s been ranked the #1 national liberal arts by USNWR since 2004.
The football program dates back to 1881. The now Div III
team has a huge rivalry with Amherst, with their matchup being called the Biggest
Little Game in America.
Wiliams has sent 6 players to the NFL. Their top alum, Scott
Perry, played for 5 years, mostly with the Bengals. His best year was 1978, when
he made 3 interceptions, 2 of which he returned for touchdowns.
A true preppy (his middle name is Endecott), he went to the
prestigious Kent School before heading to Williams. After the NFL, he started a
career teaching elementary school.
Fun fact: Williams teams are know as Ephs (pronounced
“eefs”), after founder Ephraim Williams. Their mascot is a purple cow.
Princeton
Dennis Norman, C/OT
Don’t need to say anything about Princeton here. It’s
currently the #1 school on USNWR rankings.
Like the rest of the Ivys, Princeton was pretty big-time
football-wise, oh, about 100 years ago. The Tigers are generally credited with
being in the first college football game, getting beaten by Rutgers 6-4. Between
1869 and 1929, they won 22 national titles. Since the official start of the Ivy
League (in 1956), the Tigers have won 11 conference titles.
With all that history, it’s not too surprising that Princeton
has sent 37 players to the NFL. Dennis Norman rates the highest, having played
for 6 years total (from 2003 to 2009), mostly at center & mostly with the
Chargers. Post football, he got an MBA at Penn, worked for McKinsey & is
currently Senior Director for Product Strategic Planning at Cox Communications.
Middlebury
Stephen Hauschka, K
Middlebury is yet another of the Little Ivys. Dating back to
1800, the Vermont school’s alumni include 10 governors & 25 congressmen. A
classic liberal arts school, it hosts the prestigious Bread Loaf Writer’s
Conference. It’s also pretty well-known for being one of the most liberal
schools around.
The football team dates back to 1893. Unfortunately, the
program was disbanded in 1925, only coming back to life in 1959. Since then,
though, the Panthers have been pretty successful in DIII, notching 4 league championships
since 2000 & being the first team in their league to go undefeated.
Only 3 alumni have made it to the NFL, with Stephen Hauschka
the only modern-era player. He played for 13 years, accounting for over 1,100
points. He was All Pro in 2013 and a Pro Bowl alternate in 2016. His longest
field goal was 58 yards, the league leader in 2014.
Originally a soccer/lacrosse player at Middlebury, Hauschka
tried out for the football team after getting cut from the soccer team and with
the encouragement of some friends. He had actually never kicked a football
before his sophomore year. A cum laude grad, as well as the son of a doctor and
dentist, he turned dental school down to join the NFL.
McGill
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, OT
McGill, located in Montreal, is basically Canada’s Harvard. Their
alumni include 12 Nobel laureates, 147 Rhodes Scholars, 18 billionaires & 3
prime ministers.
And, yes, they do play football there. In fact, the Redbirds
(formerly, the politically incorrect Redmen), have been playing since 1874, getting
shut out by Harvard in their first game. Over the years, they’ve won 10
national (i.e., Canadian) championships. Things have been a little rough as of
late, though, with the team having winless seasons in 2011 and 2012. They’ve
gone 1-7 each of the last 3 years.
Though quite a few Redbirds have played in the CFL, only 3
have made the NFL. Probably the best is Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who played
from 2015 to 2022, mostly with the Chiefs. All told, he played in 60 games, all
but a handful as a starter.
It’s what he’s done off the field, though, that really makes
him special. And that includes getting an MD, getting a Masters from Harvard
(in public health), being made a knight (of the National Order of Quebec), and
winning a number of awards, including SI’s Sportsperson of the Year. BTW, he is
the son of a former cabinet minister.
“So, Doc, I have this thing on my toe …”
Amherst
Freddie Scott, WR
Another Little Ivy, Amherst dates to back to 1821. The
Massachusetts-based school has produced 6 Nobel Prize winners, 20 Rhodes
Scholars, a president (Coolidge), a Chief Justice & 3 Speakers of the House
of Representatives. USNWR has ranked it the #1 liberal arts college 10 times.
The Mammoths played their first football game in 1877. The
Div III school is part of the Little Three, which also includes Williams and
Wesleyan. As mentioned under Williams, the rivalry between the two is one of
the best in the country.
Five alumni have made the NFL, with only one of those dating
back to the early days of the league. The best of the modern players is
probably Freddie Scott, who played for 10 years as a pro. During that time, he
caught 262 passes for 4,270 yards.
Scott turned down medical school to play in the NFL. He now
works for the Arkansas Department of Education. The Arkansas native also has a
son who played in the NFL as well (though he went to Penn State).
Fun fact: The
Mammoths were formerly known as the Lord Jeffs, after Lord Jeffrey Amherst, for
whom the school is named. Unfortunately, he’s the same guy who supposedly gave
the Indians smallpox-infected blankets. The name Mammoths comes from a world-renown
specimen in the college’s museum.
Washington University
Shelby Jordan, OT
Poor Washington U. Easily confused with George Washington
(in DC) and the University of Washington (in Seattle), it’s often (and
officially) called Washington University in St Louis.
That said, it’s one the best schools in the Midwest, and definitely
the best in the Mississippi Valley. It’s known as one of the Hidden Ivies, and has
been ranked as high as 11th (WSJ) and 24th (USNWR) in the nation.
The football program goes back to 1887. Two coaches, Weeb
Ewbank & Jimmy Conselman, have actually made it to Canton. Fourteen players
(Bears) have made it to the NFL, though only 1 in the last 70 years.
And that man is Shelby Jordan. He played in the NFL for
11 years in the 70s and 80s, getting in over 150 games. Originally a night
school student at Washington U, he was convinced by the coaching staff to try
out, eventually making the College Football Hall of Fame.
After football, he led a non-profit providing affordable urban
housing. He passed away just a couple of years ago, age 70.
Cornell
Seth Payne, NT/DT
Our second Ivy! Unlike the other Ivys, Cornell is different
in that in dates back to only 1865 and is a land-grant school (one of only a
handful of private ones). Alums & faculty include 62 Nobel laureates, 33
Rhodes Scholars, 10 current Fortune 500 CEOs & 35 billionaires.
The football program got going in 1887, though intramural play
began in 1869. The team, known as Big Red, has won 4 national championships
& 3 Ivy League ones (since 1956 for the latter).
35 Cornellians have made it to the pros, with Seth Payne
ranking #1. He played for 10 years, with Jacksonville & Houston, getting in
over 120 games. He now hosts a sports radio show in Houston.
Yale
Calvin Hill, RB
Another Ivy, and one I probably don’t need to say much more about.
Yale was pretty much it during the early days of college
football. The team dates back to 1872, with the Elis notching 26 national
championships between that year and 1909. Overall, the program produced 2
Heisman Trophy winners, 100 consensus All-Americans & 28 College Football
Hall of Fame inductees (including Walter Camp, the “Father of American Football”).
They haven’t done too badly in the modern era either. Since 1956,
when the Ivy League officially got started, they’ve won 18 league
championships. Their biggest rivalry is against Harvard, with that matchup
being called simply “The Game.”
Of Yale’s 33 NFL players, Calvin Hill ranks #1. The 1969
Rookie of the Year played for 7 seasons, making the Pro Bowl 4 times. He totaled
not quite 9,000 total yards rushing, and had 2 seasons with over 1,000 yards.
After retirement, Hill has been quite active, speaking
regularly, serving on numerous boards, & being active in a number of
different organizations. You may have heard of his son Grant, who picked a different
sport to excel in.
Father & son
Rice
Frank Ryan, QB
I guess you could call Rice the Harvard of Texas. They’re
currently ranked #12 according to Forbes and #17 according to USNWR. Alumni
include Joyce Carol Oates, Larry McMurtry, Howard Hughes & 14 astronauts.
The Owls have been playing football since 1912. They have 8
conference championships, 13 bowl game appearances & 93 NFLers to their
credit.
Frank Ryan is the most impressive of those – both for his
pro career and academics. He played in the NFL for 13 years, made 3 Pro Bowls, and
passed for over 1,000 completions and 16,000 yards.
He also earned a PhD at his alma mater and taught math there
as well. In addition, he was appointed to Rice’s Board of Governors and was
made the VP of external affairs.
Outside of Rice, Frank taught at Yale and was the AD there
as well. He was also a CEO, and is on the boards of several companies and
organizations. Finally, he was the IS director for the House of Representatives,
effectively bringing them into the computer age.
Fun fact: Temple,
Florida Atlantic & Bryn Mawr are also called the Owls.
Harvard
Matt Birk, C/OT
Well, certainly don’t need to say anything about these guys.
What’s surprising is how good the football program once was.
It began in 1873, with the Crimson notching 12 national championships between
1874 and 1919. Between 1889 and 1928, they had more than 80 first-team
All-Americans. Even in modern times, they’ve done fairly well, coming away with
18 Ivy League titles.
30 Harvard alums have gone to the NFL, with Matt Birk probably
being the best. He played for 14 years, mostly with the Vikings. He got in an
impressive 6 Pro Bowls and was the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2011.
Since retirement, Birk founded a Catholic school and became
involved in politics (including running – unsuccessfully – for lieutenant
governor in Minnesota).
Before and after
Vanderbilt
Jay Cutler, QB
Vanderbilt has been called the Harvard of the South (though
Duke might disagree). The school has produced 54 members of Congress, 18 ambassadors,
13 governors, 8 Nobel Prize laureates, 2 Vice Presidents & 2 Supreme Court
Justices. Less than 7% of applicants get in.
Being in the SEC, Vandy has some pretty strong sports
programs. Being the only private school in the conference, though, has made it really
hard to shine.
Before joining the SEC (as a founding member), the
Commodores had a much better record. Starting play in 1890, they accounted for
14 conference championships & 6 national ones. They’ve been in 9 bowl games
overall.
They’ve also had over 100 players make the NFL (113, to be
exact). QB Jay Cutler ranks as the best. The 1st-rounder played for
12 years, making the Pro Bowl once. He is still the Bears’ leader in passing
yards, touchdowns, attempts, and completions.
Fun fact: Cutler was
born in Santa Claus, IN.
Brown
Fritz Pollard, RB
Our next Ivy, Brown dates back to 1764, one of only 9 US
colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Alumni include 11 Nobel
winners, 27 Pulitzer Prize winners, 21 billionaires, 1 Supreme Court Chief
Justice, 4 U.S. Secretaries of State, over 100 members of the US Congress & 58 Rhodes Scholars.
The football team dates back to 1878. No national
championships, but they did have an undefeated season in 1926. They’ve won 4
Ivy League championships.
The Bears have sent 51 players to the pros, with Fritz
Pollard the Brownies only Hall of Famer. Pollard was something of the Jackie
Robinson of football, integrating the NFL way back in 1920. In total, he played
for 6 years, getting in one Pro Bowl. He was also a coach, leading Lincoln Univ
for a couple of years, and in the NFL for another couple as well.
Fun fact: Yours truly
had an uncle who was a back-up QB for the Brownies in the 1940s.
Dartmouth
Ed Healey, OL/TE
And yet another Ivy! Dating back to 1769, Dartmouth started
out as a school for Native Americans. Its list of notable alumni include 170
members of Congress, 24 U.S. governors, 23 billionaires, 8 Cabinet secretaries
and 81 Rhodes Scholars. Located in the middle of absolute nowhere, it’s the
most rustic of the Ivys.
Big Green football dates back to 1879, with the first
intercollegiate game (against Amherst) coming in 1881. Things were a little
rough in the early days, with the team once losing 53-0 to Yale and 112-0 to
Harvard. Things started looking up, though, with the Indians going 105-20-10 from
1901 to 1916. They’ve won 21 Ivy League titles, the most of any team.
Dartmouth has sent 42 alum to the NFL, with one, Ed Healey,
making it to Canton. He played for 9 years in the 1920s, getting in 88 games. He
was a 4-time Pro Bowler.
Fun fact: My dad
tried out for the team, but didn’t make it. He still had the scars to show for
it though.
Duke
Sonny Jurgensen, QB
The other Harvard of the South. Dating back to 1838,
Duke can claim 15 Nobel laureates, 50 Rhodes Scholars, 14 living billionaires
& 1 president (Nixon). They have a 6% acceptance rate.
Though mostly known as a basketball school, Duke has some football highights as well, including 18 conference championships &
15 bowl appearances.
They also produced 3 NFL Hall of Famers. Probably the best
of them is Sonny Jurgensen. He played for 18 years, made the Pro Bowl 5 times
& led the league in total offense 4 times.
After hanging up the cleats, Sonny was a long-time announcer
for the Skins.
Fun fact: Yours truly
went to Duke. I had nothing to do with the football program whatsoever, apart
from attending a few games.
Still goin’ strong at age 89
Columbia
Sid Luckman, QB
Another Ivy, Columbia dates back to 1754. Alumni include 7 Founding Fathers, 4 presidents,
34 foreign heads of state, 10 States Supreme Court justices, 103 Nobel
laureates, 53 living billionaires, 125 Pulitzer Prize winners & a partridge
in a pear tree.
The football program got started in 1870, and was involved
in some of the first football games ever. They claim 2 national titles & 1
Ivy League championship. That said, the Lions are really bad. They’ve got a 373–633–43
record all-time. They also set a record when they went winless in 47 games,
from 1983 to 1988.
Nevertheless, they did produce one Hall of Famer (out of 41
NFLers). Sid Luckman, a local boy from Brooklyn, helmed the Bears for 12
seasons. He won 4 championships with them, was a 5-time Pro Bowler & MVP in
1943.
After hanging up his cleats, he worked for the Bears org,
then got into business, eventually running his own company. And, yes, he is
Jewish too.
Fun fact: Jack
Kerouac came to Columbia on a football scholarship, breaking his leg in the
first game he played.
Penn
Chuck Bednarik, C/NT
The fourth-oldest college in the country, Penn was actually
founded by Benjamin Franklin. Its alumni list is truly impressive, and includes
8 signers of the Declaration, 7 signers of the Constitution, 3 presidents, 3
Supreme Court justices, 32 senators, 163 members of the House, 19 cabinet secretaries,
46 governors, and 9 foreign heads of state. It’s known in particular for its
business school, Wharton, often ranked tops in the country.
The football team dates back to 1876, and notched 7 national
championships back in the early days. In modern times, they’ve done pretty good
as well, sharing the record for most Ivy titles with Dartmouth. Altogether, they've played the most football games of any program out there, with a grand
total of 1,413.
Quaker alumni include John Heisman and John Outland, the
namesakes of two important college trophies. Another alum, Chuck Bednarik, is
the source for a trophy I had never heard of before, given to the best college defensive
player in the country.
Another NFL Hall of Famer, Bednarik was a #1 pick in the 1949
draft. He played for the hometown Eagles for 14 years, and was the last player to
play both offense and defense (and missing only 3 games over his entire career
to boot). He was a member of 2 championship teams and was in 8 Pro Bowls.
Unfortunately, he’s remembered mostly for some on-field controversy.
The most famous of these unfortunate incidents is something called simply “The
Hit.” In it, he laid out running back (& future announcer and fellow Hall
of Famer) Frank Gifford. It was the celebration over the unconscious player,
though, that got him in trouble.
Bednarik’s nickname, “Concrete Charlie,” actually came from his
job as a concrete salesman in the offseason – and not just his bone-jarring
tackles.
Northwestern
Otto Graham, QB
Another excellent school not on either coast, Northwestern
claims 33 Nobel Prize laureates, 45 Pulitzer Prize winners, 23 MacArthur
Fellows, 20 Rhodes Scholars, 10 living billionaires & 2 U.S. Supreme Court justices.
The football program dates back to 1876, though they only
played their first intercollegiate game in 1882. Northwestern was a founding
member of the Big 10, where they continue to play to this day. Overall, they’ve
won 10 conference (or division) titles, and have been in 16 bowl games.
The Wildcats have sent not quite 200 players to the NFL (they’re
2 short). They also have 2 players in Canton as well. One is John “Paddy”
Driscoll, a back in the 1920s.
The other is Otto Graham. Playing for the Browns for 10
years in the 40s and 50s, Graham had them in the championship game every year,
winning the title 7 times. He was a Pro Bowler or All Pro for all but 1 one of
those 10 years, and was MVP no less than 3 times.
Interestingly, Graham was also on a championship NBA team, making
him one of only two people who have titles in multiple major sports. He also
coached in college and the NFL (as well as being a GM in the latter).
Fun fact: The other
guy with multiple championships is Gene Conley, a journeyman pitcher & a benchwarmer in the NBA.
Stanford
John Elway, QB
Though only founded in 1885, Stanford has produced 58 Nobel
laureates, 29 Turing Award winners, 74 living billionaires, and 17 astronauts.
They also claim 1 president (Hoover) and the current PM of the UK (Rishi
Sunak). Known in particular for entrepreneurship, companies founded by alumni
currently gross $2.7 trillion in annual revenue.
The current football program is probably the best of the
schools listed here. Overall, they can claim 20 conference and division titles
and have appeared in 30 bowl games.
They’ve also sent 274 players to the NFL, including 4 Hall
of Famers. The best of them is probably John Elway. He played for the Broncos
for 16 years. The 6-time Pro Bowler also won the MVP and Walter Payton awards as
well. Finally, Elway helmed the Broncos to 2 Super Bowl championships, being
named MVP in one.
After his playing days were over, Elway stayed with the
Broncos in a number of different roles, including GM.
Fun fact: Elway was also drafted by the New York Yankees,
playing one season of minor league ball for them.
