Football Players From These Colleges Make the Most Total NFL Money
Powerhouses such as Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Ohio State have dominated the college football scene the past few years, racking up nine of the past 11 national championships between them.
But does that success translate to the next level, especially financially? After all, students go to college to set themselves up for their careers and future success, right?
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GOBankingRates looked at which colleges' players have the most lucrative NFL careers. We calculated total active players, total earnings and looked at the top active earner from each school.
Read on to see which colleges produce players that make the most total NFL money.
25. Michigan State
Active Players: 19
Total Earnings: $286,096,516
Top Earner: Kirk Cousins
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $161,669,486
Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 56.51%
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24. Miami (Florida)
Active Players: 28
Total Earnings: $302,781,318
Top Earner: Calais Campbell
Top Earning Position: Defensive end
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $128,091,393
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 42.30%
23. Nebraska
Active Players: 25
Total Earnings: $310,683,417
Top Earner: Ndamukong Suh
Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $166,165,157
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 53.48%
22. Virginia Tech
Active Players: 23
Total Earnings: $323,208,461
Top Earner: Duane Brown
Top Earning Position: Left tackle
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $82,773,616
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 25.61 %
21. UCLA
Active Players: 30
Total Earnings: $361,229,682
Top Earner: Anthony Barr
Top Earning Position: Outside linebacker
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $59,407,579
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 16.45%
20. Penn State
Active Players: 40
Total Earnings: $366,524,924
Top Earner: Allen Robinson
Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $64,530,505
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 17.61%
19. Iowa
Active Players: 42
Total Earnings: $369,935,550
Top Earner: Riley Reiff
Top Earning Position: Left tackle
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $69,648,637
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 18.83%
18. South Carolina
Active Players: 30
Total Earnings: $387,202,771
Top Earner: Stephon Gilmore
Top Earning Position: Cornerback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $87,456,433
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 22.59%
17. Boston College
Active Players: 17
Total Earnings: $388,596,784
Top Earner: Matt Ryan
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $267,007,749
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 68.71%
16. Stanford
Active Players: 32
Total Earnings: $408,879,214
Top Earner: Richard Sherman
Top Earning Position: Cornerback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $83,860,115
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 20.51%
15. Southern California
Active Players: 29
Total Earnings: $418,624,378
Top Earner: Tyron Smith
Top Earning Position: Left tackle
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $98,297,504
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.48%
14. Florida
Active Players: 46
Total Earnings: $452,540,051
Top Earner: Carlos Dunlap
Top Earning Position: Defensive end
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $78,140,148
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 17.27%
13. Florida State
Active Players: 32
Total Earnings: $474,802,358
Top Earner: Rodney Hudson
Top Earning Position: Center
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $71,553,707
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 15.07%
12. Mississippi State
Active Players: 25
Total Earnings: $508,748,939
Top Earner: Dak Prescott
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $111,317,825
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 21.88%
11. Notre Dame
Active Players: 46
Total Earnings: $511,870,355
Top Earner: Ronnie Stanley
Top Earning Position: Tackle
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $79,145,183
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 15.46%
10. Oklahoma
Active Players: 41
Total Earnings: $533,697,817
Top Earner: Trent Williams
Top Earning Position: Left tackle
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $140,617,449
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 26.35%
9. Clemson
Active Players: 36
Total Earnings: $578,437,613
Top Earner: DeAndre Hopkins
Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $97,677,890
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings:16.89%
8. Wisconsin
Active Players: 30
Total Earnings: $589,894,339
Top Earner: Russell Wilson
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $181,362,520
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 30.74%
7. Texas A&M
Active Players: 32
Total Earnings: $604,698,389
Top Earner: Von Miller
Top Earning Position: Outside linebacker
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $144,475,534
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.89%
6. California
Active Players: 21
Total Earnings: $685,117,876
Top Earner: Aaron Rodgers
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $263,608,010
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 38.48%
5. Georgia
Active Players: 57
Total Earnings: $713,951,607
Top Earner: Matthew Stafford
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $239,306,037
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 33.52%
4. Michigan
Active Players: 47
Total Earnings: $737,078,122
Top Earner: Tom Brady
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $302,962,392
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 41.10%
3. Ohio State
Active Players: 64
Total Earnings: $848,099,420
Top Earner: Cameron Heyward
Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $88,732,734
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 10.46%
2. LSU
Active Players: 67
Total Earnings: $880,552,186
Top Earner: Patrick Peterson
Top Earning Position: Cornerback
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $102,757,324
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 11.67%
1. Alabama
Active Players: 67
Total Earnings: $966,830,908
Top Earner: Julio Jones
Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
Top Earner's Career Earnings: $140,640,527
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 14.55%
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Methodology: GOBankingRates used Spotrac's NFL College Tracker data to find the 25 colleges that turned out players that make the most total NFL money. For each of these colleges, GOBankingRates found the following data points: (1) university name; (2) total active players in the NFL; (3) total career earnings from these players, (4) top career earner from each school; (5) top earner's career earnings; and (6) percent top earner's career earnings make of the (3) total career earnings for the school. All data was collected on and up to date as of Aug. 23, 2022.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Football Players From These Colleges Make the Most Total NFL Money
