If You Had To Play For Your Hometown Team

The NFL’s Hometown Rosters? August 12, 2014? By Andrew Powell-Morse?   As a Texan, I am  proud of my state’s football heritage. Year in and year out, great Texas high school football players pop up in both the big cities and the small towns across our state. The same can be said for California (which produces more NFL players than any other state) and Florida. These “big three” states account for nearly a third of all of the players currently in the NFL. I wondered, though – what if every pro football player was rostered on the NFL team he was born closest to? The Texas, California and Florida NFL teams would, logically, have some pretty mean starting rosters. But what would the rest of the teams look like? Using the territories indicated by this map I found the answer to this question for all of the NFL teams. In the study, I combined the 49ers and Raiders, the Giants and Jets, and the Redskins and Ravens. I also plugged in players who were born outside of a team’s target area if that team didn’t have any local guys at a certain position. These replacement players – identified with a blue dot – were pulled from places as close to the team’s target area as possible. Enjoy!B.J. Daniels – Tallahassee, FL CJ Spiller – Lake Butler, FL Eric Weems – Daytona Beach, FL Dexter McCluster – Largo, FL (Not from target area.) Gavin Escobar – New York, NY (Not from target area.) Josh Sitton – Jacksonville, FL Glenn Cordy – Atlanta, GA (Not from target area.) Antonio Cromartie – Tallahassee, FL William Gay - Tallahassee, FL Antonio Allen – Ocala, FL Stephen Nicholas – Jacksonville, FL Ernie Sims - Tallahassee, FL Cliff Avril – Jacksonville, FL Brodrick Bunkley – Tampa, FL (Not from target area.)Geno Smith - Miami, FL Frank Gore – Miami, FL Pierre Garcon – West Palm Beach, FL Andre Johnson – Miami, FL DC Jefferson – Winter Haven, FL (Not from target area.) Davin Joseph – Hallendale, FL Gosder Cherilus – Haiti Brandon Flowers – Delray Beach, FL Patrick Peterson – Fort Lauderdale, FL Antrel Rolle – Homestead, FL Jonathan Vilma – Coral Gables, FL Tamba Hali – Gbanga, Liberia Jason Pierre-Paul –  Deerfield Beach, FL Vince Wilfork – Boynton Beach, FLMatthew Stafford – Tampa, FL Chris Johnson – Orlando, FL Ace Sanders – Bradenton, FL Harry Douglas – Tampa, FL Charles Orson – Tampa, FL Thomas Welch – Deltona, FL Jah Reid – Kissimmee, FL Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie – Bradenton, FL Sam Shields – Sarasota, FL Brandon Meriweather – Apopka, FL D’Qwell Jackson – Largo, FL Albert Mclellan – Lakeland, FL Pernell Mcphee – Orlando, FL Kyle Wilber – Orlando, FLFor the entire league.....link