Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh has most NFL players; California leads states; Houston leads hometowns

Woodland Hills High School (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), with six players, tops the list of high schools with the most 2010 NFL players, USA Football announced today.  USA Football is the sport's national governing body on youth and amateur levels and is the official football development partner of the NFL and NFL Players Association.

The totals are based on the 1,696-man 2010 NFL Kickoff Weekend rosters.

“It is a very disciplined program,” says Arizona Cardinals wide receiver STEVE BREASTON of Woodland Hills.  “Coach (GEORGE) NOVAK does a good job of preparing players on the field and off the field.  It is a program that prepares you for the future.  A lot of Division I athletes come out of that school.  You are always competing, not just against other schools, but within that school.  It really pushes you and prepares you to compete at the next level.”

NFL players hail from 1,404 high schools in 48 states and the District of Columbia, four countries and one U.S. territory (American Samoa).

HIGH SCHOOLS WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS

Fourteen high schools have four players each in the NFL this year.  Thirty-six schools boast three NFLers, while 165 have two players apiece:

HOME STATES:  California tops the list of states with the most NFL players (211), followed by Texas (181) and Florida (177):

STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS

HOMETOWNS:  Houston heads the list of hometowns with the most players (24), followed by Miami (22) and Los Angeles (20):

HOMETOWNS WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS

NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA:  Louisiana, with one NFL player for every 65,720 residents, leads the list of NFL players per capita.  Mississippi (1 in 76,883) and Hawaii (1 in 80,769) rounds out the top three.  The national average is one NFL player per 165,933 U.S. residents.

STATES WITH MOST NFL PLAYERS PER CAPITA

AMERICAN SAMOA:  The United States territory of American Samoa has six NFL players, including two with the Cincinnati Bengals – DE Jonathan Fanene and DT Domata Peko.  The others are Seattle DT Junior Siavii, Chicago DT Matt Toeaina, Miami DT Paul Soliai and San Francisco DT Isaac Sopoaga.

NOTE:  To obtain a complete list of NFL players’ high schools, states and hometowns, plus rankings both alphabetically and numerically, contact the NFL Communications Department (212/450-2000) or log on to www.nflmedia.com.

About USA Football

USA Football, the sport's national governing body on youth and amateur levels, leads the game's development, inspires participation, and ensures a positive experience for all youth, high school, and other amateur players. The independent non-profit hosts more than 80 football training events annually for coaches, players and youth football league commissioners. USA Football is the official youth football development partner of the NFL, its 32 teams and the NFL Players Association and manages U.S. national teams for international competition. Endowed by the NFL and NFLPA in 2002 through the NFL Youth Football Fund, USA Football (usafootball.com) distributes $1 million annually in equipment grants and offers youth league volunteer background check subsidies. Former NFL team executive Carl Peterson is USA Football's chairman.