High school football is arguably the most important thing going on Friday nights in Georgia.
And while high school might be the highest level many play at, a dream of glory on the professional gridiron teases others.
Those dreams come true more often if an athlete plays for a Top 40 high school. Stadium Talk, with the help of
Pro-Football-Reference.com, calculated which high schools have produced the most NFL players, and one Georgia school made the list. The top schools come from just 11 states, with California topping the list at 13. Texas and Florida have seven schools each on the list.
Georgia is among those 11 states because of Griffin High School. Griffin has had 20 players reach the NFL and play in at least one game. Griffin tied with Santa Monica (Santa Monica, Calif.), Warren G. Harding (Warren, Ohio),
Bakersfield (Bakersfield, Calif.), Miami Central (Miami, Fla.) and Junipero Serra (Gardena, Calif.).
Two of Griffin’s alum are household names.
Jessie Tuggle spent his entire football career in Georgia, playing college ball at Valdosta State and pro ball with the Falcons.
» Looking back: Tuggle known for nickname and his determination
» Best player in school history: Region 3-AAAAA teams
Willie Gault left the state to play for the University of Tennessee, and spent his professional football team with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Raiders. Gault qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team in track and field, but the United States boycotted those games.
Griffin's latest NFL product is Corey Moore, a safety with the Indianapolis Colts. The first Griffin player to reach the pros was John Brewer, in 1929.
Check out Stadium Talk's top 40 schools here.
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