BCSP NFL REPORT
NFL numbers up one
Number of black college players up to 45
Opening Day Rosters - Players by School - NFL/HBCU Numbers
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Despite the addition of seven rookies, the number of black college players on NFL opening-day rosters (45) increased by just one this year after teams made the final cuts over the weekend.
Five players drafted in this year's NFL Draft and two rookie free
agents made either their teams' 53-man roster or
their practice squads. Houston rookie wide
receiver/kick returner Jacoby Jones, a third round pick
out of Lane of the SIAC, made the biggest
impression in the pre-season returning two punts (80 and
91 yards) for TDs and catching eight passes for
105 yards and scoring twice as a receiver. In a
very short time, Jones has become the poster boy of
the Texans, who enter a new era under new coach Gary Kubiak and new starting quarterback
Matt Schaub. Jones is prominently displayed on the front page of the team's website, and on its
on-line season ticket promotion.
The other draftees _ Hampton linebacker Justin Durant (2nd round - Jacksonville), Alabama A&M linebacker Johnny Baldwin (5th round - Detroit), North Carolina Central defensive tackle Greg Peterson (5th round - Tampa Bay) and Alabama State defensive back Michael Coe (5th round - Indianapolis) _ all made their squads along with former Arkansas-Pine Bluff fullback Charles Ali (Cleveland) and Hampton running back Alonzo Coleman (Dallas - Practice Squad) as rookie free agents.
On the other end of the spectrum, New York Giants' veteran Michael Strahan, the Hall of Fame bound defensive end out of Texas Southern, decided as training camp wrapped to return for his 15th year in the league. He and former Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair of Baltimore, entering his 13th season, will be the black college products with the most experience in the league.
Durant and Coleman helped Hampton tie Grambling State with the most black college players in the league with five. Howard and North Carolina A&T will have four players in the league this year.
Green Bay has the most black college players on its roster with five. Jacksonville, Kansas City, St. Louis and Houston have four.
With 20 players currently in the league, the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference retains a slight lead over the Southwestern Athletic Conference's 18 in the NFL. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is next with six. There are no Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association players and one from the non-HBCU conference schools currently in the league. Defensive backs (16) far outnumber defensive linemen (7) and linebackers (7) as the most prominent position played by HBCU alums.
Among the well-know veterans who didn't make opening day rosters are 12-year veteran defensive back Tyrone Poole out of Fort Valley State, who was signed and then cut by Houston, nine-year veteran wide receiver Corey Bradford out of Jackson State, cut by Washington and former Fort Valley State running back Derrick Wimbush, let go by Jacksonville.
© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.