No, this is not a promo for the USA or the UN. It’s the 2010 Titans roster. And it is indicative of the widespread popularity of football.
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| VY leaping (courtesy inewscatcher.com) |
In all, approximately 38 states are represented among the hometowns’ and alma maters’ of the 2010 Titans players and coaches. Of the U.S. states not represented, nine of the 11 have minimal NFL representation overall, including New England states and several western states without major football traditions.
California is the most represented. Ten players or coaches hail from the Golden State. Florida is next with seven. Texas and North Carolina tie for third with six representatives. (Sounds like an election year, right?....)
California is the most represented. Ten players or coaches hail from the Golden State. Florida is next with seven. Texas and North Carolina tie for third with six representatives. (Sounds like an election year, right?....)
Throw in Jamaica, Estonia and the Philippines for good measure. Jovan Haye was born in Jamaica, Michael Roos is from Estonia (he lived there until he was 10 years old) and Eugene Amano is one of only three NFL players all time born in the Philippines.
Pennsylvania and Georgia have four representatives each. Alabama has three. And don’t forget Tennessee, which has four- or is that 77? After all, the 61 players (53 plus practice squad) and 16 coaches call Nashville home as well.
The college with the most Titans is of course UT- the UT in Texas. Notable Longhorns who are now Titans are Vince Young, Bo Scaife, Armard Hall and Michael Griffin.
Can you name the nine Titans from California? Hint- five are players, four are coaches.
How about the Titans from the Sunshine State, Florida? All seven are players.
The Lone Star state fares well with the Titans. The franchise of course began in Houston, and owner Bud Adams lives there. Of the six Titans with Texas roots, five are native Texans- Colin Allred (Dallas), VY, Hall and Ryan Mouton (Houston) and Coach Steve McGinnis (Snyder).
North Carolina has a strong showing. Four of the six Carolina representatives are actually natives of the state, while two more played college ball at sizable Carolina schools. Steven Tulloch played at N.C. State (enrollment: 31,000), while CJ played at ECU in Greenville (enrollment: 27,500). In all, five Titans’ starters/regulars have NC connections- David Thornton (Goldsboro, UNC), Leroy Harris (Raleigh, NC State), William Hayes (High Point, Winston Salem State), Tulloch and CJ. Chris Hope is from a suburb of Charlotte, Rock Hill, which is technically in South Carolina, just 25 miles south of Charlotte.
The New York/New Jersey area is well represented. Chris Simms is from NYC suburb Ramapo, NJ, while Jason McCourtey is also from a Big Apple burb, Nyack NY. Brett Kern is from the other side of the Empire State, near Niagara Falls/Buffalo.
Kenny Britt is from New Bayonne, NJ, just 15 miles from Manhattan. Bayonne is a town just east of Newark, the largest city in New Jersey. Both Britt and McCourtey attended Rutgers, located in New Brunswick, NJ, about 40 miles from Manhattan. and Britt is Rutgers first-ever first-round NFL draft pick.
Okay, California. There are Titans from all three main regions of Cali- Norcal, Socal and San Diego. Lavelle Hawkins is from Stockton near San Francisco (Cal). SoCal has three players- David Ball (Fairfield, UCLA), Craig Stevens (port city San Pedro, Cal) and Alterraun Verner (Carson, UCLA). Eugene Amano is from San Diego (he moved to the U.S. shortly after his birth.) Robert Johnson is from LA.
Four coaches are Californians- Jeff Fisher (Woodland Hills), Chuck Cecil (Red Bluff, two hours from Sacramento), Marcus Robertson (Pasadena) and Richie Wessman (San Clemente, USC), the Quality Control/Offense coach.
Most of the main regions of Florida are represented on the Titans’ team, from north to south. Players from northern Florida are: Cortland Finnegan (Pensacola, Samford), Will Witherspoon (Panama City, Georgia) and Rusty Smith (Jacksonville, Florida Atlantic). Chris Johnson is from Orlando. And the Miami area hometown boys are Tulloch, Ken Amato (Montana State) and Jovan Haye (Vandy).
The Georgia reps are Gerald McRath (Powder Springs/Atlanta), Jared Cook (Suwanee/Atlanta), Will Witherspoon (college at Georgia) and Rennie Curran (Atlanta, then collge at Georgia).
Pennsylvania has four members of the team- Kerry Collins, Derrick Morgan and Tight Ends Coach John Zernhelt from Philly, and Mike Munchak from Scranton and Penn State.
Tennessee’s “official” reps are Tony Brown (Chattanooga, then Univ. of Memphis), Jacob Ford (Memphis) and Haye and Jaime Winborn from Vandy.
Michigan has Jason Jones (Detroit), Jason Babin (Kalamazoo) and Javon Ringer (Michigan State). Missouri boys are Justin Gage (Jefferson City, then Missouri), Coach Marty Galbraith (Joplin) and Eugene Amano (Southeast Missouri State).
The Alabama reps are David Stewart (Moulton, Miss. State), Sen’Derrick Marks (Mobile, Auburn) and Jaime Winborn (Wetumpka).
Ohio players (no pun intended) are Donnie Nickey (Plain City, then Ohio State), Javon Ringer (Dayton) and Brett Kern (University of Toledo).
Depending on who makes the final 61-man team, there are approximately 22 states with one representative. The few football-known states without reps on the Titans are Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska. Last season’s roster with Kyle Vanden Bosch would have included Nebraska, where he played in college.
Just as in the rest of the NFL, the New England area is not very represented, including five of the six states there- Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, plus Delaware which is east of Maryland.
Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the two smaller northeast states that made the cut. O-Guard Ryan Durand is from Worcester, Mass. Assistant Head Coach and longtime strength coach Steve Waterson is a native of Newport, Rhode Island. The five northeast states not in the Titans’ fold have a combined population of 7.6 million, about 2.5% of the US population.
Other states not exactly known as football hotbeds are also not represented, including Nevada, South Dakota, New Mexico and Alaska. The three states not on the list are Kansas, Minnesota and West Virginia.
Those Alaskans are certainly a unique citizen. A certain writer once knew an Alaskan who for all intents and purposes seemed very normal yet had one major, glaring characteristic that stood out. This certain human had never seen a football game- not on TV, not in person, never.
Ahh, no wonder there are not many NFL players from the state. In fact, there are approximately nine NFL players all-time from Alaska, with seven from the modern era. According to records, none played college ball in their home state. The most notable Alaskan is regular ESPN NFL analyst Mark Schlereth, a 12-year player for the Redskins and Broncos. He played in college at Idaho.
The Lone Star state fares well with the Titans. The franchise of course began in Houston, and owner Bud Adams lives there. Of the six Titans with Texas roots, five are native Texans- Colin Allred (Dallas), VY, Hall and Ryan Mouton (Houston) and Coach Steve McGinnis (Snyder).
North Carolina has a strong showing. Four of the six Carolina representatives are actually natives of the state, while two more played college ball at sizable Carolina schools. Steven Tulloch played at N.C. State (enrollment: 31,000), while CJ played at ECU in Greenville (enrollment: 27,500). In all, five Titans’ starters/regulars have NC connections- David Thornton (Goldsboro, UNC), Leroy Harris (Raleigh, NC State), William Hayes (High Point, Winston Salem State), Tulloch and CJ. Chris Hope is from a suburb of Charlotte, Rock Hill, which is technically in South Carolina, just 25 miles south of Charlotte.
The New York/New Jersey area is well represented. Chris Simms is from NYC suburb Ramapo, NJ, while Jason McCourtey is also from a Big Apple burb, Nyack NY. Brett Kern is from the other side of the Empire State, near Niagara Falls/Buffalo.
Kenny Britt is from New Bayonne, NJ, just 15 miles from Manhattan. Bayonne is a town just east of Newark, the largest city in New Jersey. Both Britt and McCourtey attended Rutgers, located in New Brunswick, NJ, about 40 miles from Manhattan. and Britt is Rutgers first-ever first-round NFL draft pick.
Okay, California. There are Titans from all three main regions of Cali- Norcal, Socal and San Diego. Lavelle Hawkins is from Stockton near San Francisco (Cal). SoCal has three players- David Ball (Fairfield, UCLA), Craig Stevens (port city San Pedro, Cal) and Alterraun Verner (Carson, UCLA). Eugene Amano is from San Diego (he moved to the U.S. shortly after his birth.) Robert Johnson is from LA.
Four coaches are Californians- Jeff Fisher (Woodland Hills), Chuck Cecil (Red Bluff, two hours from Sacramento), Marcus Robertson (Pasadena) and Richie Wessman (San Clemente, USC), the Quality Control/Offense coach.
Most of the main regions of Florida are represented on the Titans’ team, from north to south. Players from northern Florida are: Cortland Finnegan (Pensacola, Samford), Will Witherspoon (Panama City, Georgia) and Rusty Smith (Jacksonville, Florida Atlantic). Chris Johnson is from Orlando. And the Miami area hometown boys are Tulloch, Ken Amato (Montana State) and Jovan Haye (Vandy).
The Georgia reps are Gerald McRath (Powder Springs/Atlanta), Jared Cook (Suwanee/Atlanta), Will Witherspoon (college at Georgia) and Rennie Curran (Atlanta, then collge at Georgia).
Pennsylvania has four members of the team- Kerry Collins, Derrick Morgan and Tight Ends Coach John Zernhelt from Philly, and Mike Munchak from Scranton and Penn State.
Tennessee’s “official” reps are Tony Brown (Chattanooga, then Univ. of Memphis), Jacob Ford (Memphis) and Haye and Jaime Winborn from Vandy.
Michigan has Jason Jones (Detroit), Jason Babin (Kalamazoo) and Javon Ringer (Michigan State). Missouri boys are Justin Gage (Jefferson City, then Missouri), Coach Marty Galbraith (Joplin) and Eugene Amano (Southeast Missouri State).
The Alabama reps are David Stewart (Moulton, Miss. State), Sen’Derrick Marks (Mobile, Auburn) and Jaime Winborn (Wetumpka).
Ohio players (no pun intended) are Donnie Nickey (Plain City, then Ohio State), Javon Ringer (Dayton) and Brett Kern (University of Toledo).
Depending on who makes the final 61-man team, there are approximately 22 states with one representative. The few football-known states without reps on the Titans are Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska. Last season’s roster with Kyle Vanden Bosch would have included Nebraska, where he played in college.
Just as in the rest of the NFL, the New England area is not very represented, including five of the six states there- Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, plus Delaware which is east of Maryland.
Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the two smaller northeast states that made the cut. O-Guard Ryan Durand is from Worcester, Mass. Assistant Head Coach and longtime strength coach Steve Waterson is a native of Newport, Rhode Island. The five northeast states not in the Titans’ fold have a combined population of 7.6 million, about 2.5% of the US population.
Other states not exactly known as football hotbeds are also not represented, including Nevada, South Dakota, New Mexico and Alaska. The three states not on the list are Kansas, Minnesota and West Virginia.
Those Alaskans are certainly a unique citizen. A certain writer once knew an Alaskan who for all intents and purposes seemed very normal yet had one major, glaring characteristic that stood out. This certain human had never seen a football game- not on TV, not in person, never.
Ahh, no wonder there are not many NFL players from the state. In fact, there are approximately nine NFL players all-time from Alaska, with seven from the modern era. According to records, none played college ball in their home state. The most notable Alaskan is regular ESPN NFL analyst Mark Schlereth, a 12-year player for the Redskins and Broncos. He played in college at Idaho.
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