The Atlantic Coast Conference and the National Football League

April 20, 2009

With the annual National Football League Draft scheduled to begin on Saturday, April, 25 at 4 pm, here is some information on the Atlantic Coast Conference and the National Football League which you might find useful in the days ahead.

Over the past three years, no conference has enjoyed more prominence in the NFL Draft than has the ACC which has seen more of its players taken on the first round of the Draft (25) than any other league as well as more of its players drafted (115) than any other conference.

The ACC enters this year having supplied the NFL with the first defensive player chosen in each of the past three years—an unprecedented feat—with NC State’s Mario Williams being chosen in 2006, Clemson’s Gaines Adams in 2007 and Virginia’s Chris Long in 2008. No other conference has had more than two consecutive defenders chosen as the top defensive player, and the ACC has a chance to extend the streak to four in a row this year.

Not only have more ACC players been chosen in the NFL Draft over the last three years, but:

Last year current ACC teams had more Pro Bowl participants selected (20) than any other league (SEC was next with 13).
Last year current ACC teams supplied 22 players to the rosters of the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, tying the Big Ten for the most former student-athletes on the rosters of the Super Bowl XLIII participants.
Current ACC schools had 254 former players on the opening-day rosters for teams in the National Football League. Only the SEC had more (259) and the ACC was the only conference with nine of its schools among the Top 27 teams with players on opening day NFL rosters.