Football Players From These Colleges Make the Most Total NFL Money

Powerhouses such as Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Ohio State have dominated the college football scene the past few years, racking up nine of the past 10 national championships between them.

But does that success translate to the next level, especially financially? After all, students go to college to set themselves up for their careers and future success, right?

Read: The Top 5 Richest College Football Programs
Related: Highest-Paid College Football Coaches of the Last 10 Years

GOBankingRates looked at which colleges’ players have the most lucrative NFL careers. We calculated total active players, total earnings and looked at the top active earner from each school.

Read on to see which colleges produce players that make the most total NFL money.

Last updated: Sept. 21, 2021

25. Penn State

Active Players: 38
Total Earnings: $299,500,529
Top Earner: Allen Robinson
Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $46,550,505
Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 54%

See: What It Really Costs To Attend America’s Top 50 Colleges

24. Miami (Ohio)

Active Players: 3
Total Earnings: $302,506,097
Top Earner: Ben Roethlisberger
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $253,286,864
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 83.73%

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23. Boston College

Active Players: 18
Total Earnings: $311,410,369
Top Earner: Matt Ryan
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $244,007,749
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 78.36%

Learn: The Highest-Paid Player on Every NFL Team

22. UCLA

Active Players: 28
Total Earnings: $311,660,767
Top Earner: Mercedes Lewis
Top Earning Position: Tight end
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $52,892,443
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 16.97%

21. Nebraska

Active Players: 20
Total Earnings: $337,701,452
Top Earner: Ndamukong Suh
Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $155,965,157
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 46.18%

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20. Iowa

Active Players: 38
Total Earnings: $369,693,698
Top Earner: Riley Reiff
Top Earning Position: Left tackle
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $60,183,932
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 16.28%

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19. Michigan State

Active Players: 16
Total Earnings: $373,331,323
Top Earner: Kirk Cousins
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $140,669,486
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 37.68%

18. Southern California

Active Players: 23
Total Earnings: $376,065,044
Top Earner: Tyron Smith
Top Earning Position: Left tackle
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $87,797,504
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.35%

17. Mississippi State

Active Players: 24
Total Earnings: $418,991,522
Top Earner: Fletcher Cox
Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $85,890,246
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 20.50%

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16. Stanford

Active Players: 31
Total Earnings: $444,608,897
Top Earner: Richard Sherman
Top Earning Position: Cornerback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $82,735,115
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 18.61%

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15. South Carolina

Active Players: 32
Total Earnings: $457,682,221
Top Earner: Melvin Ingram
Top Earning Position: Outside linebacker
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $81,222,338
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 17.75%

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14. Clemson

Active Players: 36
Total Earnings: $460,730,160
Top Earner: DeAndre Hopkins
Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $85,761,224
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 18.61%

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13. Florida State

Active Players: 31
Total Earnings: $462,804,564
Top Earner: Rodney Hudson
Top Earning Position: Center
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $61,653,707
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 13.32%

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12. Wisconsin

Active Players: 28
Total Earnings: $471,603,858
Top Earner: Russell Wilson
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $162,362,520
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 34.43%

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11. Texas A&M

Active Players: 30
Total Earnings: $493,908,379
Top Earner: Von Miller
Top Earning Position: Outside linebacker
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $126,475,534
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 25.61%

10. Florida

Active Players: 40
Total Earnings: $494,035,711
Top Earner: Joe Haden
Top Earning Position: Cornerback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $114,471,755
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.17%

Read: The Most Fined Players in The NFL

9. Notre Dame

Active Players: 43
Total Earnings: $504,475,535
Top Earner: Golden Tate
Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $56,337,672
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 11.17%

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8. Miami (Fla.)

Active Players: 28
Total Earnings: $506,471,303
Top Earner: Calais Campbell
Top Earning Position: Defensive end
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $118,091,393
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.32%

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7. Oklahoma

Active Players: 35
Total Earnings: $514,301,580
Top Earner: Gerald McCoy
Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $121,235,131
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 23.57%

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6. Michigan

Active Players: 38
Total Earnings: $573,292,363
Top Earner: Tom Brady
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $263,541,804
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 45.97%

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5. Georgia

Active Players: 42
Total Earnings: $655,177,179
Top Earner: Matthew Stafford
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $226,506,037
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 34.57%

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4. Ohio State

Active Players: 60
Total Earnings: $760,014,535
Top Earner: Cameron Heyward
Top Earning Position: Defensive tackle
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $78,232,735
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 10.29%

3. Cal

Active Players: 18
Total Earnings: $781,099,625
Top Earner: Aaron Rodgers
Top Earning Position: Quarterback
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $240,943,304
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 30.85%

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2. Alabama

Active Players: 64
Total Earnings: $800,102,922
Top Earner: Julio Jones
Top Earning Position: Wide receiver
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $125,340,527
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 15.67%

Read: The 10 Highest-Paid Players in the 2021 Super Bowl

1. LSU

Active Players: 50
Total Earnings: $832,494,060
Top Earner: Andrew Whitworth
Top Earning Position: Left tackle
Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $98,915,928
% Top Earner Makes of Total Earnings: 11.88%

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Methodology: GOBankingRates used Spotrac’s NFL College Tracker data to find the 25 colleges that turned out players who make the most total NFL money. For each of these colleges, GOBankingRates found the following data points: (1) university name; (2) total active players in the NFL; (3) total career earnings from these players, (4) top career earner from each school; (5) top earner’s career earnings; and (6) percent top earner’s career earnings make of the (3) total career earnings for the school. All data was collected on and up to date as of Sept. 7, 2021.