Football Players From These Colleges Make the Most Total NFL Money

Powerhouses such as Alabama, Clemson, Louisiana State University 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

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.

24. Nebraska

• Active Players: 26
• Total Earnings: $354,961,380
• Top Earner: Ndamukong Suh
• Top Earning Position: DT
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $155,965,157
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 43.94%

23. Tennessee

• Active Players: 34
• Total Earnings: $357,846,860
• Top Earner: Jason Witten
• Top Earning Position: TE
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $81,807,482
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 22.86%

Learn: Which NFL Hall of Famer Has the Highest Net Worth?

22. Iowa

• Active Players: 35
• Total Earnings: $389,468,005
• Top Earner: Riley Reiff
• Top Earning Position: LT
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $58,119,222
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 14.92%

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21. Michigan State

• Active Players: 23
• Total Earnings: $406,728,278
• Top Earner: Kirk Cousins
• Top Earning Position: QB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $140,640,630
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 34.58%

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20. Stanford

• Active Players: 33
• Total Earnings: $410,823,317
• Top Earner: Richard Sherman
• Top Earning Position: CB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $82,735,115
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 20.14%

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19. Notre Dame

• Active Players: 39
• Total Earnings: $435,435,417
• Top Earner: Golden Tate
• Top Earning Position: WR
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $56,337,672
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 12.94%

More: 13 NFL Players Who Lost Millions

18. Mississippi State

• Active Players: 35
• Total Earnings: $447,137,404
• Top Earner: Fletcher Cox
• Top Earning Position: DT
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $85,890,246
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 19.21%

Read: Past Super Bowl Stars Who Scored Big Endorsement Deals

17. Texas A&M

• Active Players: 32
• Total Earnings: $452,977,771
• Top Earner: Von Miller
• Top Earning Position: OLB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $126,475,534
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 27.92%

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16. Purdue

• Active Players: 13
• Total Earnings: $455,282,219
• Top Earner: Drew Brees
• Top Earning Position: QB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $269,710,422
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 59.24%

Learn: The Highest-Paid Player on Every NFL Team

15. Pittsburgh

• Active Players: 20
• Total Earnings: $460,438,181
• Top Earner: Larry Fitzgerald
• Top Earning Position: WR
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $180,719,110
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 39.25%

Did You Know: How Much Will You Save Watching the Super Bowl From Home?

14. Clemson

• Active Players: 36
• Total Earnings: $474,764,490
• Top Earner: DeAndre Hopkins
• Top Earning Position: WR
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $85,699,009
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 18.05%

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13. Oklahoma

• Active Players: 35
• Total Earnings: $475,818,988
• Top Earner: Trent Williams
• Top Earning Position: LT
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $108,305,694
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 22.76%

More: The 50 Biggest NFL Contracts of 2020

12. Southern California

• Active Players: 34
• Total Earnings: $486,780,675
• Top Earner: Tyron Smith
• Top Earning Position: LT
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $87,785,235
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 18.03%

Read More: How Much Super Bowl Players Are Paid by Position

11. Florida State

• Active Players: 36
• Total Earnings: $514,213,168
• Top Earner: Rodney Hudson
• Top Earning Position: C
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $61,514,448
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 11.96%

Find Out: 18 of the Richest NFL Players Who Never Won a Super Bowl

10. Wisconsin

• Active Players: 34
• Total Earnings: $515,413,652
• Top Earner: Russell Wilson
• Top Earning Position: QB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $162,362,520
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 31.50%

Find: Here’s How Rich Every NFL Team Is

9. South Carolina

• Active Players: 29
• Total Earnings: $538,020,412
• Top Earner: Johnathan Joseph
• Top Earning Position: CB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $85,134,743
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 15.82%

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8. Michigan

• Active Players: 41
• Total Earnings: $610,806,900
• Top Earner: Tom Brady
• Top Earning Position: QB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $261,791,804
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 42.86%

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7. Florida

• Active Players: 48
• Total Earnings: $614,725,678
• Top Earner: Joe Haden
• Top Earning Position: CB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $114,471,755
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 18.62%

Read: The Most Fined Players in The NFL

6. Miami (FL)

• Active Players: 40
• Total Earnings: $695,904,597
• Top Earner: Calais Campbell
• Top Earning Position: DE
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $118,068,828
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 16.97%

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5. Ohio State

• Active Players: 58
• Total Earnings: $720,507,427
• Top Earner: Cameron Heyward
• Top Earning Position: DT
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $78,232,735
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 10.86%

Read More: Quarterbacks Who Played in Multiple Super Bowls

4. California (Berkeley)

• Active Players: 27
• Total Earnings: $800,350,104
• Top Earner: Aaron Rodgers
• Top Earning Position: QB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $240,914,529
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 30.10%

More: 27 Richest No. 1 NFL Draft Picks

3. Alabama

• Active Players: 68
• Total Earnings: $831,911,428
• Top Earner: Julio Jones
• Top Earning Position: WR
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $103,126,564
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 12.40%

Read: The 10 Highest-Paid Players in This Year’s Super Bowl

2. Georgia

• Active Players: 46
• Total Earnings: $835,239,299
• Top Earner: Matthew Stafford
• Top Earning Position: QB
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $226,478,969
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 27.12%

Find Out: The 10 Lowest-Paid Players in This Year’s Super Bowl

1. LSU

• Active Players: 52
• Total Earnings: $837,998,969
• Top Earner: Andrew Whitworth
• Top Earning Position: LT
• Top Earner’s Career Earnings: $98,865,000
• % Top Earner makes of Total Earnings: 11.80%

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Methodology: GOBankingRates used Spotrac’s NFL College Tracker data to find the 24 colleges that turned out players that 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 Jan. 20, 2021.