Football Players From These Colleges Make the Most Total NFL Money
Players from these colleges have cashed in the most.
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.

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%

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%

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

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%

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%

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%

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%

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%
Find Out: Here’s How Rich Every NFL Team Is

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%

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%

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%

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.