Pro Say: Introducing Oregon to the NFL

The state of Oregon is not known as a football factory. While the Ducks and Beavers have seen recent success, and there are a handful of high schools that occasionally get national exposure, there is nobody who would put our state on par with Texas, Florida, and California as a “football” state. 

There are names: Joey Harrington, Terry Baker, Dan Fouts, Norm Van Brocklin, Ahmad Rashad, Neil Lomax, and a few others. Very few great football players attached to the state of Oregon were actually born here. Very few others actually make a splash in the NFL. Even in the last two decades, as the Ducks and Beavers flirt with national relevance, scouting services dive deeply into homegrown talent, and Internet clips lead the least likely athletes to viral stardom, it’s still surprising when a player from Oregon gets drafted, starts for a contender, or makes the Pro Bowl.

But maybe things are changing, if ever so slightly. In case you haven’t noticed, the two best defensive tackles in the NFL are Oregon-bred. 

Ndamukong Suh of the Detroit Lions was born in Portland and played at Grant High School before heading off to the University of Nebraska. At Nebraska, Suh won every award that matters, including the 2009 AP Player of the Year award. He was the third runner up in Heisman Trophy voting, finishing behind three players whose careers don’t matter, including Colt McCoy:

Detroit drafted Suh second overall in 2010, where he was voted the Associated Press the Defensive Rookie of the Year, and where he now does this to quarterbacks:

He is also the Lions’ emergency kicker:

Haloti Ngata is not a native Oregonian, but transferred to the University of Oregon in 2005. In just one season with the Ducks, Ngata recorded 61 tackles, including nine for a loss, on a Ducks team known more for offense than defense. Even still, in 2005, Ngata was a consensus All-American and the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the year.

Because 2005 was like 100 years ago in terms of Internet highlights and four years before Phil Knight Chip Kelly turned the Ducks into a national program, I have no highlights of Ngata in college to offer. Trust me, he was really good.

Baltimore picked Ngata 12th overall in 2006. He has developed into a two-time Pro Bowler and a 2010 First-Team All Pro defensive tackle. He’s also probably Rashard Mendenhall’s least favorite opponent:

As an Oregonian, I can’t help but feel a little homegrown pride watching Suh and Ngata dominate the league. It helps that they stamp a little Oregon into the players and teams they pancake every Sunday.