USC TROJANS IN THE NFL
TROJANS ON NFL ROSTERS USC'S NFL DRAFT HISTORY PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMERS
Overview
With its outstanding football heritage, it’s no surprise that USC players have made quite a mark in the pros.
At the start of USC’s training camp this summer, there were 36 ex-Trojans on National Football League rosters, including 9 rookies. In 2023, there were 28 Trojans on opening day NFL rosters, tied for 13th most of any school (since records were available, USC has been No. 1 in 20 of the last 49 years).
USC is second behind Notre Dame’s 538 for most NFL draft picks produced (533), not counting 28 picks by the AFL before it merged with the NFL. USC was the first school with 500 NFL draft picks. USC and Michigan are the only schools with an NFL draftee every year since 1939. USC has the longest active streak (24 years) with a player drafted in the Top 3 rounds. USC has the most picks in the common draft era (since 1967), with 367 (next is Ohio State’s 355 and Notre Dame’s 324). There have been 543 USC players who since 1920 played in the NFL (or its sister leagues, the AFL or All-America Football Conference).
USC’s 86 first round NFL draft picks is second most behind Ohio State’s 95. With Williams’ No. 1 overall selection in 2024, USC holds the record for most players (6) selected as the top pick of the NFL draft (Ron Yary in 1968, O.J. Simpson in 1969, Ricky Bell in 1977, Keyshawn Johnson in 1996, Carson Palmer in 2003 and Caleb Williams in 2024). USC and Oklahoma are the only schools to have the No. 1 pick for 2 consecutive years (Yary and Simpson). USC has had three of the most highly-drafted classes in history. The 1953 class (following the 1952 season) had 15 players drafted while both the 1975 and 1977 classes had 14 players selected. USC had more players selected in the 2011 (9), 2009 (11), 2008 (10), 2006 (11) and 1990 (10) drafts than any school. USC had more players drafted than any school in the 10-year periods from 2002-11 and 2005-14 (69, 6 more than LSU) and the 5-year period from 2007-11. USC's 12 first round picks in the 1990s tied for third in the nation with Tennessee; 8 of those Trojan first rounders were selected in the Top 10. In the decade of the 1980s, Troy had more first round picks than any school (16). USC's 5 first round picks in the 1968 draft was an NFL record for 36 years.
A Trojan has appeared in all but 8 of the 59 Super Bowls (there have been 120 USC representatives overall). Three Trojans (Lynn Swann in 1976, Marcus Allen in 1984 and Malcolm Smith in 2014) have been the Super Bowl MVP. In 1977, 9 USC alums played in the Super Bowl. Trojans have been selected to play in the Pro Bowl 246 times (a USC alum has appeared in every Pro Bowl [except the 2024 Pro Bowl] since the game’s inception in 1951; there was no game in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but a team was chosen, however no Trojan was picked). USC has the most Pro Bowl selections in history.
Fourteen former USC players (most of any other school) and 4 ex- assistant coaches are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A 2020 ESPN.com ranking of schools producing the most talent by position, USC was No. 1 in wide receivers, No. 2 in quarterbacks, No. 4 in linebackers No. 6 in offensive linemen, No. 8 in defensive linemen and No. 10 in defensive backs.
In 2020, BannerSociety.com said USC was “the biggest draft factory of them all,” based on its formula of how high players were picked in each draft from 1970 to 2019. USC was also ranked No. 1 positionally at quarterback, wide receiver, offensive line and linebacker (and in the Top 10 at running back, defensive line and defensive back).
Tyron Smith and Pete Carroll were named to the 2010s All-Decade Team by the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 2016, Lynn Swann and Ronnie Lott were named to the Super Bowl 50 Golden Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors. A 2010 ESPN.com survey ranked USC as "the most fertile NFL draft pipeline" from 1979 to 2009. In 2010, Lindy's Sports listed USC as the "football factory" for quarterbacks, running backs and offensive linemen. In 2009, ESPN NFL draft analyst and former NFL head coach Herm Edwards said: "If you want to play pro football and you’re a young high school athlete, you know going to USC is going to give you the best opportunity system-wise and competitive-wise on the field. That’s what USC brings to the table. That’s why historically, year after year, you see all these players coming into the league.” Fellow ESPN NFL draft analyst and ex-NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski added: "It’s fierce competition every day you go out on the USC practice field. Not only on Saturday when they play the game. Every day they’re competing at the highest level.”
In 2008, NFL Network named USC college’s No. 1 "football factory." Anthony Munoz and Ronnie Lott were on the NFL's All-Time Team in 2000, as chosen by the 36 Pro Football Hall of Fame voters.
In 1999, The Sporting News listed 4 Trojans among the 100 Greatest Pro Football Players: Anthony Munoz (17th), Ronnie Lott (23rd), O.J. Simpson (26th) and Marcus Allen (72nd). Anthony Munoz was picked among the NFL's Top 10 players of the 20th century by SPORT in 1999.
In December 1999, the Dick Butkus Football Network named a pair of ex-Trojans on its NFL All-Century First Team: Anthony Munoz and Ronnie Lott.
A January 1999 article in ESPN Magazine said that "one of the best ways to win a Super Bowl is to (have a USC player on the team). The alma mater most often represented on winning teams is USC."
A Dec. 13, 1999 article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, which examined Pro Bowl selections since 1950 to determine the schools that supplied the most pro players at various positions, found that USC had the most Pro Bowl picks and produced more Pro Bowl running backs and safeties than anyone.
In 1999, SPORT said that USC sent more players to the Pro Bowl in the 1990s (14) than any school. "The most measurable sign of a player's success- -and thus his pedigree--comes in the form of the NFL's highest annual honor: the Pro Bowl. It's not enough to make it to the league, you've gotta make it in the league." Said then-New York Jets Pro Bowl wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the former USC All-American: "USC is a football factory. Every kid in L.A. grows up wanting to play there, and the coaches know how to translate that into elite athletes."
In a 1994 College Sports ranking of the top annual sources of football talent by position (combined college and NFL), USC was first at running backs, offensive linemen and defensive backs and third at linebackers.
In a 1985 Sports Illustrated poll of NFL player personnel directors, USC was ranked first in preparing players for the pros. By position, USC received top marks for running backs, offensive linemen and tight ends.
