The FCS has had hundreds of standout players move on to have special NFL careers, and a good number have made it to the NFL Hall of Fame. We decided to break down the “FCS-to-NFL” ranks by conference … leading up to a final national ranking of the top FCS products to finish a career in the NFL on April 20. We only ranked individuals who played for current FCS conference schools (no Appalachian States or Marshalls, for instance … and just because the player may have actually played D-2 football when they were in college, that doesn’t disqualify).
This ranking will be using the Pro Football Reference criteria for AV – “Approximate Value”, which uses an algorithm that measures a player’s statistics, honors, awards, you name it — on an annual basis dating back to 1960 when all of this statistical material was more easily attainable/tracked. It takes into account that an offensive lineman can’t put up stats like a quarterback, obviously, but an O-lineman with Pro Bowl credentials and being a cornerstone on a Super Bowl team will be rewarded too. Then … the annual points are added up to create a “career AV” which is a total reflecting the “Approximate Value” of a player’s career.
Obviously, Hall of Fame players do well in this rating, but you may be surprised at times at the rating given to a player who had a long career … with some true highlights … who did not make the Hall of Fame. It happens. See the list below.[divider]
TOP NFL CAREERS: Each Conference Linked
TOP NFL CAREERS – IVY LEAGUE
(according to Pro-Football-Reference.com – since 1960)
ABBREVIATIONS: PB — Career Pro Bowls; AV — site’s “Approximate Value” point system used by Pro Football Reference to quantify a player, based on statistics, honors, etc awarded by year back to 1960 – and taking position into consideration; YRS — Total years in the league
| RK | FCS SCHOOL | POS | PLAYER | PB | AV | YRS | SPAN | CAREER NFL STATS |
| 1 | HARVARD | OL | Matt Birk | 6 | 111 | 14 | 1998-2012 | 187 career starts |
| 2 | DARTMOUTH | LB | Reggie Williams | 0 | 102 | 14 | 1976-1989 | 206 career games |
| 3 | YALE | DB | Gary Fencik | 2 | 101 | 12 | 1976-1987 | 38 career INTs |
| 4 | HARVARD | QB | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 0 | 96 | 15 | 2005-2019 | 32,886 pass yds, 210 TDs |
| 5 | YALE | RB | Calvin Hill | 4 | 88 | 12 | 1969-1981 | 8,944 total yds, 65 TDs |
| 6 | DARTMOUTH | K | Nick Lowery | 3 | 81 | 18 | 1978-1996 | 383 career field goals |
| 7 | COLUMBIA | OL | George Starke | 0 | 77 | 12 | 1973-1984 | 156 career games |
| 8 | BROWN | TE | Steve Jordan | 6 | 60 | 13 | 1982-1994 | 6,307 rec. yds, 28 TDs |
| 9 | YALE | OL | Mike Pyle | 1 | 57 | 9 | 1961-1969 | 121 career games |
| 10 | CORNELL | DL | Seth Payne | 0 | 54 | 10 | 1997-2006 | 332 tackles, 38 TFLs |
| 11 | COLUMBIA | DL | Marcellus Wiley | 1 | 49 | 10 | 1997-2006 | 44 sacks, 322 tackles |
| 12 | YALE | DB | Dick Jauron | 1 | 45 | 8 | 1973-1980 | 25 career INTs |
| 13 | DARTMOUTH | QB | Jay Fiedler | 0 | 42 | 9 | 1995-2005 | 11,844 pass yds, 69 TDs |
| 14 | CORNELL | K | Pete Gogolak | 1 | 36 | 11 | 1964-1974 | 173 field goals made |
| 15 | YALE | DB | Kenny Hill | 0 | 35 | 9 | 1981-1989 | 110 career games |
| 16 | HARVARD | WR-P | Pat McInally | 1 | 35 | 10 | 1976-1985 | 41.9 punt average |
| 17 | HARVARD | DL | Desmond Bryant | 0 | 33 | 7 | 2009-2015 | 238 tackles, 25 sacks |
| 18 | CORNELL | WR-KR | Bo Roberson | 1 | 30 | 6 | 1961-1966 | 2,917 rec. yds, 23.5 KR avg |
| 19 | CORNELL | OL | Kevin Boothe | 0 | 29 | 9 | 2006-2014 | 114 career games |
| 20 | CORNELL | OL | J.C. Tretter | 0 | 27 | 6 | 2014-2019 | 79 career games |
(*) – Denotes an NFL Hall of Famer[divider]
IVY LEAGUE – TOP CURRENT NFL CAREERS
ABBREVIATIONS: PB — Career Pro Bowls; AV — site’s “Approximate Value” point system used by Pro Football Reference to quantify a player, based on statistics, honors, etc and taking position into consideration; YRS — Total years in the league
| RK | FCS SCHOOL | POS | PLAYER | PB | AV | YRS | SPAN | CAREER NFL STATS |
| 1 | HARVARD | QB | Ryan Fitzpatrick | 0 | 96 | 15 | 2005-2019 | 32,886 pass yds, 210 TDs |
| 2 | CORNELL | OL | J.C. Tretter | 0 | 27 | 6 | 2014-2019 | 79 career games |
| 3 | BROWN | LS | Zak DeOssie | 2 | 17 | 13 | 2007-2019 | 199 career games |
| 4 | HARVARD | TE | Cameron Brate | 0 | 15 | 6 | 2014-2019 | 2,156 rec yds, 27 TDs |
| 5 | HARVARD | FB | Kyle Juszczyk | 4 | 15 | 7 | 2013-2019 | 1,647 rec. yds, 8 TDs |
| 6 | HARVARD | OL | Nick Easton | 0 | 13 | 3 | 2016-2019 | 33 career games |
| 7 | PENN | LB | Brandon Copeland | 0 | 10 | 4 | 2015-2019 | 107 career tackles |
| 8 | PRINCETON | DL | Caraun Reid | 0 | 9 | 6 | 2014-2019 | 47 games, 50 tackles |
| 9 | YALE | DB | Foyesade Oluokun | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2018-2019 | 32 games, 153 tackles |
| 10 | PRINCETON | TE | Seth Devalve | 0 | 5 | 4 | 2016-2019 | 736 rec. yds., 4 TDs |
