Some of the best stories in NFL history involve players from smaller schools, and there are some all-time greats who played in the Group of Five.
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What exactly is the "Group of Five"? When the Division I-A ranks unofficially began and folks began calling it Group of Five (G5) about 15-20 years ago, the non-Power Five conferences within the Football Bowl Subdivision ranks were labeled G5. The five conferences are the relatively new American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the historic Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West, and the Sun Belt. FanBuzz will be covering these conferences throughout the college football season.
These conferences have produced some serious professional talent When it comes to the NFL Hall of Fame, 30 of its members played at schools that, in 2023, will be in the Group of Five. While many of the players come from an earlier era when there was no differentiation of levels of college football, we're going to put this together based solely on players who played at the 64 schools that today make up the five G5 conferences, with a handful of independents included, too.
You'll know many of these names. Yes, some may have split their careers with another school, but these gentlemen played substantially when they were with these teams — and they bring back a ton of memories. It's just an example of how strong and historic these programs truly are, even if they don't play in the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten, etc.
This list was selected by using the rating system used by the incredible service Pro Football Reference, which assigns a numerical value to each player based on career stats, All-Pro seasons, Pro Bowls and if they're in the Hall of Fame. Obviously, not all eras are the same, and some didn't have the statistics we do today — and in that situation, we at FanBuzz massaged the rating a bit to fit what we were trying to do.
You'll also notice that some positions have an extra player as we go three teams deep. That's to recognize that some systems and eras used a position more than another era. So, as an example, on the offensive line we will have two running backs per team along with three wide receivers, a center and two guards, and two tackles. And on defense, we have four spots at each level to accommodate different defensive alignments.
The number of big names is incredible. Some of the names left out were big ones. Most of these players are retired, but a few of them haven't even wrapped up their careers yet.
The Best NFL Players from Group of Five Schools
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
Here's our official list of the all-time best NFL players from Group of Five schools.
G5 NFL ALL-TIME 1ST TEAM
(*) — Indicates NFL Hall of Famer
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| QB | SOUTH. MISS | Brett Favre (*) | 1991-2010 |
| RB | SAN DIEGO ST. | Marshall Faulk (*) | 1994-2005 |
| RB | SMU | Eric Dickerson (*) | 1983-1993 |
| WR | MARSHALL | Randy Moss (*) | 1998-2012 |
| WR | TULSA | Steve Largent (*) | 1976-1989 |
| WR | MEMPHIS | Isaac Bruce (*) | 1994-2009 |
| TE | UMASS | Milt Morin | 1966-1975 |
| OL | MARSHALL | Frank Gatski (*) | 1946-1957 |
| OL | FRESNO ST. | Logan Mankins | 2005-2015 |
| OL | LA. TECH | Willie Roaf (*) | 1993-2005 |
| OL | TULSA | Bob St. Clair (*) | 1953-1963 |
| OL | SMU | Forrest Gregg (*) | 1956-1971 |
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| DL | UTAH ST. | Merlin Olsen (*) | 1962-1976 |
| DL | NORTH TEXAS | Joe Greene (*) | 1969-1981 |
| DL | CENTRAL MICH. | J.J. Watt (&) | 2011-2022 |
| DL | AKRON | Jason Taylor (*) | 1997-2011 |
| LB | BUFFALO | Khalil Mack | 2014-2022 |
| LB | UTAH ST. | Bobby Wagner | 2012-2022 |
| LB | NEW MEXICO | Brian Urlacher (*) | 2000-2012 |
| LB | KENT ST. | Jack Lambert (*) | 1974-1984 |
| DB | TULANE | Richie Petitbon | 1959-1972 |
| DB | TOLEDO | Emlen Tunnell (*) | 1948-1961 |
| DB | COLORADO ST. | Jack Christiansen (*) | 1951-1958 |
| DB | UTAH ST. | Cornell Green | 1962-1974 |
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| K | LA. TECH | Matt Stover | 1991-2009 |
| P | SOUTH. MISS. | Ray Guy (*) | 1973-1986 |
(&) - Began career at Central Michigan, playing all 14 games as a freshman.
G5 NFL ALL-TIME 2ND TEAM
(*) — Indicates NFL Hall of Famer
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| QB | LA. TECH | Terry Bradshaw (*) | 1970-1983 |
| RB | SMU | Doak Walker (*) | 1950-1955 |
| RB | NEVADA | Marion Motley (*) | 1946-1955 |
| WR | UTEP | Don Maynard (*) | 1958-1973 |
| WR | TULSA | Drew Pearson (*) | 1973-1983 |
| WR | SMU | Raymond Berry (*) | 1955-1967 |
| TE | WYOMING | Jay Novacek | 1985-1995 |
| OL | NORTH TEXAS | Brian Waters | 2000-2013 |
| OL | HAWAII | Jesse Sapolu | 1983-1997 |
| OL | CENTRAL MICH. | Joe Staley | 2007-2019 |
| OL | MEMPH/ARK ST. | Ray Brown | 1986-2005 |
| OL | FLA. ATLANTIC | Ed Newman | 1973-1984 |
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| DL | TEMPLE | Joe Klecko (*) | 1977-1988 |
| DL | SAN DIEGO ST. | La'Roi Glover | 1996-2008 |
| DL | NAVY | Ed Sprinkle (*) | 1944-1955 |
| DL | LA. TECH | Fred Dean (*) | 1975-1985 |
| LB | TROY | DeMarcus Ware (*) | 2005-2016 |
| LB | JAMES MADISON | Charles Haley (*) | 1986-1999 |
| LB | KENT ST. | James Harrison | 2002-2017 |
| LB | COLORADO ST. | Joey Porter | 1999-2011 |
| DB | SAN JOSE ST. | Louis Wright | 1975-1986 |
| DB | SOUTH MISS. | Hanford Dixon | 1981-1989 |
| DB | MARSHALL | Carl Lee | 1983-1994 |
| DB | MIDDLE TENN. | Kevin Byard | 2016-2022 |
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| K | TULANE | Eddie Murray | 1980-2000 |
| P | SMU | Thomas Morstead | 2009-2022 |
(*) — Indicates NFL Hall of Famer
G5 NFL ALL-TIME 3RD TEAM
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| QB | NAVY | Roger Staubach (*) | 1969-1979 |
| QB | MIAMI-OHIO | Ben Roethlisberger | 2004-2021 |
| QB | UNLV | Randall Cunningham | 1985-2001 |
| RB | TULANE | Matt Forte | 2008-2017 |
| RB | E. CAROLINA | Earnest Byner | 1984-1997 |
| WR | FRESNO ST. | Henry Ellard | 1983-1998 |
| WR | CENTRAL MICH. | Antonio Brown | 2010-2021 |
| WR | UAB | Roddy White | 2005-2015 |
| OL | BOISE ST. | Ryan Clady | 2008-2016 |
| OL | UTAH ST. | Donald Penn | 2007-2019 |
| OL | BOWL GREEN | Doug Smith | 1978-1991 |
| OL | NEVADA | Joel Bitonio | 2014-2022 |
| OL | NO. ILLINOIS | Ryan Diem | 2001-2011 |
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| DL | SAN DIEGO ST. | Fred Dryer | 1969-1981 |
| DL | NEVADA | Charles Mann | 1983-1994 |
| DL | SMU | Jerry Mays | 1961-1970 |
| DL | UTAH ST. | Greg Kragen | 1985-1997 |
| LB | SOUTH MISS. | Adalius Thomas | 2000-2009 |
| LB | NEW MEXICO | Robin Cole | 1977-1988 |
| LB | UTEP | Seth Joyner | 1986-1998 |
| LB | ARKANSAS ST. | Demario Davis | 2012-2022 |
| DB | ARKANSAS ST. | James Bradberry | 2016-2022 |
| DB | COASTAL CARO. | Josh Norman | 2012-2022 |
| DB | UCONN | Byron Jones | 2015-2021 |
| DB | MEMPHIS | Bobby McCain | 2015-2022 |
| POS | G5 SCHOOL | PLAYER | ACT YRS |
| K | UTAH ST. | Jim Turner | 1964-1979 |
| P | TOLEDO | Brett Kern | 2008-2022 |
(*) — Indicates NFL Hall of Famer
