Mickles: BR producing its share of NFL players

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 2, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Question of the day: What does Baton Rouge have in common with much-bigger cities like Chicago, Cincinnati and Jacksonville?

In a survey conducted by the league office, Baton Rouge had 10 players on opening day rosters — tying the Capital City with Chicago, Cincinnati and Jacksonville, Fla., for ninth place among cities (Los Angeles was just one spot ahead with 11) that produced the most players. Miami led with 34.

The Baton Rougeans (in alphabetical order) were Tampa Bay wide receiver Michael Clayton (Christian Life), Tampa Bay running back Warrick Dunn (Catholic), Houston safety Brandon Harrison (Catholic), St. Louis punter Donnie Jones (Catholic), Atlanta center Todd McClure (Central), St. Louis running back Travis Minor (Catholic), Pittsburgh running back Mewelde Moore (Belaire), Dallas defensive end Marcus Spears (Southern Lab), Miami linebacker Reggie Torbor (Lee), and Chicago tackle Chris Williams (Catholic).

Dunn, Harrison, Jones, Minor and Williams gave Catholic High a distinction in itself.

Catholic was one of four schools with five alums in the NFL, tying coach Dale Weiner’s program for second behind two schools with six players — Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Tustin High in Tustin, Calif.

Overall, Louisiana had 73 players on opening-day rosters. That ranked sixth the state behind California (214), Florida (185), Texas (170), Ohio (90) and Georgia (83) and ahead of more heavily populated states like Virginia (61), Michigan (57), Pennsylvania (47) and Illinois (38).

New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister moved a little closer to the franchise record for career touchdowns with his 1-yard scoring run in last week’s 37-32 win over the San Diego Chargers.

McAllister now has 51 TDs (46 rushing, four receiving, one fumble return) in his eight-year career, which is second all-time behind Dalton Hilliard’s 53 scores from 1986 to 1993.

With 306 career points, McAllister is tied with Joe Horn for second place behind Hilliard’s 318 points for the most among non-kickers in club history.

The mighty have fallen