If there's any doubt that Detroit is a football town within a football state, this should quell it: Detroit produced more NFL players in Week 1 this season than any other city.
There were 19 players from Detroit high schools on active rosters to kick off the 2023 season, per the NFL. The next closest cities were Bradenton, Fla. (17 players) and Houston (16).
Those 19 players include some pretty big names, from 14-year vet Brandon Graham, a product of Crockett Tech and the University of Michigan who boasts 70 career sacks with the Eagles, to reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner of the Jets, a graduate of Martin Luther King -- which also produced fellow defensive backs Avonte Maddox of the Eagles and Ambry Thomas of the 49ers.
“Detroit football is tough, it’s real gritty and grimy there. There’s a lot of talent, though,” Gardner said via the Associated Press. "Lots of people with a story. The majority of people that I know in the league from Detroit, they worked really hard to get out, and they made it.”
The full list of active NFL players from Detroit, per Pro Football Reference, is below, including each player's high school and college:
Brandon Graham, DE, Eagles (Crockett Tech, Michigan)
William Gholston, DE, Buccaneers (Southeastern, Michigan State)
Allen Robinson, WR, Steelers (St. Mary's Prep, Penn State)
Avonte Maddox, CB, Eagles (MLK, Pittsburgh)
Tavierre Thomas, DB, Texans (Allen, Ferris State)
Cameron Lewis, DB, Bills (Consortium College Prep, Buffalo)
Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR, Browns (Cass Tech, Michigan)
Michael Danna, DE, Chiefs (De La Salle, Michigan)
Jaylon Moore, OL, 49ers (Consortium College Prep, Western Michigan)
Chauncey Golston, DE, Cowboys (East English Village, Iowa)
Ambry Thomas, CB, 49ers (MLK, Michigan)
Larry Borom, OL, Bears (Brother Rice, Missouri)
Sauce Gardner, CB, Jets (MLK, Cincinatti)
Samuel Womack, CB, 49ers (East English Village, Toledo)
Desmond King, DB, Steelers (East English Village, Iowa)
Jourdan Lewis, DB, Cowboys (Cass Tech, Michigan)
Michael Onwenu, OL, Patriots (Cass Tech, Michigan)
Khalid Kareem, DL, Bears (Harrison, Notre Dame)
Tre Herndon, CB, Jaguars (East Hamilton *(TN), Vanderbilt)
Austin Corbett, OL, Panthers -- PUP list (Reed *(NV), Nevada)
A.J. Thomas, DB, Bears -- Practice Squad (University of Detroit Jesuit, Western Michigan)
Eyioma Uwazurike, DL, Broncos -- Reserve/Suspended (Southfield-Lathrup, Iowa State)