It's a pretty good list that included several players that I had no idea had ties to Oregon, or had forgotten about. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about Kevin Boss, the TE for the New York Giants.
Boss's story still amazes me actually. Dude came out of tiny Philomath High School and played college ball at Western Oregon University, a division two college with even less of a significant football program than even Portland State University. And Kevin Boss is still in the league and still starting at tight end for the Giants. If I remember it correctly, he was even surprised to get drafted at all. Freaking crazy stuff.
Anyway, so OregonLive says that Steven Jackson is the best player in the NFL with Oregon ties. Not that it matters too much, but we'll go with Troy Polamalu. Although Jackson did pretty much carry the Rams to the brink of the playoffs by himself this season. Polamalu is a ball-hawking safety who happens to always be near the ball and making plays. One of the two best safeties in the NFL. (Ed Reed being the other top safety.)
[ OregonLive ]
