What if Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Peyton Manning could suit up for their hometown teams to lead territorial all-star rosters for the ages?
Welcome to Homegrown Legends, a series of mythical all-star rosters composed of the best players in pro football history from each current NFL market. This is a new twist on the age-old debates about which states and cities produce the best football talent.
We have envisioned the NFL’s greatest superstars representing their hometowns, states and regions with lineups that transcend the history of football. In most cases, hometown eligibility was determined by where an athlete played the majority of his high school career. In the article below, we explain the geographic methodology we used to determine each franchise’s home turf.
Soon, we will ask readers to vote for the best Homegrown Legends team in a 32-team tournament bracket.
For now, suspend your disbelief and peruse our Homegrown Legends series through the links below.
More NFC teams:
Dal / NYG / Phi / Was // Chi / Det / GB / Min // Atl / Car / NO / TB // Ari / LAR / SF / Sea
- Coming Sept. 15: AFC teams Homegrown Legends rosters
- Coming Sept. 17: Vote – Homegrown Legends tournament bracket
In general, when compiling our Homegrown Legends lineups, we sought to identify players who attended high school within a two-hour radius of each NFL city. However, some teams received regional dispensations in order to maintain relatively equal footing against more populous cities and regions. Several other teams’ geographic footprints overlap with other franchises and required rules to logically divide territory. Here is our methodology for those circumstances:
Arizona Cardinals: The entire state of Arizona is Cardinals territory for this exercise.
Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons rely primarily on the Atlanta metropolitan area but are allowed to select athletes from most of the state of Georgia. However, the far southeastern portion of the state falls under Jacksonville Jaguars territory.
Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens get first dibs on any player from the state of Maryland, plus the option to select players from the District of Columbia who weren’t already picked by Washington.
Buffalo Bills: Our Bills roster was built mostly with athletes from the Buffalo area and Western New York, with a handful of players hailing from Central New York or far Northern Pennsylvania.
Carolina Panthers: The Panthers market themselves as a regional franchise, so their territory includes the entire states of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Chicago Bears: Territory includes Chicagoland metropolitan area and Northern Illinois.
Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals’ territory includes Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky. The Columbus area is shared with the Browns, and our editors traded and disbursed players according to team needs.
Cleveland Browns: The Browns’ territory is Northern Ohio. The Columbus area is shared with the Bengals, and our editors bargained with each other for players in that area based on team needs.
Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys’ turf is composed exclusively of North Texas locales within approximately a two-hour drive of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Denver Broncos: Our Broncos roster is composed mostly of athletes from the Denver area but has allowance to select players from throughout the state of Colorado.
Detroit Lions: Our Lions roster is composed mostly of athletes from the Detroit and Flint areas but has allowance to select players from throughout the state of Michigan.
Green Bay Packers: The Pack owns territorial rights to the entire state of Wisconsin.
Houston Texans: Our Texans roster is composed entirely of players from the Houston and Beaumont metropolitan areas.
Indianapolis Colts: The Colts have territorial rights to most of the Hoosier State — with the exception of far Northwest Indiana, which has traditionally supported the Chicago Bears.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jags hold territorial rights to North Florida and Southeast Georgia. The Orlando metropolitan area is shared with the Buccaneers, and our editors disbursed those players according to team needs.
Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs were permitted to select players from Kansas, Missouri and Southeastern Nebraska.
Las Vegas Raiders: The newly relocated Raiders present the biggest challenge in compiling a historic all-star team, simply because Las Vegas was a relatively small city until it underwent massive growth in recent decades. To wit, in addition to the state of Nevada, the Raiders were allowed to share Oakland and the East San Francisco Bay Area territory with the 49ers. Our Raiders and 49ers editors disbursed East Bay players according to team needs. The Raiders were allowed to draft players who attended college in Nevada, such as Randall Cunningham, provided they were not selected by their hometown team.
Los Angeles Chargers: The Chargers’ territory includes San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties. Our Chargers and Rams editors were allowed to trade players based on team needs.
Los Angeles Rams: The Rams’ territory includes Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. Our Rams and Chargers editors were allowed to trade players based on team needs.
Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins’ territory includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings’ lineup is built primarily from Twin Cities athletes, but selected players have been included from the state of Minnesota at large.
New England Patriots: The Patriots’ territory includes the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, plus the eastern and central portions of Connecticut.
New Orleans Saints: The Saints’ lineup is built primarily from the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas, but selected players have been included from the state of Louisiana at large.
New York Giants: The Giants’ territory includes the northern part of New Jersey, southern upstate New York, Manhattan and the Bronx. Our Giants and Jets editors were allowed to trade players based on team needs.
New York Jets: The Jets’ territory includes Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn and the eastern part of Connecticut. Our Jets and Giants editors were allowed to trade players based on team needs.
Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles’ territory includes metropolitan Philadelphia, the southern part of New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley and the northern part of Delaware.
Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers’ territory includes metropolitan Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania and the norther part of West Virginia.
San Francisco 49ers: The Niners’ territory includes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento area. The East Bay portion of that territory is shared with the Raiders. Our Raiders and 49ers editors disbursed East Bay players according to team needs.
Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks’ lineup is built primarily from Seattle-area athletes, but selections were permitted from the state of Washington at large and the northern portion of Oregon.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs’ territory includes Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Polk, Pasco and Hernando counties. The Orlando metropolitan area is shared with the Jaguars, and our editors disbursed those players according to team needs.
Tennessee Titans: The Titans’ territory includes the entire Volunteer State.
Washington Football Team: Washington’s territory includes the District of Columbia and the eastern and central portions of Virginia. Washington also had the option to select players from Maryland who weren’t already picked by the Ravens.