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Ten best Ohio State Football NFL careers

By Ryan Stano

Sep 23, 2001; San Francisco, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Orlando Pace (76) in action against San Francisco 49ers defensive end Andre Carter (96) at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK
Sep 23, 2001; San Francisco, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Orlando Pace (76) in action against San Francisco 49ers defensive end Andre Carter (96) at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-USA TODAY NETWORK /
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We all know that the Ohio State football program produces some of the best NFL talent year in and year out. Just last year, they produced the Offensive Rookie of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year. They’ll have the Offensive Rookie of the Year this season too.

The Buckeyes don’t just produce great players at one specific position either. They spread them around. It’s pretty remarkable when you look at how many different teams have a Buckeye on them right now. It’s pretty impressive considering each team allows just 53 active players.

Today, we try to narrow down the ten Ohio State football players who ended up with the best NFL careers. They have eight Hall of Fame players, but I don’t want this list to just be that. We did that list already. I’m blending eras to talk about who played the best, not just who was a pioneer in the 40s and 50s.

We start with someone who is in the Hall of Fame though because his impact on football is just too great to ignore.

10. Lou Groza

Lou Gross was a great kicker for the Ohio State Football program. Mandatory Credit: Tony Tomsic-USA TODAY NETWORK
Lou Gross was a great kicker for the Ohio State Football program. Mandatory Credit: Tony Tomsic-USA TODAY NETWORK /

If you have an award named after you, you played pretty well. The Lou Groza Award is given to college football’s best kicker every year. He didn’t just kick well for the Ohio State football team though. He kicked well at the next level too while being an offensive lineman.

Groza played his entire football career in the state of Ohio. After playing for Ohio State, he joined the Cleveland Browns after WWII. He kicked for them and played as an offensive tackle, hence why he wore the number 76 in the pros. That’s remarkable by itself.

Groza played under former Ohio State coach Paul Brown and helped the Browns win four NFL Championships. He was named to the 1950s All-Decade Team and to the NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. He’s in the Browns Ring of Honor and is in the Hall of Fame.

It’s pretty hard to top that when it comes to an NFL career, yet he finishes just 10th on our list. For the next player, we move on to someone who just started playing in the NFL a few years ago but is already on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

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