What is the percentage of college football players that go pro?

Introduction

College football is gridiron football consisting of American football played by the students of different universities, it was through this that American football gained popularity in the United States. College football is broken into three divisions based on school size and athletic program, in this division one is the largest and the highest level of competition of the three. Each team is also part of a conference, the teams in the same conference play against each other. Here we will see about What is the percentage of college football players that go pro?

What is the percentage of college football players that go pro?

What is the percentage of college football players that end up go pro?

There are 6.5 % of players who get athletic scholarships and according to statistics, only 1.6 percent of NCAA(National college athletic association) go on to be professional athletes. The student’s dependency on academics increases as they need to be prepared for life after college, education is important. The number of NCAA student-athletes that end up playing pro in other sports has increased drastically.

What is the NCAA?

The NCAA or the National college athletic association administers intercollegiate athletics. It was founded in 1906 and hosted its first championship in 1912.

The NCAA works as a general legislative and administrative authority for men’s and women’s college athletics, it conducts 90 national championships in some two dozen sports. The NCAA has three divisions, each representing a different level of competition with each college student allowed to pick the division that they would belong to. Each division holds national championships in different sports.

How to go pro after college football?

To get prepared for professional football after college, various things can be done

  1. Start young: Teams and clubs usually prefer younger players over older ones. This is because the young players can adapt easily to their system utilizing beige moving to their first team, though young age is not the main ruler of football, starting young gives a better chance of playing professionally.
  2. Have the skills: Before aspiring to become a professional football player, you must have the skills to become one. Football is a very competitive sport; the person must have the skills to compete.
  3. Join a local team: If after college the player is not able to get into a major football league then they can play in some local teams where they can at least have the opportunity for tryouts and get spotted by a scout of a bigger team.
  4. Be committed to the sport: whatever sports it may be, it requires a full dedication. The player should be passionate, be knowledgeable about it and keep training even if they don’t get selected on the first go.
  5. Get an agent: Football requires a lot of networking and for that, every player needs an agent, with a wide network of agents, they can find suitable clubs for their players with a good negotiated pay.

What are the benefits of starting as a college football player?

  1. The most important reason is that it prepares the athletes for real life and life after college and starting from college also gives the player a little bit of added benefit during selection.
  2. The discipline that is required to become an athlete is really important, this goes along with the balancing of academics and sports, leaning discipline prepares an athlete for the future career and family life, especially when it comes to time management 
  3. Financial security: Athletes have a good opportunity to pay for a good part of their college through scholarships. Between getting the room and living free with other amenities including heat, electricity, and sometimes medical bills, the student can save up to $120,000 which is a hefty amount.
  4. Education: The students who are college athletes have a higher GPA than the average college student, the NCAA has made the requirement of being a college athlete much more meticulous when it comes to academics. Being an athlete requires focus beyond the classroom and college campus.
  5. Career: The career aspects of the course widen for a college-bound athlete, the elite football clubs would prefer a college athlete instead of a person who did not get scouted for a sports scholarship. The student would also end up making a lot of connections in the college which will help them in the future.

Why do only 1.6% of college athletes go pro?

There are 1,093,234 high school football players and out of these only 71,060 play for NCAA in college. The dropoff from college is more dramatic and only the best get selected for the NFL in professional level football. The chance of going pro is still not guaranteed even if you end up being one of these selected players. In short, roughly 853 players have a chance to make pro each year out of an original population of nearly 1.1 million high school athletes.

There is such a big drop because simply there isn’t enough room for everyone. There are 26,727 high schools in the US and there are nearly 6000 colleges and universities, however, there are only 32 teams in the NFL, so the competition is extremely tough.

Conclusion

The NFL only takes footballers who are the best, only the creme de la creme has the chance of going pro, and even if you are picked by the NFL, it does not mean that you will 100% be successful. For this reason, only an athlete shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket, they should also keep tabs on their academics, solely for the reason that if they don’t make it they have a backup option and can pursue something else. The opportunity of playing pro is huge but the chances of getting through are slim to none but that shouldn’t discourage anyone from playing any sports.

Frequently asked questions

Do students on athletic scholarships get free electricity?

Yes, students on athletic scholarships get free electricity, the scholarship also includes heat, water, and living expenses, and also the first year of the tuition is free.

When can an athlete start applying for NCAA?

The student should register at the beginning of their junior year, there is no deadline but they just need to be cleared by the Eligibility Center.