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Nfl/potus Names

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  • Just something I have done with idle hands:

    1. There have been 53 players to play in the NFL with the last name of Washington, but not one named George. There have been no Hall of Famers with the name Washington.

    2/6. There have been 47 players with the last name Adams to play in the NFL, and two were named John. (John William and John Albert...but no John Quincy). There were also 2 "Sams"...but no Hall of Fame player named Adams

    3. There have been 14 Jeffersons to play in the NFL, but no Thomas's....and no HOF Jefferson.

    4. There have been 2 players named Madison to play in the NFL, but no James (Anthony and Sam), and no HOFers

    5. There have been 4 players named Monroe to play in the NFL, but no James....and no HOF Monroe.

    7. There have been 131 players named Jackson to play in the NFL, and 2 were named Andrew (RB who played in 1987, and a current WR with the Bills). Rickey Jackson LB, is the only HOFer.

    8. There have been 3 Van Buren's to play in the NFL, but no Martins...but Steve Van Buren HOF RB.

    9/23. There have been 31 Harrisons to play in the NFL, but no Williams, no Henry and no Benjamin. And no HOFers yet, though WR Marvin Harrison has a good future chance.

    10. There have been 7 players named Tyler to play in the NFL, but no John, and no HOFer

    11. There have been 4 players named Polk to play in the NFL, but no James and no HOF

    12. There have been 83 players named Taylor to play in the NFL, but no Zachary (there was a Zane).

    And there have been 3 HOFers: Charley, Jim, and Lawrence. That is the most HOFers of any Presidential namesake (and Jason is a future borderline HOF candidate)

    13. There has NEVER been an NFL player with the last name of Fillmore to play in the NFL

    14. There have been 9 players named Pierce to play in the NFL, but no Franklin and no HOFer.

    15. There have been 9 players named Buchanan to play in the NFL, but no James. There was however Junious "Buck" Buchanan, HOF.

    16. There have been 2 players named Lincoln to play the NFL, DB Jeremy and RB Keith, but no Abraham.

    17/36. There have been 295 players named Johnson to play in the NFL. No Andrews, but two "Andre"s, and no Lyndon (but one Landon). DB Jimmie Johnson and RB John Henry Johnson are HOFers

    18. There have been 27 players by the name of Grant play in the NFL, but no Ulyssess/Hirams/Sams. No HOF Grant.

    19. There have been 29 players named Hayes, but no Rutherfords. Bob Hayes HOF.

    20. There has NEVER been a person named Garfield play in the NFL.

    21. There have been 2 persons name Arthur to play in the NFL, (Gary and Mike), but no Chester, and no HOFer.

    22/24. There has only been one player named Cleveland to play in the NFL. Greg...not Grover. Greg was not a HOF player

    25. There have been 4 players named McKinley play in the NFL, including DE William McKinley who played for the Bills in 1971. No HOFers.

    26/32. We have had more Presidents name Roosevelt than the NFL has had players: Naaman Roosevelt a WR is the only Roosevelt (last name) to play in the NFL. No Theodores or Franklins. No HOF

    27. There has NEVER been a person named Taft play in the NFL.

    28. There have been 100 Wilsons to play in the NFL, including one "Thomas", which was Woodrow Wilson's actual first name, but no Woodrows. Larry Wilson is the only Wilson HOF player.

    29. There have been 2 players name Harding play in the NFL, Greg and Roger, but no Warren. No HOFer.

    30. There has NEVER been a person named Coolidge to play in the NFL.

    31. There have been 3 persons named Hoover to play in the NFL (Brad/Houston/Melvin). No Herbert, no HOFer

    33. There has NEVER been a person named Truman play in the NFL.

    34. There has NEVER been a person name Eisenhower play in the NFL, but there was a Larry Eisenhauer. Not HOF.

    35. There have been 14 persons named Kennedy to play in the NFL, but no John or Jack (2 Bobs however). Cortez Kennedy HOF. (and there was Lincoln Kennedy)

    37. There have been 6 Nixons to play in the NFL, but no Richard, and no HOF.

    38. There have been 21 Fords to play in the NFL, but no Gerald. Len Ford HOF.

    39. There have been 59 Carters to play in the NFL, including a Jim and a Jimmie. Chris Carter is in the HOF.

    40. There have been 2 Reagans to play the NFL, (Frank/Ed) No Ronald. No HOF

    41/43. There have been 11 persons named Bush play in the NFL, but no Georges, Herberts, or Walkers. and no HOFer

    42. There has been 1 person name Clinton play in the NFL: Charles. No William, no HOF

    44. There has been no Obama to play the NFL. (but there was Ben Obomanu). No HOF.

  • Summary, in case the above was too much for you:

    Only:

    John Adams

    Andrew Jackson

    William McKinley

    Thomas (Woodrow) Wilson

    Jimmy Carter

    have ever had a namesake play in the NFL.

    No one with the last names of Fillmore/Garfield/Taft/Coolidge/Truman/Eisenhower/Obama have ever played in the NFL.

    Only 1 person with the names Clinton/Roosevelt/Cleveland have played in the NFL.

  • The names of Taft and Garfield are so ubiquitous around Ohio here we lose sight of the fact that they really are not common names.

    E.g....in my Akron/Medina phone book there are only 2 people listed under Garfield, and there is only 1 person listed under Taft.

  • Good stuff man.

  • Interesting......well done sir.

  • 26/32. We have had more Presidents named Roosevelt than the NFL has had players with that name: Naaman Roosevelt, a WR, is the only Roosevelt (last name) to play in the NFL. No Theodores or Franklins. No HOF.

    And now we got him!

    Perhaps we should pick up Greg Cleveland and Charles Clinton as well since...as noted above, they are the only players with those last names to have ever played in the NFL.

    (but actually, I think they both played back in the 1970s or before)