Local High School Eyes NFL Draft Record

Other high schools have more players in the NFL, but none have sent more than three in the same year.

We already know that Miami rules the world when it comes to football, whether locally grown or merely college-bred.

But even with approximately 90% of NFL players having ties to our sun-bleached Babylon (if they didn't grow up here or attend UM, we've at least arrested them on South Beach), one local high school sports a chance to set a record none of our junior football factories have come close to touching yet: Fort Lauderdale powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas could send the largest group from a single high school to the NFL in the same year.

If all five of their potential draftees end up on a roster, Aquinas will top the record by two -- thoroughly demoralizing California's De La Salle and Long Beach Polytechnic and the measly three players each they saw taken in the 2006 draft.

"It's rare to see this kind of thing," Florida Gators safety and Raiders alum Major Wright told the Sun-Sentinel. "This shows what type of program St. Thomas really is and how dedicated we are to what we do."

Other Raiders draft hopefuls include Georgia defensive tackle Geno Atkins, Notre Dame offensive tackle Sam Young, Michigan State kicker Brett Swenson and Florida State receiver Richard Goodman.

Wright is projected in the second or third round, depending on who you ask, with the other trailing behind. But even if four or just three go, they'll join 31 other NFL'ers from Miami, 4 from Fort Lauderdale Dillard, 4 from Miami Senior, and 5 from Miami's Carol City. Not too shabby, South Florida. Not too shabby.

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