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Greatest Pros who played HS Football in New Jersey

K

knightfan7

Heisman
Jul 30, 2003
93,293
67,113
113
RnkAthletePOSRookie YrSchoolOverall Rank
1Jim RingoOL1953Phillipsburg (Phillipsburg)139
2Franco HarrisRB1972Rancocas Valley Regional (Mount Holly)181
3Lou CreekmurOL1950Woodbridge (Woodbridge)182
4Andre TippettLB1982Barringer (Newark)231
5Deron CherryDB1981Palmyra (Palmyra)263
6Joe TheismannQB1974South River (South River)306
7Drew PearsonWR1973South River (South River)324
8Elvin BetheaDL1968Central (Trenton)339
9Floyd LittleRB1967Bordentown Military Institute (Bordentown)347
10Milt PlumQB1957Woodbury (Woodbury)361


Bill Pellington, DMac, and Shawn O'Hara make the top 50.

Thoughts? I know the best I ever saw in person, Willie Wilson, isn't on the list because he chose baseball.
 
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R

RUEd

All-Conference
Aug 14, 2001
3,390
1,927
113
As a former South River Rat, happy to see 6 and 7. Met them both, both were great
 
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S

Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
7,827
4,300
66
You’d think 7&8 being Hall of Famers would be above 5&6 on the list…and same for Sam Mills.
 
bac2therac

bac2therac

Hall of Famer
Jul 30, 2001
238,297
168,028
113
2 from my high school: Hillsborough

Proehl and O Hara

Actually 3, Mayer at 618 but i think they could have stopped at 200
 
K

koleszar

Heisman
Jan 1, 2010
35,590
55,342
113
I once saw Keith Sims #34 and Tony Siragusa #155 go at it at a tri wrestling scrimmage at Watchung Hills. My group was near them. Siragusa was fvcking around, a coach yelled at him and he got pissed. Him and Sims started wrestling pretty hard and going at one another. My group stops and starts watching as this is main event type sh*t. Siragusa slams Sims, the loud thud caused everyone in the gym to stop wrestling.
 
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LeapinLou

LeapinLou

All-American
Jul 24, 2001
12,529
5,583
113
My "moment" with Tony Siragusa was eating at the counter of the Clark White Diamond around 1 AM while he was sitting behind me waiting for a take out order. That was probably around 1995. Funny the things you remember.
 
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G

GoodOl'Rutgers

Heisman
Sep 11, 2006
123,974
19,584
0
I think Ocean's Phil Villipiano could compete for that top LB spot.. in his period of NFL. Same pro-bowl and all-Pro numbers too.
 
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Y

yesrutgers01

Heisman
Nov 9, 2008
121,560
37,203
113
zappaa said:

At least my bro has a highlight, do all the guys at the bottom of the list have one….lol?
Click to expand...

It's funny- i see some names on there that I am not sure they actually played more than a few downs ahead of our son who started 5 games at LT in 2012- Game MVP ball against the Steelers, pics of him celebrating with Gates/Rivers on their then record TD pass...
 
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Z

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
73,434
89,605
103
yesrutgers01 said:
It's funny- i see some names on there that I am not sure they actually played more than a few downs ahead of our son who started 5 games at LT in 2012- Game MVP ball against the Steelers, pics of him celebrating with Gates/Rivers on their then record TD pass...
Click to expand...
I’m not sure some of them were ever active Yes
 
R

RUBigJ

Sophomore
Jul 28, 2001
873
117
0
What about Lou Benfatti played at Morris Knolls, then Penn state then the jets!
 
R

RUPete

Heisman
Feb 5, 2003
26,846
16,117
0
koleszar said:
I once saw Keith Sims #34 and Tony Siragusa #155 go at it at a tri wrestling scrimmage at Watchung Hills. My group was near them. Siragusa was fvcking around, a coach yelled at him and he got pissed. Him and Sims started wrestling pretty hard and going at one another. My group stops and starts watching as this is main event type sh*t. Siragusa slams Sims, the loud thud caused everyone in the gym to stop wrestling.
Click to expand...
My HS wrestled Watchung Hills when Sims was there but we didn't have anyone in his weight class so it was a forfeit. Huge dude. Our HS went up against Siragusa in football and the game got ugly in a hurry. The guy used to punt and placekick for them too, He takes off running on a fake punt and straight arms one of our guys right off the field into the sideline equipment. Never seen anything like him at that level.
 
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N

nikoru09

All-Conference
May 2, 2016
1,980
1,723
113
ron dayne
irving fryar
quintus mcdonald
elvin bethea
lydell mitchell
butch woolfolk
joe flacco
rich glover
 
K

Kbee3

Heisman
Aug 23, 2002
43,724
35,255
0
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L

LSRF

Junior
Jul 25, 2001
726
317
47
RUEd said:
As a former South River Rat, happy to see 6 and 7. Met them both, both were great
Click to expand...
My generation is was Kenny Jackson, Troy Hill, Keith Hudak and Tom C (sorry, no idea on that last name)
 
K

KingOfTheEast

Junior
Dec 4, 2019
307
350
0
IDT at any point in their careers, was Donald Brown better than Knownshon Moreno...especially by that much...
 
K

Kbee3

Heisman
Aug 23, 2002
43,724
35,255
0
LSRF said:
My generation is was Kenny Jackson, Troy Hill, Keith Hudak and Tom C (sorry, no idea on that last name)
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Csatari. Went to one of the Ivies and starred there.
Also, Kenny's brother Roger Jackson...who went to Pitt I believe.
Kenny Jackson was about as good an athlete as I've ever seen in NJ high school. Right up there with Willie Wilson and Brian Taylor.
 
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S

SKWC

All-Conference
Jan 21, 2012
401
1,229
57
It is hard to rank players from different eras.

Based on achievements, I believe that Charlies Berry should be ranked much higher. He was the best player and leading scorer on the Pottsville Maroons that was the best pro team in 1925. Berry scored the winning points over an All Star team that included the four horsemen giving the NFL credibility. This victory lead to the initial prominence of the NFL. Berry was a star end at Lafayette, named to the 1924 Walter Camp All American team, and a Hall of Fame member..

In an era when it was hard to earn a living, Berry also played professional baseball as a catcher for the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Athletics, and Chicago White Sox. In one game in 1931, he knocked out Babe Ruth at home when Ruth tried to score on a sacrifice fly. The Babe was carried off the field.

After he retired as an active player, Berry became an umpire in the American League from 1942 through 1962. He officiated in five World Series and five All-Star games. At the same time, he was a head linesmen in the NFL for 24 seasons, officiating in 12 championship games, including the renowned "Sudden Death" championship game between the Colts and Giants in 1958. He is the only man to have officiated the World Series, the NFL Championship and the College All-Star game in one year.
 
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Y

yesrutgers01

Heisman
Nov 9, 2008
121,560
37,203
113
RU-Kidding said:
Opposing defenses in high school thought they saw 3 Chapmans with the ball each play before the mortal one ended up in the end zone.
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The whole list is such a CF...
They really are not going by "greatest" player in any sense. They are going by length of career. Once you go over 7 years- then it is a little bit based on accomplishments.
That is why some guys are listed 3 times and their PR/KR statuses may be higher then what other players did- example if Joe Theisman who may have returned 4 kicks or punts
 
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