Alabama’s NFL Draft: 200-game club meets in fifth round
Three Alabama alumni have played in 200 NFL regular-season games.
Linebacker Cornelius Bennett played in 206 after entering the NFL as the second selection in the 1987 draft. The other two 200-game players didn’t join the league with such high expectations.
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A teammate of Bennett’s for five seasons with the Buffalo Bills, punter Chris Mohr was the 146th pick of the 1989 NFL Draft and appeared in 239 regular-season games. Tight end Howard Cross played in 207 NFL regular-season games – all with the New York Giants – after coming aboard 12 picks after Mohr in the 1989 draft.
In the 2023 NFL Draft, Mohr and Cross would be fifth-round choices. The fifth round of the 88th NFL Draft on April 29 will consist of the 136th through 177th selections.
Fifty-eight players have been drafted from Alabama with the 136th through 177th picks. But 36 Alabama alumni have been fifth-round choices.
That’s because over the decades, the picks comprising the fifth round have changed as the number of teams in the NFL has increased and the league has instituted compensatory picks as part of its free-agency plan. The 36 Alabama fifth-round picks have been selected at No. 33 to No. 172 in the draft.
Alabama had three players picked in the fifth round of the 2019 draft – Mack Wilson, Ross Pierschbacher and Deionte Thompson – but hasn’t had a fifth-rounder in the past three drafts. Possibilities on April 29 could be linebacker Henry To’oTo’o and offensive tackle Tyler Steen.
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The Alabama players who have been picked with the 136th through 177th selections of an NFL Draft include:
No. 136 picks: Greg Gilbert, linebacker, Chicago Bears, 1989; Josh Chapman, nose tackle, Indianapolis Colts, 2012.
Gilbert and Chapman were Alabama prep standouts – Gilbert at Austin in Decatur and Chapman at Hoover. Gilbert never played in an NFL regular-season game but did play in the World League of American Football with the San Antonio Riders and Barcelona Dragons. Chapman played 29 games in two seasons. He missed his rookie season because of a knee injury sustained during his final year at Alabama.
No. 137 picks: Patrick Hape, tight end, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1997; Le’Ron McClain, fullback, Baltimore Ravens, 2007; Jesse Williams, defensive tackle, Seattle Seahawks, 2013.
Hape played in 124 games as a tight end and fullback in an eight-year career split between Tampa Bay and the Denver Broncos. He caught 51 passes for 287 yards and 11 touchdowns.
McClain is the most recent fullback to lead an NFL team in rushing with 902 yards for the Ravens in 2008. He earned All-Pro recognition for that season. The next year, McClain earned another Pro Bowl invitation even though he went from 232 rushing attempts to 46, with 180 rushing yards. That’s because in 2009, he turned into a blocking back to help Ray Rice run for 1,339 yards.
Williams had arthroscopic knee surgery following his senior season. When his problem persisted, he had another surgery in August 2013, causing him to spend his first NFL season with Seattle on injured reserve. Williams suffered another knee injury during the Seahawks’ 2014 training camp and spent another season on IR. In 2015, Williams was diagnosed with papillary renal cell carcinoma type 2, already at stage 3, and had a kidney removed in May. However, he played in all four of Seattle’s preseason games before spending the 2015 season on the Seahawks’ non-football injury list. Williams got medical clearance to return to football in 2016, but Seattle released him in the offseason, and he returned home to Australia. Although Williams never played in a regular-season game for Seattle, he received a Super Bowl ring as a member of the team that won the NFL championship with a 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos on Feb. 2, 2014.
No. 138 picks: Sandy Sanford, end, Washington Redskins, 1940; Mike Raines, defensive tackle, San Francisco 49ers, 1974; Willie Shelby, running back, Cincinnati Bengals, 1976.
After seven games for Washington in 1940, during which he had a 13-yard run and kicked three extra points, Sanford headed for the U.S. Navy and World War II. He did not return to the NFL.
After playing in two games for San Francisco in 1974, Raines played nine seasons in the CFL and was a first-team all-star in 1981. In 1983, the former Sidney Lanier High School star earned all-league honors again, this time with the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL.
Shelby had 14 receiving yards and 14 rushing yards during his 30-game NFL career. He caught two passes and had seven carries. He also returned 42 punts and 58 kickoffs, including a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Cincinnati’s 45-24 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 3, 1976.
No. 139 pick: Deionte Thompson, safety, Arizona Cardinals, 2019.
Thompson was the 23rd (and most recent) Alabama player drafted by the Cardinals, who have picked Crimson Tide players in all three of their locations – Chicago, St. Louis and Phoenix.
No. 140 picks: Fred Sington Jr., tackle, San Francisco 49ers, 1957; Scott Hunter, quarterback, Green Bay Packers, 1971; Thornton Chandler, tight end, Dallas Cowboys, 1986.
San Francisco picked Sington after he’d spent two years in the U.S. Navy, but he returned to complete his college career in the 1958 and 1959 seasons with Alabama. Sington’s father already was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame for his Crimson Tide career by that time.
As a rookie, Hunter stepped into Green Bay’s lineup for Bart Starr with the future Hall of Famer ailing in what turned out to be his final NFL season. The next season, Hunter was the full-time starter and helped the Packers reach the playoffs for the first time since coach Vince Lombardi left. Over the next six seasons, though, Hunter started 18 more games while playing for the Packers, Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions.
In four seasons with Dallas, Chandler caught 29 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns.
No. 141 pick: Kenny King, defensive end, Arizona Cardinals, 2003.
King, who played in 11 games for Arizona in 2003, is the football coach at Daphne High School.
No. 142 pick: Freddie Robinson, defensive back, Indianapolis Colts, 1987.
A standout at Davidson High School in Mobile, Robinson intercepted two passes in 22 games across two seasons with Indianapolis.
No. 143 pick: Al Lary, end, New York Yanks, 1951.
Like his older brother Frank Lary, Al Lary played professional baseball instead of football. Frank Lary was a two-time all-star who was known as the Yankee Killer. Al Lary pitched in 16 Major League games – one in 1954 and 15 in 1962 for the Cubs.
No. 144 pick: John Mangum, defensive back, Chicago Bears, 1990.
Mangum followed his father into pro football. A defensive tackle, John Mangum Sr. played for the Boston Patriots in the 1966 and 1967 seasons. John Mangum Jr. played in 105 regular-season games in nine seasons with Chicago. Mainly a special-teamer, Mangum made 16 of his 25 career starts in 1997, when he made 89 tackles and two of his five career interceptions as the Bears’ free safety.
No. 145 picks: Nick Terlizzi, tackle, New York Giants, 1946; Kindal Moorehead, defensive tackle, Carolina Panthers, 2003.
Terlizzi never played in the NFL, but he did play in the Rose Bowl. After a year in the military, Terlizzi returned to play for Alabama’s undefeated 1945 team, and even though he broke his leg along the way, he still managed to get on the field in the Crimson Tide’s 34-14 victory over Southern Cal on Jan. 1, 1946, to say he played in the Rose Bowl.
Moorehead played in 89 games in six seasons – five with Carolina and one with the Atlanta Falcons. He got five of his career total of 10.5 sacks in the 2005 season, when he made 12 of his 14 career starts and the Panthers reached the NFC Championship Game.
No. 146 picks: Chris Mohr, punter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1989; DeQuan Menzie, defensive back, Kansas City Chiefs, 2012.
Mohr has appeared in more NFL regular-season games than any other former Alabama player – 239. He’s one of four Alabama players drafted as a punter. The others are Greg Gantt in 1974, Bryne Diehl in 1995 and JK Scott in 2018. No Alabama specialist has been selected earlier in an NFL Draft than Mohr, who spent 15 seasons in the league and ranks No. 12 in career punts. He was fourth on the list when he retired.
No. 149 pick: Jason McAddley, wide receiver, Arizona Cardinals, 2002.
As a rookie, McAddley caught 25 passes for 362 yards and one touchdown in nine games. In the remaining three seasons of his career, McAddley had 13 receptions for 216 yards. He was the Tennessee Titans’ kickoff returner in 2004, averaging 22.3 yards on 38 returns.
No. 151 pick: Eddie Versprille, fullback, Cleveland Browns, 1964.
Versprille played for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Atlantic Coast Football League’s Richmond Rebels in 1964. He made the All-ACFL team as a linebacker.
No. 152 pick: Bud French, back, St. Louis Cardinals, 1965.
No. 153 pick: Ross Pierschbacher, center, Washington Redskins, 2019.
Pierschbacher was the 25th of the 27 players drafted from Alabama by Washington. The franchise has picked more Crimson Tide alumni than any other NFL team. Pierschbacher played in five games for Washington in 2019, three for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020 and three for the Detroit Lions in 2022.
No. 155 picks: Terry Jones, tight end, Baltimore Ravens, 2002; Mack Wilson, linebacker, Cleveland Browns, 2019.
Terry Jones followed his father into the NFL. Terry Jones Sr., who also played at Alabama, spent seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers after being selected 284th in the 1978 NFL Draft. Terry Jones Jr. caught 59 passes for 493 yards and five touchdowns in four NFL seasons.
After a strong rookie season, Wilson held a lesser role for Cleveland for two seasons, but he gets a fresh start in 2022 after being traded to the New England Patriots.
No. 156 picks: Steve Sloan, quarterback, Atlanta Falcons, 1966; Greg Richardson, wide receiver, Minnesota Vikings, 1987; Shawn Draper, tackle, Miami Dolphins, 2001.
Sloan completed 10-of-31 passes for 134 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions in eight games in two seasons with Atlanta, Richardson averaged 19.0 yards on four kickoff returns and had 19 yards on four punt returns in four games in two seasons and Draper did not play in an NFL regular-season game, even though he was on the rosters of six teams.
No. 157 pick: Quinton Dial, defensive end, San Francisco 49ers, 2013.
The former Clay-Chalkville standout started 15 games for San Francisco in 2015 to earn a new contract. But after starting 11 games for the 49ers in 2016, Dial was released at the end of the 2017 preseason. He played 13 games with the Green Bay Packers in 2017 to finish with 59 in his five NFL seasons.
No. 158 picks: Dick Flowers, tackle, Washington Redskins, 1949; Howard Cross, tight end, New York Giants, 1989; Charlie Peprah, defensive back, New York Giants, 2006.
Cross played in 207 NFL regular-season games, more than any other Alabama position player. The former New Hope High School star spent 10 seasons as the Giants’ starting tight end, earning a Super Bowl ring in 1990. He caught 201 passes for 2,194 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Peprah also won a Super Bowl ring with Green Bay to cap the 2010 campaign, when he was the Packers’ strong safety in his first season as an NFL starter. The next season, Peprah returned his five interceptions for 147 yards and one touchdown.
No. 159 picks: Jim Emmons, tackle, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1956; Paul Harris, linebacker, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1977; Roosevelt Patterson, guard, Los Angeles Raiders, 1994; Mark Anderson, defensive end, Chicago Bears, 2006.
Anderson recorded 12 sacks as a rookie to help Chicago reach Super Bowl XLI. Five years later, Anderson reached double digits in sacks for another Super Bowl team with 10 for the New England Patriots. Anderson finished his career with 36.5 sacks in 98 games over seven seasons.
No. 160 picks: Jay Barker, quarterback, Green Bay Packers, 1995; Ed Stinson, defensive end, Arizona Cardinals, 2014.
The quarterback for the Crimson Tide’s 1992 national championship team, Barker never played in an NFL regular-season game. But he did play for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and the XFL’s Birmingham Thunderbolts.
Stinson’s only sack in his 33 games and four NFL seasons came against the Philadelphia Eagles’ Sam Bradford on Dec. 20, 2015.
No. 162 pick: Freddie Milons, wide receiver, Philadelphia Eagles, 2002.
Milons was the 14th former Crimson Tide player drafted by Philadelphia, and the Eagles didn’t pick another player directly from Alabama until adding wide receiver DeVonta Smith at No. 10 in 2021. Milons broke his leg in the preseason and never played in an NFL regular-season game.
No. 163 picks: Wayne Hamilton, linebacker, San Diego Chargers, 1980; Brent Sowell, defensive tackle, Miami Dolphins, 1986; Derrick Oden, linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles, 1993.
The only 163rd pick from Alabama to play in an NFL regular-season game, Oden appeared in 35 of them in three seasons with Philadelphia, mainly in a special-teams role.
No. 164 picks: Wesley Britt, tackle, San Diego Chargers, 2005; AJ McCarron, quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals, 2014.
Britt didn’t make San Diego’s roster as a rookie. He spent the 2005 season on the New England practice squad, then played in 16 games over the next three seasons with the Patriots. Britt’s wife, Katie Britt, is a U.S. Senator from Alabama.
In 2015, McCarron became the first Alabama quarterback to start in an NFL victory since Jeff Rutledge did for the Giants in 1987. McCarron was filling in for injured regular Andy Dalton when he led the Bengals to two victories in their final three regular-season games and into the playoffs. A knee injury kept the 2013 Heisman Trophy runner-up off the field in 2021, but he is playing for the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks this spring.
No. 165 pick: Mike Mizerany, guard, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1951.
Mizerany was a World War II veteran before he played football and baseball at Alabama. He never played for Pittsburgh, but Mizerany did hit .309 for the Panama City Fliers of the Class D Alabama-Florida League in 1951. Mizerany later operated Big Mike’s Café in Birmingham for three decades.
No. 167 picks: Kerry Goode, running back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1988; Vinnie Sunseri, defensive back, New Orleans Saints, 2014.
Goode had 231 yards on 63 carries and 68 yards on seven receptions in 14 games as a rookie, but he played in only one more NFL game. Goode is battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Sunseri played in 15 games in two seasons – nine for New Orleans in 2014 and six for the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. He coaches running backs for the New England Patriots now.
No. 169 picks: Buddy Aydelette, tackle, Green Bay Packers, 1980; Curt Jarvis, nose tackle, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1987.
Aydelette played in 21 NFL games – nine for Green Bay in 1980 and 12 for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1987. In between, the former Murphy High School star was an All-USFL guard three times for the Birmingham Stallions.
After playing in two games as a rookie, Jarvis entered the Bucs’ starting lineup in his second season. But seven games into the 1990 season, a neck injury forced Jarvis to retire.
No. 170 picks: Holt Rast, end, Chicago Bears, 1942.
Rast went to war instead of the NFL, and when he was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1946, the decorated soldier had reached the rank of major.
No. 171 pick: Triandos Luke, wide receiver, Denver Broncos, 2004.
Luke played in 10 games in his only NFL season. He caught six passes for 52 yards and averaged 7.1 yards on 19 punt returns and 20.4 yards on 15 kickoff returns for Denver in 2004. In his only postseason return, Luke ran back a kickoff 41 yards in a 49-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 9, 2005.
No. 172 pick: JK Scott, punter, Green Bay Packers, 2018.
Scott averaged 44.6 yards as Green Bay’s punter from 2018 through 2020. He punted in only one game in 2021 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but had a comeback season with the Chargers in 2022, when the Chargers yielded only 58 punt-return yards, the fewest in the NFL by 79.
No. 174 picks: Jimmy Nelson, back, Chicago Cardinals, 1942; John Mitchell, linebacker, San Francisco 49ers, 1973; Jesse Bendross, wide receiver, San Diego Chargers, 1984.
The first of 23 Alabama players drafted by the Cardinals, Nelson never played for Chicago. Instead, he entered the U.S. Army for World War II. Nelson reached the pros in 1946. As a halfback for the All-American Football Conference’s Miami Seahawks, Nelson ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries, caught four passes for 20 yards, completed 8-of-24 passes for 135 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions and averaged 39.7 yards on 16 punts in 14 games.
A pioneer African American player at Alabama, Mitchell didn’t get out of his first training camp with the 49ers, but he spent 32 years in the NFL as an assistant coach before retiring after the 2022 season.
Bendross had 27 receptions for 369 yards and two touchdowns in 35 NFL regular-season games. One of his touchdowns came on a 54-yard connection with Dan Fouts in San Diego’s 21-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 29, 1985.
No. 177 pick: Jeoffrey Pagan, defensive end, Houston Texans, 2014.
Pagan played in 22 games in two seasons with Houston.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.