There’s no shortage of legendary college football players who flopped in the NFL. Guys who made easy work of their NCAA opponents like Ryan Leaf, Brian Bosworth, JaMarcus Russell, Ron Dayne, Tim Tebow, and Tony Mandarich just couldn’t put it all together once they made the jump to the pros.
However, some of the greatest “What-if” NFL stories are ones that have never transpired. For various reasons, some of the best players in college football history never wound up playing a single snap in the pros.
Here are 10 such players who never turned pro after lighting it up in the NCAA.
Who are the best college football players who never played in the NFL?
Ernie Davis
The case of Ernie Davis is one of the most tragic sports stories you’ll ever hear.
Davis was a superstar running back at Syracuse under legendary head coach Ben Schwartzwalder. Davis played there from 1959 to 1961, recording 2,386 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns — jaw-dropping totals in those days.
Davis led Syracuse to a national championship in 1959 and was named the 1961 Heisman Trophy winner after rushing for 823 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also received the Chic Harley Award in 1961, which was then given to the College Football Player of the Year.
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There was immense hype around Davis, who was drafted first overall by Washington in 1962, only to be flipped to the Cleveland Browns soon after. Davis signed his rookie contract and was set to join forces with legendary running back Jim Brown, who was in the back half of his playing career.
Tragically, Davis was diagnosed with Leukemia before beginning his 1962 rookie season. Davis underwent immense treatment, but Leukemia was incurable during that time, and he sadly passed away at age 23 on May 18, 1963.
To honor Davis, the Browns retired his number 45. In 2008, director Gary Fleder and producer John Davis released a film about Davis’ life called “The Express: The Ernie Davis Story.” It starred Rob Brown as Davis and Dennis Quaid as Coach Schwartzwalder.
Tommie Frazier
Frazier really is one of the NFL’s greatest “What if” stories.
You won’t find many quarterbacks with a better college football resume than Tommie Frazier. He led the Nebraska Cornhuskers to consecutive national championships in 1994 and 1995 and cleaned up at the awards ceremony in the latter year.
That season, Frazier won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm, Quarterback of the Year, and Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Over his four seasons at Nebraska, Frazier threw 43 touchdowns against only 11 interceptions. Though his passing totals weren’t eye-popping, it’s because he was an explosive runner with 1,955 rushing yards and 36 rushing scores in 35 college games.
Remember how great Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Daunte Culpepper were in their primes as dual-threat quarterbacks? Yeah, Frazier could have totally been a human highlight reel like those guys.
Frazier had experienced blood clots during the 1994 season at Nebraska. Unfortunately, the blood clot issues resurfaced just ahead of the 1996 NFL Draft, scaring off every club from drafting him.
Frazier signed with Montreal’s CFL team that year and suited up for one game in garbage time. Unfortunately, he later experienced a serious case of pneumonia and had to be hospitalized for treatment.
Doctors gave Frazier blood thinners to treat the ongoing blood clot issues. Frazier decided to put his health first and retired at the age of 22.
Charlie Ward
When you think of great two-way professional athletes, Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson immediately come to mind. Ward would have been on that list if he tried his hand at pro football, but the two-sport sensation instead enjoyed a stellar 11-year career in the NBA.
You see, Ward starred as a quarterback and point guard for the Florida State Seminoles in the early ‘90s. Ward mopped up the competition at the 1993 college football award ceremony, winning Heisman Trophy honors along with the Walter Camp, Maxwell, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and Quarterback of the Year honors.
Ward led the Seminoles to a national championship in 1993, throwing for 3,032 yards, 27 touchdowns and only four interceptions to go along with 339 rushing yards and four rushing scores that year.
Ward reportedly claimed that he wouldn’t go to the NFL unless he knew he’d be a first-round pick, but NFL teams weren’t fully sold on his talents. Ward subsequently declared for the 1994 NBA Draft and was selected 26th overall by the New York Knicks.
Ward spent 10 seasons with the Knicks, helping them to an NBA Finals appearance in the 1999 season. He had brief stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets as well, averaging 6.3 points and 4.0 assists per game in his NBA career.
Darren Davis
After playing second-fiddle to older brother and 2,000-yard rusher Troy Davis in 1996, the other Davis took over as Iowa State’s lead running back in 1997. Troy would be drafted in the third round by the New Orleans Saints that year, but he wound up carving out a successful career in the CFL instead.
Darren immediately turned heads in 1997 with 1,005 rushing yards and five touchdowns, which was especially impressive considering that the Cyclones were lousy that year, with a 1-and-10 record.
Davis turned it up a notch in 1998, rushing for 1,166 yards and seven touchdowns. Then, to put a cherry on top of his college career, he racked up 1,388 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, totaling 1,548 yards and 16 touchdowns from scrimmage.
In school history, only Troy Davis and Breece Hall have more rushing yards than Darren Davis.
Surprisingly, however, nobody bothered to take a chance on Darren Davis in the 2000 NFL Draft. Like Troy, however, Darren would find success north of the border.
He spent four seasons in the CFL, recording back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2000 and ‘01. Davis walked away from football after the 2003 season.
Jay Berwanger
Berwanger was a do-it-all football sensation at the University of Chicago from 1933 to 1935. He played running back and linebacker and did return duties on the special teams units, but Berwanger did most of his damage as an RB.
Berwanger recorded 22 total touchdowns in 24 college football games, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1935 while earning Unanimous All-American honors. Berwanger also earned back-to-back First-team All-Big Ten, setting himself up to make special history.
The first-ever NFL Draft was held in 1936. He was taken first overall by the Philadelphia Eagles, officially becoming the first draft pick in NFL history.
Berwanger, however, was traded to the Chicago Bears following a contract dispute with the Eagles. Berwanger reportedly wanted $20,000 over two years from the Bears, but George Halas wouldn’t give in.
So Berwanger walked away from football and instead worked in sales for a rubber company. He also briefly worked as a sportswriter, later expressing regret for not joining the Bears.
Another classic case of “What could have been.”
Maurice Clarett
Unfortunately, Clarett got too ahead of himself and let his ego ruin his chances of becoming a star in the pros.
Clarett had a season for the ages with the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2002, rushing for 1,237 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman. Clarett’s efforts helped Ohio State to a national championship victory, with Jim Tressel’s group defeating Miami in the big game to clinch the undefeated season.
The Buckeyes suspended Clarett for the entire 2023 season after several heated altercations with Ohio State officials. In 2004, Clarett went to court to challenge the NFL’s long-standing rule that a player must be three years removed from high school to enter the NFL Draft.
Even though he hadn’t played football since 2002, Clarett was drafted in the third round — 101st overall — by the Denver Broncos in 2005. Sure enough, he showed up notably overweight and was rusty and unproductive in preseason play.
The Broncos released Clarett ahead of their Week 1 opener, and no NFL team bothered to take a chance on the player who had become a giant headache. In 2012, Clarett had a short-lived stint on the Omaha Nighthawks of the now-defunct United Football League.
After years of legal troubles that led to him spending three-and-a-half years in prison, Clarett was able to clean up his act and became an advocate to help youths avoid the legal problems that derailed his NFL career.
An advocate for mental health, Clarett has also become active in the Ohio political community.
Jim Stillwagon
Stillwagon was a hulking 239-pound defensive tackle at Ohio State. Over his three years as a menace on their defense, Stillwagon led the Buckeyes to national championships in the 1968 and 1970 seasons.
Stillwagon also won the 1970 Lombardi and Outland Trophies, with a pair of First-team All-Big Ten selections on his resume. In 2000, he was also named to the Ohio State Buckeyes’ Football All-Century Team.
The Green Bay Packers drafted Stillwagon in the fifth round in 1971, but he wasn’t sold on playing in the NFL. Players in the CFL were offered similar, or sometimes greater, sums of cash than NFLers in those days, and Stillwagon decided to take his talents to The Great White North instead.
Stillwagon signed with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in 1971 and immediately emerged as one of the league’s most destructive players. He earned three CFL All-Star selections before retiring early after the 1975 season.
Jason White
White had an unusually long college football career, joining the Oklahoma Sooners’ program as a 19-year-old in 1999. White was on the 2000 Sooners’ squad that defeated Florida State in the national championship game, but he wouldn’t take over as the full-time starter in 2003, following Nate Hybl’s move to the NFL.
White had a season for the ages in 2003, winning the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 3,846 yards and 40 touchdowns. He followed it up by winning his second straight Davey O’Brien Award in 2004, along with Maxwell and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award honors.
But White’s name was uncalled in the 2005 NFL Draft because of teams’ concerns about his history of knee injuries. He eventually landed a contract with the Tennessee Titans but the nagging knee issues prompted him to retire.
The 2005 NFL Draft memorably featured the San Francisco 49ers ignoring Aaron Rodgers’ warning and taking Alex Smith first overall. The future four-time MVP somehow slipped all the way down to the Green Bay Packers at No. 24 overall, and the rest is history.
Smith, Rodgers, Kyle Orton, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Derek Anderson, and Matt Cassel headlined the list of QBs who found some success in the NFL. It’s too bad White’s body betrayed him and prevented a potentially special career in the pros.
Felix “Doc” Blanchard
Blanchard starred in the Army backfield from 1944 to 1946, recording 1,670 yards and 30 touchdowns. Again, those were impressive numbers in that era.
Blanchard led the Army to a national championship three-peat and won the 1945 Heisman Trophy after rushing for 722 yards and 16 touchdowns. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Blanchard third overall in 1946, after Notre Dame quarterback Frank Dancewicz and Tulane running back Dub Jones went first and second overall, respectively.
The Steelers were coming off a lousy 2-8 season and hoped that a player like Doc would be able to jump-start the sluggish offense. But after he was drafted, Blanchard selflessly put away his football to work in the United States Air Force.
“Doc” reached the rank of second lieutenant in the Air Force and flew planes during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He retired from the military in 1971 and later worked as the commandant of cadets at the New Mexico Military Institute.
Pete Dawkins
Dawkins had an awfully similar career path to Doc Blanchard’s. Like Blanchard, Dawkins was a star running back at the Army for three years, from 1956 to ‘58. Like Blanchard, Dawkins won the Heisman Trophy in 1958 after recording 922 yards of offense and 11 total touchdowns as a running back and receiver.
Dawkins helped the Black Knights to Eastern championships in 1956 and ‘58. However, he had no interest in pursuing an NFL career and wound up graduating from the United States Military Academy and later Oxford University.
Dawkins would serve two decades in the military, earning the rank of Brigadier General. He served in the Vietnam War and earned two Bronze Star Medals for his service.
