Just The Facts: NFL Average Salaries

So you are a high school athlete and you say that you want to be an NFL football player? Then you better sit down and take a hard look at these facts: According to the NFL Players Association, about 100,000 high school students play football. Of those high school players, 215 will go on to play for an NFL team. Therefore, only 0.2 percent of all high school football players will make it to the NFL. About 9,000 players make it to the college level. If a player makes it to college about 310 of them will actually make it to the NFL draft. The NFL roster cap is 53 players and there are 32 teams, so there are 1,696 players in the NFL each season. The NFL Players Association indicates that the average football player's career is only three seasons long. Most players do not have guaranteed contracts, and may find themselves suddenly out of work because they were cut or because of injury. Around 400 NFL players end their NFL careers each year. While the NFL's big-name stars may...