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Vintage logo, used from 1941 until 1945, of a college football team that plays in the Big 12 Conference, the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The program began play in 1890 and has won 6 conference titles. The list of former Jayhawks who have gone on to play pro football is long, and includes Nolan Cromwell, Gilbert Brown, Larry Brown, Galen Fiss, Bobby Douglass, Ron Jessie, John Hadl, Dana Stubblefield, Aqib Talib, John Zook, Delvin Williams and Pro Football Hall of Famers Mike McCormack, Gale Sayers and John Riggins.

Logo of a small college football team that plays in the Ohio Athletic Conference, the Mount Union Purple Raiders. The Division III team first started play in 1893 and has won 30 conference championships and 13 small college national titles over the years. Former Purple Raiders who have gone on to play or coach in pro football include Pierre Garcon, Cecil Shorts, Kyle Miller, Jim Ballard and Dom Capers.

Logo of a Division III college football team that plays in the Ohio Athletic Conference, the John Carroll University Blue Streaks. The program, which began play in 1920, has won 11 conference titles, and play their home games at Don Shula Stadium. Notable former JCU alumni who have played pro football include Shula, Carl Taseff, Ed Ecker and London Fletcher. Besides Shula, the school has provided numerous coaches and front office personnel to the NFL, including Greg Roman, Josh McDaniels, Nick Caley, Tom Telesco, Brian Polian, Nick Caserio and David Caldwell.

Logo of a Division III college football team that plays in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks. Coach Lance Leipold guided the team to 6 Division III national championships in his tenure, including 4 undefeated seasons, before moving on to the University of Buffalo. A perennial small school powerhouse, the Warhawks own an impressive 51-9 record overall in small college playoffs. They have sent a few players on to pro football, including Matt Turk, Jake Kumerow, Derek Stanley and Joe Panos.

Logo of a small college football team that competes in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Ferris State Bulldogs. A Division II school, they have fielded teams since 1899. Bulldog alumni who have gone on to play pro football include Monty Brown, Ed Philion, Ricky Patton and current players Justin Zimmer, Malik Taylor and Zach Sieler.

Logo of a small college (NAIA) football team that plays in the Frontier Conference, the College of Idaho ‘Yotes. The team mascot is a coyote, but the team has always been affectionately known to its’ fans as the ‘Yotes. As small as the school and as unknown as their program is, COI has had a former player make it to the NFL – former San Francisco 49er R.C. Owens. Owens’ roommate while at the school was former Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA legend Elgin Baylor.

Logo of a college football team, used from 1980 until 1993, the Jackson State Tigers. They play in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and have won 16 SWAC championships and 3 Black College National titles over the years. The school recently hired Deion Sanders as their head coach. The list of former JSU alumni who have played pro football is long and impressive. It includes 4 Hall of Famers – Walter Payton, Lem Barney, Jackie Slater and Robert Brazile, and also such notable players as Harold Jackson, Coy Bacon, Jimmy Smith, Jerome Barkum, Wilbert Montgomery, Leon Gray, Verlon Biggs, Rich Caster, Willie Richardson and Speedy Duncan.

Logo of a pro football team with a long history in the National Football League, from their very early years, the Cleveland Rams. The logo is similar to the one the team uses today. The team was located in Cleveland from 1937 until 1945, when they relocated to Los Angeles. The nomadic franchise moved twice since then, to St. Louis and then back to the City of Angels. The club actually was founded in the old AFL in 1936 but moved to the more established NFL in ’37. The Rams won the NFL championship in 1945 and then promptly moved to L.A. the next season. Some notable players from the Cleveland era of the franchise include Fred Gehrke, Ray Hamilton, Riley Matheson, Red Hickey, Jim Benton and Hall of Famer Bob Waterfield.

Logo of the National Football League’s Houston Texans from their inaugural season of 2002. They entered the NFL as an expansion team, returning pro football to the city that had lost the Oilers to relocation in 1997. Coached by Dom Capers, they pulled off a shocking surprise in their first regular season game by upsetting their state cousins, the Dallas Cowboys, in a Sunday Night Football contest. They came back down to earth after that, however, finishing their first year with a 4-12 won/loss record.

Logo of a defunct independent small college football team, the St. Mary’s College Gaels, who began play in 1892 and disbanded in 2003 for budgetary reasons. The school actually dropped its’ program in 1950 but revived it as a club sport, then returned to a regular varsity team, in 1970. The most famous Gael alumnus who played pro football is Hall of Famer John Henry Johnson, while other notable former Gaels include Eddie Erdelatz, who coached at Navy and was the first head coach of the AFL’s Oakland Raiders, Dante Magnani, Harry Ebding, Will Sherman and Joe Aguirre.