Austin Ekeler has gone from undrafted to invaluable. The Los Angeles Chargers signed the unheralded running back from Western State in Colorado to a four-year, $25M contract Friday after he put up dazzling numbers running and receiving.
Who are some of the other undrafted players to leave a large impression on the NFL in the modern era? Playing in a Super Bowl qualifies you for consideration in this exercise.
Coy Bacon
Coy Bacon played 14 seasons as a defensive lineman for four teams. He was a three-time Pro Bowler.
Michael Bennett
Michael Bennett played college ball at Texas A&M. The defensive lineman is a three-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champ. He has played for five NFL teams. Bennett has had two tenures with the Seattle Seahawks.
Willie Brown
Willie Brown is a three-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowler. The HOF DB played for the Denver Broncos and Raiders in a long and glorious career.
Malcolm Butler
Malcolm Butler will be forever known for his interception of Russell Wilson that saved Super Bowl XLIX for the Patriots. He is a two-time Super Bowl champ and one-time Pro Bowler and currently is a Tennessee Titan.
Wayne Chrebet
Wayne Chrebet played college ball for Hofstra and went on to star for the New York Jets. Chrebet had 580 career receptions, including 41 that went for touchdowns.
Victor Cruz
The Giants found a jewel when they signed Victor Cruz as an undrafted free agent from UMass. Cruz won a Super Bowl and was a Pro Bowler. He also teamed with Eli Manning on a 99-yard TD pass. Cruz had 303 catches in a career that was cut short by a knee injury.
Jake Delhomme
Jake Delhomme played in a Super Bowl for the Carolina Panthers. He was a Pro Bowler in 2005 and a World Bowl champ in 1999.
Austin Ekeler
Austin Ekeler’s hard work has paid off with a sweet contract from the Los Angeles Chargers. The running back has more than 3,000 yards in total offense and 22 TDs since 2017.
London Fletcher
London Fletcher was a Super Bowl champ and four-time Pro Bowler. He was one of the biggest leaders on any team during his career, which spanned 1998-2013. He also was named winner of the Bart Starr Award in 2012.
Arian Foster
Arian Foster somehow was not drafted out of Tennessee. He erupted in his second season with 1.616 yards for the Houston Texans. In eight seasons, Foster rushed for 6,527 yards and 54 touchdowns.
Antonio Gates
Antonio Gates has officially retired after a spectacular career with the Chargers. The tight end was an eight-time Pro Bowler. He made 956 catches for 11,841 yards and 116 touchdowns as a Bolt.
Robbie Gould
Robbie Gould is with the 49ers currently after spending time with the Bears and Giants. Gould went to Penn State and originally signed with the New England Patriots.
Chris Harris Jr.
Chris Harris Jr. played college ball at Kansas. With the Broncos, the DB has become a Super Bowl champ and four-time Pro Bowler.
Cliff Harris
Cliff Harris was a big part of the Dallas Cowboys’ secondary during their glory years in the ’70s. After playing college football at Ouachita Baptist, Harris went to the NFL and became a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He appeared in five Super Bowls and was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls.
James Harrison
James Harrison played at Kent State and was undrafted out of college. The two-time Super Bowl champ and five-time Pro Bowler had three stints with the Steelers. No one will forget his 100-yard interception return in Super Bowl XLIII before halftime.
Jay Hilgenberg
Jay Hilgenberg played college football at Iowa and went on to become a Super Bowl champ and seven-time Pro Bowler, spending most of his career with the Chicago Bears.
Priest Holmes
Priest Holmes went undrafted out of Texas. Holmes earned a Super Bowl ring with the Baltimore Ravens in their 2001 Super Bowl XXXV victory over the New York Giants. After rushing for just over 2,000 yards in four seasons in Baltimore, Holmes experienced breakout success after signing with the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent in 2001. During his seven-year stint with the Chiefs, Holmes was a three-time All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowl selection and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2002.
Kent Hull
Kent Hull went from Mississippi State to the USFL New Jersey Generals to the Buffalo Bills. The center was a three-time Pro Bowler and started 169 of the 170 games he played.
Allen Hurns
Allen Hurns is on his third NFL team, the Miami Dolphins, after playing college ball at Miami for the Hurricanes. The wideout has made 303 catches and also made the great gesture to change his number to 17 in honor of the Parkland HS shooting victims as a Cowboy in 2018.
Joe Jacoby
Joe Jacoby was a four-time Pro Bowler and won three Super Bowls during his tenure with Washington.
Dave Krieg
Dave Krieg was a three-time Pro Bowler and threw for more than 38,000 yards while playing for six teams. He is best known for his time with the Seattle Seahawks. He played for them from 1980-91 after attending college at Milton.
Jim Langer
Jim Langer was a center on the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings. A maintay on the offensive line, Langer was a first ballot Pro Football HOFer after a career that saw him play on two Super Bowl champs and be named to the Pro Bowl six times.
Phillip Lindsay
Phillip Lindsay was undrafted out of Colorado. In 2018. Lindsay became the first undrafted offensive rookie to make the Pro Bowl, and the first undrafted running back to log back-to-back 1,000-rushing-yard seasons.
Larry Little
Larry Little was another Miami Dolphin offensive lineman who wasn’t drafted and went on to a Hall-of-Fame career. Little signed as a free agent with the American Football League’s San Diego Chargers in 1967 and 1968, and was traded to the AFL’s Miami Dolphins for the 1969 season, when he was named an AFL All-Star. He then played with the Dolphins from 1970-80, winning two Super Bowls and earning five Pro Bowl spots.
Sam Mills
Sam Mills went to tiny Montclair State and played 12 seasons in the for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. He also played for three seasons in the USFL with the Philadelphia Stars and won two championships.
Warren Moon
Warren Moon went undrafted out of Washington and then to the CFL. When he finally arrived in the NFL, he was dazzling. Over his 17 NFL seasons, Moon was named to nine Pro Bowls and made seven playoff appearances.
Nate Newton
Nate Newton played for the Dallas Cowboys (1986-98) and the Carolina Panthers (1999). He also played for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League in 1984-85. He went to college at Florida A&M.
Drew Pearson
The Cowboys’ Drew Pearson, he of the famed “Hail Mary” grab, was a Super Bowl champ and three-time Pro Bowler in a career that saw him catch 489 passes for more than 7,800 yards.
Jason Peters
Jason Peters is one of the great offensive linemen of his time. The nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champ played college ball at Arkansas and has played in the NFL For the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles.
John Randle
John Randle was a menace as a defensive lineman. Randle left the NFL tied with Richard Dent for fifth in number of career sacks. His 137.5 career sacks remains the second highest total by a defensive tackle in NFL history, only ranking below fellow Vikings legend Alan Page who had a total of 148.5 sacks
Tony Romo
Tony Romo is a great broadcast analyst. He was a pretty good quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, too. Romo served as the team’s primary starter from 2006-15, he guided the Cowboys to four postseason appearances and was named to the Pro Bowl four times.
Jeff Saturday
Jeff Saturday snapped the ball to Peyton Manning for much of his career with the Colts. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 1998, but was cut without playing a game. Saturday then signed with the Indianapolis Colts, with whom he played 13 seasons, won Super Bowl XLI over the Chicago Bears and was selected to four All-Pro teams and five Pro Bowls. In his final NFL season, he made his sixth Pro Bowl as a member of the Green Bay Packers.
Donnie Shell
Donnie Shell was a four-time Super Bowl champ and a member of the Steelers’ famed Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s. Shell retired as the NFL strong safety career leader in interceptions with 51. He started 11 straight years for the Steelers and was selected to their All-Time Team, the College Football Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2020), and to the NFL Silver Anniversary Super Bowl Team.
Rod Smith
Rod Smith played college football at Missouri Southern State. He was originally signed by the Broncos as an undrafted free agent and played his entire career with the team. He had 849 career receptions and 11,389 receiving yards.
Emmitt Thomas
Emmitt Thomas had a Hall-of-Fame career as a DB. He owns the Chiefs’ all-time interception record with 58, which places him ninth on pro football’s all-time list. Thomas was elected to the NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Seniors Committee.
Justin Tucker
Talk about a gift. Justin Tucker is on course to become the most accurate kicker in NFL history for the Ravens after not being drafted out of Texas. He also has an amazing voice and sings opera.
Adam Vinatieri
Adam Vinatieri has played in five Super Bowls: four with the New England Patriots and one with the Colts, winning with the Patriots in 2001, ’03, and ’04 and with the Colts in ’06. He holds the NFL record for most Super Bowl wins by a kicker. Vinatieri holds NFL career records for most points scored (2,673), most postseason points scored (238), most field goals made (599), and most overtime field goals made (12). He is the only player to score 1,000 points for two different teams. As of 2020, at 47 years old, he is the oldest active player in the NFL, the third oldest of all time (behind Morten Andersen and George Blanda), and the only remaining active player whose career began in the 1990s
Cameron Wake
Cameron Wake went from Penn State to the CFL to the NFL. He signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2009 and remained with the team until 2019, when he signed with the Tennessee Titans. Throughout his career, Wake has established himself as one of the premier edge rushers in the NFL. He has been selected to five Pro Bowls (four at defensive end, one at outside linebacker), and is a four-time first or second team All-Pro. His 100.5 career sacks (98 with the Dolphins) rank him second all-time in club history to Hall of Famer Jason Taylor’s 131 sacks.
Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner’s incredible story has been well documented. From stocking shelves to Super Bowl champ to Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Andre Waters
Andre Waters was regarded as one of the NFL’s hardest-hitting defenders, serving as an integral part of one of the league’s top defenses. He was undrafted out of Cheney and went on to play for the Eagles and Cardinals.
Brian Waters
Brian Waters was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1999 out of the University of North Texas. He has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, and earned six Pro Bowl selections during his career.
Wes Welker
Wes Welker had a successful career as a wide receiver despite being undrafted. Only one player in NFL history, Gale Sayers, had more all-purpose yards in his first three NFL seasons than Welker did with the Dolphins. Welker also holds the record for most receptions by any undrafted player in NFL history, passing Rod Smith in 2014. He retired with 16,797 all-purpose yards.
Willie Wood
Willie Wood played safety with the Green Bay Packers. Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler and a nine-time All-Pro. In 1989, Wood was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Danny Woodhead
Danny Woodhead played college football at Chadron State and was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played for the New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens. With the Patriots, Woodhead made his lone Super Bowl appearance in 2011. He finished the game with four catches for 42 yards and a touchdown while rushing seven times for 18 yards, but the Patriots fell to the New York Giants 21-17.
