Study finds which cities, states are most likely to produce NFL stars

July 26 (UPI) -- A new study shows which NFL cities and states produce the most NFL athletes per 10,000 residents.

Analysts at OnlineCasino.ca gathered data from pro-football-reference.com and cross-referenced it with population data from the United States and Canadian Census programs to achieve the findings. The consensus dictated that the majority of NFL players hail from the deep south, specifically Mississippi.

"The Magnolia State" has produced 2.02 NFL players per 10,000 residents. Mississippi's neighbors, Louisiana and Alabama, have bred 1.80 and 1.39 active NFL players per 10,000 residents, respectively. Those states rank in the top-3 for growing football players. Nebraska (1.26), Ohio (1.22), Oklahoma (1.18), Pennsylvania (1.10), Arkansas (1.02), Iowa (.98) and West Virginia (.97) round out the top 10 states.

Saskatchewan produces .09 NFL stars per 10,000 residents.

When it comes to cities, Chicago does it best.

The "Windy City" has had 464 NFL stars in the league, leading all cities. Los Angeles ranks second with 441, while Houston comes in third place with 300. Those top cities are followed by: Miami (259), Detroit (248), Dallas (234), New Orleans (213), Cleveland (203), Pittsburgh (199), Washington, D.C. (185), Philadelphia (184), St. Louis (177), New York City (167), Cincinnati (159), Atlanta (146), Birmingham (137), San Diego (134), Memphis (127), Columbus (125) and San Francisco (119).

According to the NCAA, just 1.5 percent of college football players make it to the NFL. There were 73,600 participants in the NCAA this year with 251 getting drafted out of 16,369 draft-eligible prospects. About 9.1 percent of NCAA baseball players make it to Major League Baseball, while 1.1 percent of men's basketball players reach the NBA and 0.9 percent of women's basketball players make the WNBA. About 1.4 percent of men's soccer players achieve professional status at the major level. The NCAA reports that 5.6 percent of men's hockey players make it to the NHL.

The NCAA includes more than 480,000 competitors.