Helix is one of 12 schools in the country with at least 4 alumni players who made 2015 opening-day rosters in the NFL.
Thirteen San Diego Section graduates were active, down from the 16 of 2013, the last year we published this information from the NFL Communications Department.
Reggie Bush, Levine Loiolo, Alex Smith, and Jamar Taylor also represented Helix in the 2013 survey.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (alma mater of tennis’ Chris Evert and  all-pro receiver Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys, among others) leads all U.S. high schools with 15 NFL players.
Cleveland Glenville (6), Miami Norland (6) and DeMatha Catholic of Hyattsville, Maryland (5), round out the top 4,
Calfornia’s Long Beach Poly, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, San Mateo Serra, Anaheim Servite, and Westlake Village Oaks Christian joined Helix with 4 each.
Oceanside and Mira Mesa each has 2, tying 155 schools. Â There are 1,172 Â with 1 player.
Florida is the leading contributor with 204 players.  California was next with 203, followed by Texas (181) and Georgia (114).
Miami (31), Fort Lauderdale (20), Atlanta (16), and Houston (14) were leaders in the “hometown” category. Â Los Angeles city had 10.
Alabama, with a population of 4,779,736, based on the 2010 U.S. Census, is the leader “per capita”  with one player for every 75,869 persons.
The pool of 1,668 NFL players in the U.S. population of 308,745,538 represented one player per 185,099 persons.
| Name | Position | High School | Team | Year | College |
| Khalif Barnes | T | Mount Miguel | Oakland | 11 | Washington |
| Sam Brenner | T | Oceanside | Miami | 3 | Utah |
| Reggie Bush | RB | Helix | San Francisco | 10 | USC |
| Nate Chandler | T | Mira Mesa | Carolina | 5 | UCLA |
| Arian Foster | RB | Mission Bay | Houston | 7 | Tennessee |
| Leon Hall | CB | Vista | Cincinnati | 9 | Michigan |
| Levine Loiolo | TE | Helix | Atlanta | 3 | Stanford |
| Brian Schwenke | C | Oceanside | Tennessee | 3 | California |
| Alex Smith | QB | Helix | Kansas City | 11 | Utah |
| Kenny Stills | WR | La Costa Canyon |
Miami | 3 | Oklahoma |
| Jamar Taylor | CB | Helix | Miami | 3 | Boise State |
| Damien Williams | RB | Mira Mesa | Miami | 3 | Oklahoma |
| Jimmy Wilson | S | Point Loma | San Diego | 5 | Montana |
Larry Warford from the Detroit Lions, went to Oceanside high for two years since then moved to Kentucky. Played for Kentucky then got drafted he plays LG. Ricky Seals played running back at Escondido, went to stanford, got picked up my Buffalo Bills. Tony Jefferson SS player at Eastlake, went to Oklahoma currently with Arizona Cardinals. Tyler Gaffney, RB played for Stanford currently plays for the New England Patriots. Brian Schwenke C played for Californ, current team Tennessee Titans
You guys forgot a lot of SD athletes
I was reporting information provided by the NFL. In surveying the 1,696 players, I missed some, Tony Jefferson, Jason Myers, to name two. Schwenke is one of the 13 on the list. Gaffney is on Injured Reserve, thus was not active on the Patriots’ opening day roster. I’m pretty sure Seale also was not active, probably an opening game day deactivation. He had been cut by Buffalo and re-signed very late in the preseason. Warford was listed as from Richmond, Kentucky, not Oceanside. I would have noted that if I was as on top of things as you and a couple other readers are. Obviously there are more than 13 San Diego-produced players sitting in NFL meeting rooms this week. Thanks for reading and letting us know.
13 from here and none went to SDSU.. isn’t that strange? Why? any ideas?
Well, there isn’t much sentimentality in the NFL. When you think about it, there probably aren’t any in the Chargers’ personnel areas who attended San Diego State or have any allegiance. They definitely would have Aztecs on their board at draft time and would select one if, at the time to choose, the guy was “there” and he fit their needs. I think there are 4 or 5 Aztecs playing in the NFL. I should check for an exact number.
What I was wondering is why don’t our local talent go to SDSU for college?
San Diego State is not an elite school and these are elite players. The Aztecs try hard but the best from this area usually go elsewhere.