The Forgotten NCAA divisions…

Mar 6, 2012, 2:18 PM UTC

Every year, there are a group of guys, that come out of college that very few are talking about. Maybe one or two of their players will be drafted each year. But the HBCU or Historical Black Colleges and Universities are often given any credit from scouts, or draftniks. Many people probably didn’t even know what the HBCU was up until this part of the paragraph, and I am sure they don’t know how many divisions make up the HBCU? Well let me help you out a little, the HBCU is made up for four conferences, the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), the SWAC (South-Western Athletic Conference), the SIAC (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) and the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Tennessee State is the only stand alone school in the HBCU. Why does the HBCU get overlooked? I will try to break that down here, what do you think?

Many legends have come out of the HBCU schools, and as of 2010 they came out with the Black College Football Hall of Fame, which has 33 players, coaches and contributors inducted since 2010.

Here are some of the Major Player Names:

Walter Payton – Jackson State University	Doug Williams – Grambling State
Jerry Rice – Mississippi Valley State	Art Shell – Maryland Eastern Shore
Buck Buchanan – Grambling State	Willie Davis – Grambling State
Bob "Bullet" Hayes – Florida A&M	Willie "Gallopin Gal" Galimore - Florida A&M
Mel Blount – Southern	Harry Carson – South Carolina State University
Lem Barney – Jackson State University	Roosevelt Brown – Morgan State University
Willie Brown – Grambling State	Stevie "Air" McNair – Alcorn State University
Rayfield Wright – Fort Valley State University	James "Shack Harris – Grambling State
Deacon Jones – South Carolina State/MVSU

While many of you have heard of these players, did you know that there are a total of 43 players on current rosters right now that came from the HBCU schools? Here are a list of guys on current rosters and their school they came from.

MEAC	SWAC
Eric Weems –Bethune – Cookman	Jaymar Johnson – Jackson State
Rafael Bush – South Carolina State	Cletis Gordon – Jackson State
Don Carey – Norfolk State	Frank Kearse – Alabama A&M
Johnny Culbreath – South Carolina State	Marcus Bernard – Jackson State
Justin Durant – Hampton	Quinton Spears – Prairie View A&M
Ricardo Silva – Hampton	Robert Mathis – Alabama A&M
Nick Collins – Bethune- Cookman	Emmanuel Arceneaux – Alcorn State
Antoine Bethea – Howard	Tavaris Jackson – Alabama State
Rasheen Mathis – Bethune – Cookman	Raymond Webber – Arkansas Pine-Bluff
Terrell Whitehead – Norfolk State
Kendall Langford – Hampton	SIAC
Visanthe Shiancoe – Morgan State	Ramon Harewood - Morehouse
Tracy White – Howard	Drayton Florence - Tuskegee
Marcus Dixon – Hampton	Dimitri Patterson - Tuskegee
Kendrick Ellis – Hampton	Frank Walker - Tuskegee
Jamaal Jackson – Delaware State	Sammie Lee Hill - Stillman
Phillip Adams – South Carolina State	Jacoby Jones - Lane
Ron Bartell – Howard	Junior Galette - Stillman
James Lee – South Carolina State	Brian Witherspoon – Stillman
Chris Baker – Hampton	Ricardo Lockette – Fort Valley State University

CIAA	Tennessee State
David Mims – Virginia Union	Dominique Rodgers – Cromartie
Isaac Redman – Bowie State
William Hayes – Winston Salem State
Richard Medlin – Fayetteville State

So my question to you all, is why is the HBCU schools overlooked? Why are the players said to be not good enough based on level of competition? Well, let me say this, the HBCU schools have proven that they keep good athletes in the league and maybe they are not the SEC or the ACC, but they amount for 43 players on active NFL rosters. In 2012, there will be many more where that came from.

Here is a list of guys that I think could really make an impact in the NFL if given a shot:

David Legree – Hampton University – QB (Syracuse Transfer)

Casey Therriault – Jackson State University – QB

Lamont Bryant – Morgan State University – TE

Jared Green – Southern – WR

Adrian Hamilton – PVAMU - DE

Ryan Davis – Bethune Cookman – DE

Charles Deas – Shaw – NT

Reggie Sandilands – Bethune Cookman – ILB

Ryan Lewis – Bethune – Cookman – OLB

Delano Johnson – Bowie State – OLB

Michah Pellerin – Hampton - CB