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Super Bowl 51 between the Patriots and the Falcons will be staged in Houston, but what are the diverse backgrounds of the participants on each active roster.

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As planet Earth prepares for Super Bowl 51, it’s a good time to take a more local and granular peek at each of the active rosters of the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Who comprises these two title contenders? Where do they hail from, and which schools and conferences across America will follow them with an enhanced feeling of pride and personal connection?

Football has been a global product, both for fans and players alike, for many years now. The Pats and Falcons players serve as testament to the incredible diversity of their backgrounds and the different roads travelled to reach this country’s grandest sporting event.

Bragging Rights (The States)

– Furthering a recent trend, California once again leads the way with 14 native sons, including Patriots QB Tom Brady.

– Just behind California are Florida and Texas, which are also perennially fertile pipelines on National Signing Day and to the NFL Combine.

– Thirty of the nation’s 50 states will be represented in Houston on Sunday.

– Delaware, hardly a hotbed of next-level talent, has produced a pair of this year’s participants, Falcons LB Paul Worrilow and Patriots S Duron Harmon.

California … 14
Florida … 13
Texas … 13
Georgia … 8
Louisiana … 5
Alabama … 4
Illinois … 4
New Jersey … 4
New York … 4
Pennsylvania … 4
Arizona … 3
Minnesota … 3
Mississippi … 3
Ohio … 3
Colorado … 2
Delaware … 2
Kansas … 2
Tennessee … 2
Virginia … 2
Connecticut … 1
Idaho … 1
Indiana … 1
Kentucky … 1
Maryland … 1
Nevada … 1
New Mexico … 1
North Carolina … 1
Oregon … 1
Utah … 1
West Virginia … 1

Bragging Rights (The Cities and Towns)

– Seven different towns and cities are sending two residents to Super Bowl 51: Carrolton, Ga., Daytona Beach, Fla., Dublin, OH, Port Arthur, Tex., Scottsdale, Ariz., West Chester, Penn. and host city Houston.

– Falcons LS Josh Harris and Patriots CB Jonathan Jones both played for the Carrolton Trojans and the Auburn Tigers, but their paths did not intersect as teammates.

– The Super Bowl will be a homecoming for two Patriots, TE Martellus Bennett and OT Cameron Fleming, who played their high school ball within 30 miles of NRG Stadium.

– Delaware, hardly a hotbed of next-level talent, has produced a pair of this year’s participants, Falcons LB Paul Worrilow and Patriots S Duron Harmon.

– Other well-known cities sending its own to the big game include:
Albany, N.Y. (New England’s Dion Lewis)
Baltimore (New England’s Cyrus Jones)
Fort Lauderdale (New England’s James White)
Miami (Atlanta’s Devonta Freeman)
Minneapolis (Atlanta’s Ra’Shede Hageman)
New Orleans (Atlanta’s Deion Jones)
St. Paul (New England’s Michael Floyd)
Tucson (Atlanta’s Brooks Reed)
Wichita (Atlanta’s Ryan Schraeder)

Bragging Rights (The Conferences)

– For the second straight year, the SEC will feature the most alums in the Super Bowl with 21.

– The Big 12 continues to disappoint in football, finishing a distant last among Power Five conferences with seven players.

– Ten FCS players will are on either the Falcon or Patriot roster, including an Ivy League graduate, Brown’s James Develin of New England.

– Pacing the Group of Five conferences is the American, with seven or three more than the Mountain West.

– After sending four players to Super Bowl 50, the Sun Belt Conference has been shut out this year.

– New England’s Malcolm Butler (West Alabama) and Atlanta’s C.J. Goodwin (California-Pa.) and Ryan Schraeder (Valdosta State) did their apprenticeships at the Division II level, far removed from the spotlight enjoyed by their peers.

SEC … 21
Big Ten … 17
ACC … 16
Pac-12 … 16
FCS … 10
American … 7
Big 12 … 7
Mountain West … 4
C-USA … 2
Independents … 2
Division II … 3
MAC … 1

Bragging Rights (The Schools)

– There’s a four-way tie atop the leaderboard for schools with the most graduates in Super Bowl 51. Alabama, LSU and Stanford are no surprise, based on their penchant for attracting elite prep talent. But Rutgers is an upset, due in large part to Bill Belichick’s affinity for Scarlet Knight DBs.

– Auburn and Virginia, in a mild surprise, are tied for second with three representatives.

– Rivals Georgia and Georgia Tech and Oregon and Oregon State will each be represented by two former players at NRG Stadium.

– After setting the standard with five players at this time last year, only one Ohio State Buckeye, one-time Rugby star Nate Ebner, will take part in Super Bowl 51.

Alabama … 4
LSU … 4
Rutgers … 4
Stanford … 4
Auburn … 3
Virginia … 3
Boston College … 2
Clemson … 2
Florida … 2
Georgia … 2
Georgia Tech … 2
Michigan … 2
Minnesota … 2
NC State … 2
Oklahoma … 2
Oregon … 2
Oregon State … 2
Pittsburgh … 2
Purdue … 2
Texas A&M … 2
Texas Tech … 2
Washington … 2

Where Were They Drafted?

– Undrafted does not mean unwanted. Nor does it sound the death knell for that lifelong dream of being a Super Bowl champ. Remarkably, 33 undrafted free agents are on Super Bowl rosters for a second year in a row.

– Just 16 former first-round picks, or less than half the number of undrafted free agents, will be playing in this year’s game. No one was selected higher than New England’s Chris Long, chosen No. 2 overall in 2008.

– Oddly enough, Super Bowl 51 will feature just a single seventh round pick, Patriot WR Julian Edelman, who has been bucking the odds since 2009.

First Round … 16
Second Round … 18
Third Round … 12
Fourth Round … 11
Fifth Round … 7
Sixth Round … 8
Seventh Round … 1
Undrafted … 33

How Many Stars Were They In High School?

– High school grade matters very little in the journey to reaching the Super Bowl. Of the 99 players ranked in this matchup by Scout.com, 47 received two or fewer stars in their final season of high school.

– There will be seven former five-star blue-chippers in Super Bowl 51, Falcons Julio Jones, Jake Matthews and Brian Poole and Patriots Michael Floyd, Malcom Brown, Cyrus Jones and Martellus Bennett.

– Seven of this year’s players, Falcons Matt Schaub, Dwight Freeney, Jonathan Babineaux, Chris Chester and Matt Bryant and Patriots Rob Ninkovich and Tom Brady, have been around longer than Scout.com has been grading high school players.

5 Stars … 7
4 Stars … 12
3 Stars … 33
2 Stars or less … 47
N/A … 7

MORE: National Signing Day Redux