Jackson State Leads All HBCU Programs in All-Time NFL Draft Selections

Forty-three names. That is how many Jackson State Tigers have heard their name called on NFL Draft day since the FCS era began in 1979, more than any other HBCU program in the subdivision's history and seven clear of the second-place school. The number stands as the most concrete measure of what the program in Jackson, Mississippi has built over the better part of five decades.

Defending HBCU national champion Jackson State tops the list of FCS programs with the most draft picks since 1979 with 43 selections. Isaiah Bolden's selection by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, 245th overall, was the pick that cemented that total and pushed Jackson State seven ahead of the second-place program.

The foundation of that pipeline was poured during a single extraordinary afternoon in 1975. Walter Payton was selected fourth overall by the Chicago Bears and Robert Brazile followed two picks later at sixth overall by the Houston Oilers, making them the first HBCU teammates ever selected in the first round of the same NFL Draft. Both are now in Canton. The 1974 Jackson State team featured three starters, Payton, Brazile, and Jackie Slater, who were all named All-SWAC that season and later became members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Lem Barney, a cornerback, is the fourth Jackson State alum enshrined in Canton, giving the program one of the most concentrated clusters of Hall of Famers in college football history regardless of division.

Walter Payton rushed for 3,563 yards in his college career and led the Tigers to three SWAC championships before entering the draft. Payton retired from the Chicago Bears as the NFL's all-time rushing leader after a 13-year career and became the first athlete from an HBCU to receive votes in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

The record is made more striking by the company Jackson State keeps in the FCS landscape. Programs like North Dakota State have built modern draft pipelines, with the Bison sending 16 players to the NFL since 2004, but Jackson State's mark spans nearly five decades and predates the subdivision's formal structure. Since the start of the FCS era, no program in the subdivision has had more NFL Draft picks than Jackson State, which has sent 42 players to the draft since 1979 and had dozens more in previous decades.

Interest in the program has surged in recent years. Former head coach Deion Sanders drew national attention to the SWAC during his tenure, and the 2025 draft cycle saw Jackson State products Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter generate first-round conversation. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter could have made Jackson State the only HBCU school to have two players selected in the first round of the same draft since Payton and Brazile accomplished the feat in 1975.

For a program that has operated outside the Power Four orbit for its entire existence, 43 draft picks is not just a statistic. It is the argument Jackson State has been making to NFL scouts for nearly 50 years.