Revealed: The Average NFL Player’s Hometown
- A new study reveals that the average location of NFL players’ hometowns is in Tipton County, Tennessee, just north of Memphis, Tennessee
- The average American player is from Arkansas, just south of Jonesboro, Arkansas
- Tennessee Titans closest NFL team to average location. Atlanta Falcons second, Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs close third. Seattle Seahawks farthest team from average
A new study has revealed that the average location of all NFL players’ hometowns is in Tipton County, Tennessee.
Casino comparison site CasinoBonusCA, analyzed each player’s high school to determine their hometown, then used the coordinates of the hometown to find the average of their locations. The data was obtained from the NFL, and covers every NFL player as of the 2022 Kickoff Weekend.
Tipton County, Tennessee, was revealed as the average place NFL players came from, with the exact center just on the eastern bank of the Mississippi river, at 35 degrees 26 minutes 17 seconds North latitude, 89 degrees 53 minutes 20 seconds West longitude. This is just a short 22-mile trip north from Memphis, Tennessee.
For American players only, the average location was shown to be in Poinsett County, Arkansas, 15 miles south of Jonesboro, Arkansas (35°38’15.63″N 90°46’34.79″W). This difference from the overall NFL center is mainly explained by the omission of the Australian players. The six Aussies have a huge relative effect on the average, due to how far south in latitude and east in longitude Australian towns are relative to the rest of the NFL.
Overall, this places the Tennessee Titans as the closest NFL team to the average NFL player’s hometown. The Titans’ Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee is only 182 miles from this location, significantly closer than any other NFL team. Their first stadium in Tennessee, Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, known previously as the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium when the Titans played there, would place them even closer to the center if they still played there.
The Atlanta Falcons is the next closest team at 333 miles from the average, narrowly beating Super Bowl winners the Kansas City Chiefs, and their 355 miles distance from the center. The Seattle Seahawks is the farthest team from the average, with Lumen Field being 1,861 miles away.
A spokesperson speaking on behalf of CasinoBonusCA, commented on the findings: “The strong football culture of Tennessee makes it an ideal spot to be the central point for NFL players. Football has been a mainstay of Tennessean sporting culture for a long time. The Titans have made themselves right at home in Nashville since their move, with strong performances in recent seasons. Also, the extensive history and vibrant culture of college football in the Volunteer State only strengthens Tennessee’s case; its 12 NCAA Division I football programs, of which 4 are FBS programs, speak to Tennessee’s position as one of the strongest football states in America.”
The study provided some more interesting results, such as the average Canadian NFL player not actually coming from Canada! The average Canadian player comes from North Dakota, just to the west of the Minnesota border (47°35’37.27″N 96°52’49.98″W), and a short 25 miles south of Grand Forks, North Dakota. This is because the players from Ontario and Quebec are from south of the 49th parallel, which is what forms the majority of the western part of the border between America and Canada.
The study also showed that the average Australian NFL player comes from western Victoria, Australia (35°37’27.82″S 142° 6’36.58″E), 220 miles north-west of Melbourne, Australia, and 200 miles east of Adelaide, Australia.
The Geographic Center of NFL Players’ Hometowns, including subdivisions by organization, nationality, and state
| Organization, Country, and States | Latitude | Longitude |
| NFL | 35.43794 | -89.889 |
| US | 35.63773 | -90.7763 |
| Lower 48 US States | 35.74261 | -90.3746 |
| Non- Continental US | 17.78864 | -159.152 |
| Non- US | 14.0597 | 5.054937 |
| Australia | -35.6243 | 142.1102 |
| Canada | 47.59369 | -96.8806 |
| England | 51.50015 | -0.12624 |
| Nigeria | 6.451137 | 3.388396 |
Courtesy of luca.hogan@journoresearch.org