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Not a bad list.....It does miss Tyvon Branch(Syracuse, graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse), a CB for the Arizona Cardinals. I guess it could also include Andray Blatche(Syracuse, graduated from Henninger), a big msn that played in the NBA for Washington and Brooklyn, but is now playing pro ball in the Philippines.
If it included those that grew up in Upstate NY, Latavius Murray(born in Orlando, but grew up in Nedrow and graduated from Onondaga Central), was one of the top rushers in the NFL last year and plays for the Oakland Raiders.
James Starks, a RB for the Green Bay Packers, is from Niagara Falls. He was born and raised there. So, that is another omission.
I'm not sure if I saw NHL left winger Erik Cole, who was born and raised in Oswego. It could be due to him being a free agent.
Miles and Lyle Thompson, both of the Onondaga Nation and graduates of LaFayette, both play for the Florida Launch of the Major Lacrosse League, but I believe that the league is viewed as bein semi professional.
Alex Bono of Baldwinsville is a goalkeeper for Toronto FC in MLS.
Jason Boltus, another Baldwinsville native is a QB for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 09-11-2016 at 07:58 AM..
Definitely some good NHLers from upstate as the list clearly shows, Kane, Brown, Howard, Gionta and Callahan. Didn't realize Jon and Chandler Jones were both from Rochester, that's pretty cool. Some pretty good athletes out of Rochester.
Definitely some good NHLers from upstate as the list clearly shows, Kane, Brown, Howard, Gionta and Callahan. Didn't realize Jon and Chandler Jones were both from Rochester, that's pretty cool. Some pretty good athletes out of Rochester.
The Jones brothers were born in Rochester, but moved to Endicott later and attended Union-Endicott HS.
Another guy that just came to mind is Buffalo Bills DB Corey Graham. He's a Buffalo native that attended the now closed Turner-Carroll HS. Turner-Carroll was a Catholic HS on Buffalo's East Side, that was known for its good sports program(particularly Football and Basketball).
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 09-11-2016 at 12:15 PM..
Brett Kern, a punter for the Tennessee Titans is from Grand Island.
Another guy that may have been born in Upstate NY, but grew up in Upstate NY for a portion of his childhood is New England Patriots RB Dion Lewis. There is some conflict in terms of if he was born in either Albany or Brooklyn, but he did attend Albany High and Albany Academy, before transferring to Blair Academy in NJ where he graduated. I do remember that Albany Academy lost to Geneva in the Class B state championship his junior year. He is out for the season due to a knee injury though.
Tom Murphy, a Catcher with the Colorado Rockies and a West Monroe native(graduated from Central Square's Paul V. Moore High) is another active professional athlete.
Brett Kern, a punter for the Tennessee Titans is from Grand Island.
Brett Kern was my travel/'premier' soccer teammate around the ages of 14 and 15. He was the goalkeeper, I was the sweeper, so we had to communicate fairly frequently on the field, and although I was generally aloof around that team, he and I were pretty friendly. Soccer was definitely was first love--his dad, despite being a baseball coach first and foremost, seemed to have helped instill that in him, as he was one of those intense-if-not-overbearing soccer dad sideline presences. Nice people. At that age, Brett was quite capable (if not outstanding) at punting a soccer ball, but if you'd have told me then he'd have spent several years in the NFL by now as a professional punter, I'd have asked what drug was inducing your optimism. I don't know if he ever even played football until he made the transition from soccer to football in high school....
Looking at the list now...from Patrick Corbin's entry, I love how 'C-NS' is expected to be a known abbreviation. I think I know what metro area this 'newyorkupstate' site calls home!
Would've never known Fredette was from upstate NY. One (by 'one' I mean 'I') just sort of assumed homegrown Utahan there
wonder if Jim Johnson's great-great-great-great-great-(etc) grandfather settled Johnson City
Had no idea about Chandler Jones' brothers (I don't follow MMA and even if I did I'm not sure how well known Jon's family ties are)
My addition, as a soccer enthusiast (and since ckh mentioned Alex Bono):
This guy played in BDSL, the local Buffalo men's soccer league (same league in which I currently play) before getting the call from...somewhere (I assume there was an intermediate step between amateur soccer and top-flight American professional soccer...in reality, he probably played in the BDSL at some point during college...I'll have to ask my friend who serves as unofficial BDSL historian)
And I guess I might as well say here that I thought Niagara Falls native and Syracuse standout Jonny Flynn was going to have a good career in the NBA--he was a lottery pick, wasn't he? Surprised me that he became a bust. I play poker in NF quite a bit and his former 'Cuse/NF teammate Paul Harris turns up in that cardroom every so often...someone else in that room once said that Flynn lacked work ethic. Anecdotal but...he didn't lack talent, so the explanation does have to lie elsewhere.
(edit--yeah, Flynn was drafted 6th overall in 2009)
Looking at the list now...from Patrick Corbin's entry, I love how 'C-NS' is expected to be a known abbreviation. I think I know what metro area this 'newyorkupstate' site calls home!
Would've never known Fredette was from upstate NY. One (by 'one' I mean 'I') just sort of assumed homegrown Utahan there
wonder if Jim Johnson's great-great-great-great-great-(etc) grandfather settled Johnson City
Had no idea about Chandler Jones' brothers (I don't follow MMA and even if I did I'm not sure how well known Jon's family ties are)
My addition, as a soccer enthusiast (and since ckh mentioned Alex Bono):
This guy played in BDSL, the local Buffalo men's soccer league (same league in which I currently play) before getting the call from...somewhere (I assume there was an intermediate step between amateur soccer and top-flight American professional soccer...in reality, he probably played in the BDSL at some point during college...I'll have to ask my friend who serves as unofficial BDSL historian)
And I guess I might as well say here that I thought Niagara Falls native and Syracuse standout Jonny Flynn was going to have a good career in the NBA--he was a lottery pick, wasn't he? Surprised me that he became a bust. I play poker in NF quite a bit and his former 'Cuse/NF teammate Paul Harris turns up in that cardroom every so often...someone else in that room once said that Flynn lacked work ethic. Anecdotal but...he didn't lack talent, so the explanation does have to lie elsewhere.
(edit--yeah, Flynn was drafted 6th overall in 2009)
What is ironic is that Harris was the player from NF that people thought would make it to the NBA. James Starks, who was previously mentioned, also played Basketball at NFHS at the same time Flynn and Harris were there. They also had 2 or 3 other guys play Division 1 Basketball from that same team.
I didn't know that Brett Kern was a Soccer player in HS. Interesting, but it makes sense when you think about it.
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