MANHATTAN — Kansas State had 13 former players on active rosters and one on injured reserve as National Football League teams were mandated to trim their rosters to 53 players for the upcoming season.
Of the 14 players, eight are on offense and six are on defense.
The longest—tenured former Wildcats include cornerback Terence Newman, running back Darren Sproles and offensive lineman Jeromey Clary.
Newman, who is in his 11th season, is in his second years with the Cincinnati Bengals after spending his first nine seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
Sproles enters his ninth NFL season, including his third with the New Orleans Saints. Sproles spent his first six seasons in San Diego, the organization that selected Clary in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Clary has played in 88 games and totaled 78 starts over the last six seasons with the Chargers.
Three players off last year’s Big 12 championship squad made NFL rosters in second-round pick Arthur Brown, fourth-round pick Chris Harper and undrafted rookie free agent Justin Tuggle.
Brown’s selection by the defending Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens extended K-State’s streak of having at least one player taken in the NFL Draft to 20 years, a streak that is the second-longest among Big 12 schools.
Harper was drafted by Seattle and then signed to its practice squad following the final cutdown, but San Francisco signed Harper to its active roster, inking the Wichita product and wide receiver to a three-year deal.
Tuggle, a former junior-college quarterback-turned-linebacker at K-State, made the Houston Texans’ roster.
Former Kansas State football players in the NFL:
Arthur Brown, Baltimore, LB (Rookie); Bryce Brown, Philadelphia, RB (2nd season); Jeromey Clary, San Diego, OL (7th); Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay, QB (5th); Chris Harper, San Francisco, WR (R); Rob Jackson, Washington, LB (5th); Emmanuel Lamur, Cincinnati, CB (2nd); Jeron Mastrud, Oakland,TE (4th); Jordy Nelson, Green Bay, WR (6th); Darren Sproles, New Orleans, RB (9th); Terence Newman, Cincinnati, CB (11th); Justin Tuggle, Houston, LB (R); Reggie Walker, San Diego, LB (5th).
