The National Football League (NFL) is one of the biggest sports events in the world. In the United States, football is the most popular sport, so needless to say, the NFL has hundreds of millions of fans in the country and in abroad. Almost every US high school and college university have football varsities, and many of these institutions produce the professional footballers we know today.
The average career of an NFL player is 3.3 years. Though shorter than those of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL), with 4.5 years, many gridiron superstars enjoyed fruitful years and even thrived after leaving their glory days in the league.
Let’s review the Top 10 NFL players in the last 5 years!Â
Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes’s father is Pat Mahomes, a former pitcher of Major League Baseball. He initially played both baseball and football at Texas Tech University. He focused on football in his sophomore year and gave up softball. This decision has led him to become the most successful pro football player of his time.
The 27-year-old American footballer was the NFL Most Valuable Player in 2018 and 2022. Patrick Mahomes is also the Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl LIV and LVII. In these seasons, he also led his team Kansas City Chiefs, and was hailed the champions and dominated NFL spreads as the heavy favorite.Â
Mahomes was named one of  Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2020 and 2022.Â
Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow is the Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback who was hailed the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2021. The 26-year-old footballer from Ames, Iowa, also held the record with the Most completions in a game by a rookie (37) and a Career completion percentage of 68.2%. Their family has a solid athletic background. In fact, a 2019 Sports Illustrated story revealed that Burrow’s athletic lineage dates back nearly a century, starting with his grandmother, who set a record of 82 points per game at Mississippi state high school.Â
Micah Parsons
Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Micah Parsons is an outside backline at Dallas Cowboys. He was hailed the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University and earned the Butkus–Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP as a sophomore in 2019, and the consensus All-American.
Aaron Donald
Aaron Donald is the defensive tackle of the Los Angeles Rams. He was named the Defensive Player of the Year three times. He was a member of the Los Angeles Rams when they won the Super Bowl LVI. Some notable awards that Donald has received were Lombardi Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, and Outland Trophy.
Chris Jones
Chris Jones is the defensive tackle of the Kansas City Chiefs. He played for Mississippi State in football college and high school football for Hilltoppers, the Houston High School football club. He was already a member of the Kansas City Chiefs when they won the Super Bowl LIV and LVII. He also received the First-team All-Pro in 2022.
Jalen Hurts
Born in Houston, Texas, Jalen Hurts was a professional American footballer who earned the Bert Bell Award in 2022 and was named the Second-team All-Pro in 2022.Â
He is currently a quarterback playing for Philadelphia Eagles since 2020. He played for the University of Alabama in his first three seasons of college football and attended the University of Oklahoma in his final season.Â
Justin Jefferson
Justin Jefferson is a 24-year-old wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings. He went to Louisiana State University and played college football for Fighting Tigers. His current team drafted him in the 2020 NFL Draft’s first round. In 2022, Jefferson was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. In the same year, he received the First-team All-Pro.Â
Trent Williams
Trent Williams is the most experienced footballer on our list. He’s been playing for hir current team, San Francisco 49ers, since 2020. Before this, he also played as an offensive tackle for Washington Redskins from 2010-2019. He was named the 2× First-team All-Pro in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, Williams also made three All-Pro teams and ten Pro Bowls.
Myles Garrett
Myles Garret is the defensive end of the Cleveland Browns. He has been playing for his current team since 2017. He earned 2× First-team All-Pro in 2020 and 2021 and 2× Second-team All-Pro in 2018 and 2022. Garrett received the unanimous All-American honors in 2016 while playing for Texas A&M University in college football.Â
Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce plays as a tight end for Kansas City Chiefs. He played high school football for Cleveland Heights and Cincinnati Bearcats for college football. Since he joined Kansas City Chiefs, the team has earned Super Bowl LIV and LVII titles.Â
He was also named 4× First-team All-Pro in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2002. His dashing NFL records include 1,000+ receiving yards by a tight end in seven seasons and consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons by a tight end.Â
Conclusion
There are 32 teams in the NFL, and each team typically has 53 players on their roster. Only the most competent and disciplined footballers will be on the active roster. Given the series of serious training they undergo before preseason, these ten NFL elites are the best of the best in the gridiron.
