Rod Carey Media Availability

4.28.20 | Football

After a weekend in which the Temple Owls had a school record four players drafted into the NFL [C Matt Hennessy (Atlanta, 3^rd round), CB Harrison Hand (Minnesota, 5^th), LB Shaun Bradley (Philadelphia, 6^th), and LB Chapelle Russell (Tampa Bay, 7^th)] the roster of former Owls in the NFL continues to grow. By the end of the weekend OL Jovahn Fair (Kansas City), LB Sam Franklin (Carolina), DE Dana Levine (NY Giants), and WR Isaiah Wright (Washington), had signed undrafted free agent contracts, bringing the total from the Class of 2019 to eight in the NFL.

Temple head coach Rod Carey spoke with local media members on the Owls record setting draft. Watch video

That makes 28 Owls in the NFL, and 26 joining in just the last five seasons. These new pros join the following former Owls currently active in the NFL:
Arizona Cardinals – Michael Dogbe, Haason Reddick
Atlanta Falcons – Matt Hennessy
Baltimore Ravens – Tavon Young
Buffalo Bills – Dion Dawkins, Tyler Matakevich
Carolina Panthers - Robby Anderson, Sam Franklin, Keith Kirkwood, Colin Thompson, Phillip Walker, Tahir Whitehead
Denver Broncos – Brandon McManus
Houston Texans – Jacob Martin
Indianapolis Colts – Rock Ya-Sin
Jacksonville Jaguars – Ryquell Armstead
Kansas City Chiefs – Jovahn Fair
Miami Dolphins – Chris Myarick
Minnesota Vikings – Harrison Hand
New York Giants – Sean Chandler, Dana Levine
New York Jets – Nate Hairston
Philadelphia Eagles – Shaun Bradley
San Francisco 49ers – Jullian Taylor
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Chapelle Russell
Washington Redskins – Matt Ioannidis, Isaiah Wright

Draft Notes:

This is the first time in school history that four players were drafted from Temple. Temple had three players in a single draft eight times previously.

Temple has had multiple players drafted for the fifth straight year – the only non-Power 5 school to do that. Just 17 P5 schools match that feat.

Only 15 schools had more than Temple's four players selected in 2020 – all P5 schools. Four the fourth time in five years, no other school outside of the P5 produced more draftees than Temple.

Since 2015, Temple has had 15 players selected in the NFL Draft which is more than any other AAC team. Memphis is next with 11. The five other teams from the East Division total 22 – Cincinnati (6), ECU (1), UCF (7), UConn (3), and USF (5).

Seventeen American Athletic Conference players were chosen in the 2020 NFL Draft, which ranks as the league's second-highest total since the conference's formation in 2013. Ten of the 12 AAC schools produced at least one pick in this year's draft, while four schools – Temple, Memphis, Tulsa and Tulane – had multiple picks. Temple led the way with a program-record four selections.

The last 12 players who were drafted from Temple – dating back to Tahir Whitehead as the 138^th selection in 2012 – remain active in the NFL. Only eight schools – Michigan (19), Iowa (17), Wisconsin (17), Ohio State (16), Texas A&M (16), Clemson (15), Georgia (14), and Penn State (14) have a larger streak. Only two schools have a longer streak – ECU (2010) and Tulsa (2011) - but their number of players, four and one, respectively, pale in comparison.

Among schools in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, Temple's draft haul of 15 picks since 2015 exceeds those of Boston College (12), Virginia Tech (12), Maryland (11), Pittsburgh (11), Virginia (7), Syracuse (5), Rutgers (5), UMass (3), UConn (3), Navy (2). Only Penn State's 23 is higher.

Temple has now had at least one player drafted in 10 straight decades dating back to the 1930s (the NFL Draft started in 1935). The 2010s tied the 1980s for most players drafted with 16.

Temple has now produced at least one NFL-caliber defensive back in each of the past five years – Hand, Rock Ya-Sin (Indianapolis, 2019), Sean Chandler (NY Giants, 2018), Nate Hairston (Indianapolis, 2017), and Tavon Young (Baltimore, 2016).

This is the fourth time Temple had two players from the same position drafted into the NFL. (The most recent was 2016 (DLs Jacob Martin and Jullian Taylor). Also 1986 (OLs John Rienstra, Lloyd Yancey) and 1955 (RBs Joe Stout, Tex Robinson).