Michigan State Has An Insanely Long Streak Of Players Being Taken In NFL Draft
What do Stan McRae and Montae Nicholson have in common?
The simple answer is they both went to Michigan State and were drafted by NFL teams. The more nuanced answer is they are the bookends of a historic streak Michigan State currently boasts of players taken in the NFL draft.
When McRae was taken in the 1941 NFL draft in the 17th round to the Washington Redskins he was only the sixth player ever in Spartan history to be drafted. Every year since then, the NFL draft has seen at least one MSU player taken by NFL teams.
That's a streak of 77 years where the green and white have been represented on draft day(s).
Now that streak is in jeopardy.
Even though Michigan State completed a 10 win season last year, they did it with a lot of underclassmen. Michigan State did not lose as many seniors as you would typically expect from a double digit win season, and because of that some seven round mocks don't have a single Michigan State player selected.
Here's a sampling of some of the full mock drafts we could find.
CBS Sports: No Spartans drafted
NFL.com: No Spartans drafted
Draftsite.com: Brian Allen, 5th round to the Bills
Bleacher Report: No Spartans drafted
Pro Football Focus: Brian Allen, 6th round to the Texans
ESPN lists Brian Allen as #180 in their "best available" rankings ahead of the draft.
The fate of a streak that dates back to the World War II era is all on the shoulders of one Spartan, and technically 32 general managers. Spartan fans will have to be tuned in on Saturday for the late rounds to see if their streak hits 78.
Michigan State's 77 years is good for third among active streaks. Michigan and USC are both tied with 79.
You can view some of the best Spartans in recent NFL draft history in the photo gallery above.