Staten Island is a hotbed for producing highly competitive youth, flag, and high school football teams, and that level of talent has carried all the way to the highest level of the game, with numerous local players making it all the way to the National Football League.
From multi-time Super Bowl winners to Pro Bowlers to first-round draft picks, Shaolin can lay claim to players whose football careers trace back their early playing days here on the Island.
In the wake of the news that Tottenville alum Eric O’Neill signed with the Detroit Lions, we’ve highlighted four borough ballers who can legitimately claim to be among the best players Staten Island has ever produced.
Gus Edwards (Tottenville High School)
Edwards rushed his way to numerous Fugazzi Awards and Advance All-Star selections as a Tottenville Pirate from 2009–2013, ultimately landing with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 NFL Draft.
Following his best collegiate season at Rutgers in 2017 (713 rushing yards, 6 TDs), Edwards went on to play five seasons with the Ravens from 2018–2023, racking up 3,395 rushing yards while playing alongside Lamar Jackson, one of the most gifted mobile QBs in NFL history.
Take it from Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who shared a locker room with Edwards and has seen immense talent at the position while coaching the likes of Derrick Henry.
“Gus is kind of a one-of-a-kind kind of guy, back-wise. He’s a downhill guy, he covers a lot of ground, he gets his pads down, he can make cuts. He’s unique; he’s his own kind of guy. Every back has a different style, and Gus’ style is very valuable to us,” Harbaugh said in 2022.
Still serving as an inspiration to local running backs such as Wagner College’s Andre Hines Jr., it’s hard to argue against Edwards—who’s currently an unrestricted free agent—being the most talented RB the borough has ever produced.
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 06: Dominique Easley #91 of the Los Angeles Rams reaches for quarterback Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers during the third quarter of the game at the Los Angeles Coliseum on November 6, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)Getty ImagesDominique Easley (Curtis High School)
Starring for the Warriors as part of their 2009 PSAL City Championship-winning squad, Easley only continued to improve while playing in 31 career games on the d-line at the University of Florida, racking up 18 tackles-for-loss and 5.5 sacks.
That level of play was good enough to earn selection by the Patriots with the 29th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, making Easley the first Staten Islander chosen in the first round since Mike Siani, who was selected 21st overall by the Oakland Raiders in 1972.
Injuries may have significantly slowed Easley’s production in the NFL, but his name is still etched into history as a member of the Pats’ Super Bowl XLIX-winning team.
Finishing his NFL career with 6.5 sacks and even an interception to his name, Easley is still remembered by Curtis head coach Peter Gambardella as an all-time great Warrior.
“He emphasizes what Curtis football should be about. Somebody who puts his hand in the ground and got dirty. He did it for the love and the passion. He remains a great friend of Curtis High School and we couldn’t be prouder of calling him our own,” he said in 2017.
New England Patriots Joe Andruzzi, right, celebrates with family in the stands after their AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, Jan. 27, 2002 in Pittsburgh. The Patriots take on the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2002 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)ASSOCIATED PRESSJoe Andruzzi (Tottenville High School)
Blocking for the greatest quarterback of all time for five years across 76 consecutive games and winning three Super Bowl rings in the process? That’ll do.
O-lineman Joe Andruzzi, who starred at Tottenville before becoming a two-time Division II All-American at Southern Connecticut State, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 1998. But it was in New England where he ultimately found the defining stretch of his career.
Andruzzi cemented himself as a key piece of the Patriots’ offensive front, starting in each of their Super Bowl victories in 2001, 2003, and 2004, and helping protect Tom Brady during two Super Bowl MVP runs.
Head coach Bill Belichick wasn’t known for handing out praise freely, but even he acknowledged Andruzzi’s steady contributions along the interior line at the time:
“He has been able to step in there in a couple of weeks and do a good solid job. So I think that as he and Damien and Sale work together I am optimistic that those three positions will continue to improve as they have the last couple of weeks, and like I said it is the best that we have had since the beginning of training camp. Hopefully it will continue to get better,” he said.
FILE – Chicago Bears’ Adewale Ogunleye, accompanied by Danieal Manning (38) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (92), runs after recovering a Denver Broncos fumble during the second quarter of an NFL football game Nov. 25, 2007, in Chicago. Ogunleye, a Pro Bowl defensive end during a 10-year career, leads UBS Global Wealth Management’s athletes and entertainers strategic client segment. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)APAdewale Ogunleye (Tottenville High School)
Sensing a theme here, Pirates fans?
Rounding out the mountaintop of borough standouts to make it to the NFL, Adewale Ogunleye went on to become one of Indiana University’s all-time greats, finishing his college career with 34.5 sacks and 64 tackles for loss, earning All-Big Ten honors three times and later a place in the 2014 Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame class.
He began his NFL journey with the Miami Dolphins, where he broke out with a Pro Bowl selection in 2003, before later making a major impact with the Chicago Bears during their run to Super Bowl XLI in 2007.
Over a 10-year NFL career, Ogunleye recorded 67 sacks and earned recognition beyond the field as well, including being named Staten Island Advance Sportsman of the Year in 2010.
Despite reaching the highest levels of the sport, he’s always credited his foundation back home in Staten Island as the most formative part of his journey:
“Coach taught me things about being a real man and a stand-up guy. My biggest hero is my dad. Everything I was learning at home was being reinforced through football with Coach Munson. He was my parent in high school and with football, and my parents were my parents at home,” Ogunleye said.
Did we miss anyone? Email sports2@siadvance.com.