{"id":647828,"date":"2026-05-17T02:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647828\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T02:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:37:12","slug":"feel-old-yet-the-sons-of-ex-nfl-stars-are-everywhere-in-college-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647828\/","title":{"rendered":"Feel Old Yet? The Sons of Ex-NFL Stars Are Everywhere in College Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all been there. We\u2019ve all heard the ding of a news notification or scoured the news landscape and stumbled upon an article that made us age a decade in seconds. <\/p>\n

So-and-so\u2019s son {Insert name of ex-pro star} has committed to this big-name university.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to spark a wave of emotions that are equal parts nostalgia, excitement and existential crisis all rolled into one. <\/p>\n

The latest episode of the I-feel-old-now show dropped on Friday, when Charles Woodson Jr., the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson, turned back the clock by committing to his father\u2019s alma mater, Michigan. <\/p>\n

So it got us thinking. Not that we want anyone to feel older than they already feel having consumed that news yesterday, but just how many other sons of former NFL stars are out there in the college football landscape, either on rosters or as committed recruits? <\/p>\n

That said, here is Sports Illustrated\u2019s All-Feel-Old-Yet? team.<\/p>\n

Sons of Ex-NFL stars on college football rosters Brayden Jacobs
NFL pedigree: Brandon Jacobs\u2019s son
College football status: Soph., OL, Clemson Tigers \"Brayden<\/p>\n

Clemson offensive lineman Brayden Jacobs is the son of former bruising NFL running back Brandon Jacobs. | Ken Ruinard \/ USA Today Network South Carolina \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the few people on the planet that could make former bruising Giants running back Brandon Jacobs look small is his son Brayden<\/a>, a hulking offensive tackle who stands 6\u2019 7\u201c and weighs in at 355 pounds. <\/p>\n

With some turnover on the Clemson line entering 2026, Jacobs, who showed flashes in four starts last year, could be an important member of the Tigers roster this season. And who knows? Maybe we\u2019ll even see Jacobs channel his father and line up at fullback again, as he did for one snap last year. <\/p>\n

Christian Harrison
NFL pedigree: Rodney Harrison\u2019s son
College football status: R-Sr., CB, Arkansas Razorbacks \"Christian<\/p>\n

Christian Harrison (1) of the Arkansas Razorbacks plays in the defensive backfield just as his father Rodney did for 15 NFL seasons. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Harrison played sparingly for Tennessee in three seasons, then transferred to Cincinnati, where he blossomed into an every-down player, leading the Bearcats in solo tackles and passes defended while playing the second-most snaps of any defensive player. <\/p>\n

Harrison in Jan. of 2026 then transferred to Arkansas, where he will play for first-year coach Ryan Silverfield. A skilled cover corner, Harrison also clearly inherited his father\u2019s physicality near the line of scrimmage, a trait that served the former All-Pro safety well in his decorated 15-year career for the Chargers and Patriots. <\/p>\n

Bryce Young
NFL pedigree: Bryant Young\u2019s son
College football status: Jr., DL, Notre Dame \"Bryce<\/p>\n

Notre Dame defensive lineman Bryce Young (95) has an NFL pedigree. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s father Bryant, during a Hall of Fame career playing both defensive end and tackle, racked up 89.5 sacks, which ranks among the top-50 on NFL\u2019s official all-time sacks list. The elder Young has played in 28 games in two seasons for his father\u2019s alma mater, but has made just one start. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s about to change entering his junior year in 2026, as Young, who has bulked up and worked closely with the Fighting Irish coaching staff<\/a> to add to his pass-rushing craft, could be poised for a big year with a talented Notre Dame team. <\/p>\n

Kennedy Urlacher
NFL pedigree: Brian Urlacher\u2019s son
College football status: Jr., S, USC Trojans\"Kennedy<\/p>\n

USC safety Kennedy Urlacher (28), the son of Bears legend Brian Urlacher, is poised to claim a starting role for the Trojans in 2026. | Ben Lonergan\/The Register-Guard \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Brian Urlacher was a do-it-all linebacker and the heart and soul of the Bears defense for 13 seasons, a sideline-to-sideline hard-hitter who also possessed the range to hold his own in coverage. Urlacher\u2019s resume\u2014eight Pro Bowls, four All-Pro nominations and a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame\u2014speaks for itself. <\/p>\n

Now, Urlacher\u2019s son Kennedy, who looks poised to start for USC at strong safety in 2026, will get a chance to lay down the boom like his father once did for the Bears. <\/p>\n

Owen McCown
NFL pedigree: Josh McCown\u2019s son
College football status: R-Sr., QB, UTSA Roadrunners\"Owen<\/p>\n

Quarterbacking runs in the McCown family, where UTSA quarterback Owen McCown (2), the son of Josh McCown, is up next. | Danny Wild-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Ok, we might be stretching the definition of star more than a bit to include Josh McCown, but the longtime NFL quarterback was successful as a reliable backup for 16 seasons, making 76 career starts while earning roughly $52 million from contracts with 12 different teams. <\/p>\n

Quarterbacking continues to be the McCown family business, as Josh\u2019s son\u2014and Randy and Luke\u2019s nephew\u2014has blossomed into one of the better passers in the country after transferring over from Colorado. In the last two seasons, McCown has completed 65.1% of his passes for a combined 6,419 passing yards, 55 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while leading the Roadrunners to bowl game wins in both 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n

UTSA should remain one of the best offenses in the American Conference with McCown at the controls. <\/p>\n

Honorable mentions <\/p>\n

Devin Fitzgerald, WR, Notre Dame – son of Larry Fitzgerald
Kaydon Finley, WR, Notre Dame – son of Jermichael Finley
Thomas Davis Jr., LB, Notre Dame – son of Thomas Davis
Jerome Bettis Jr., WR, Notre Dame – son of Jerome Bettis
Cole Leinart, QB, SMU – son of Matt Leinart
Chris Henry Jr., WR, Ohio State – son of Chris Henry
London Bironas, K, Stanford – son of Rob Bironas
Dylan Raiola, QB, Oregon – son of Dominic Raiola
Dayton Raiola, QB, Oregon – son of Dominic Raiola <\/p>\n

Five more names to keep in mind<\/p>\n

Just in case you weren\u2019t already feeling old enough, here are five more names to watch for future seasons of college football\u2014with one bonus name sprinkled in. <\/p>\n

Sam Ngata
NFL pedigree: Haloti Ngata\u2019s son
College football status: OLB, committed to Oregon, Class of 2027 <\/p>\n

Haloti Ngata was an All-American interior defensive lineman for the Ducks in 2005, parlaying his collegiate success into the first round of the 2005 NFL draft, where he was selected by the Ravens with the 12th pick. The 6\u2019 4\u201d 340-pound Ngata went on to become known as a fearsome run stuffer, making five Pro Bowls while earning two All-Pro nominations in 13 years. <\/p>\n

The younger Ngata, an outside linebacker, is a part of Oregon\u2019s talented 2027 recruiting class<\/a>, which is headlined by multiple standout defensive players. <\/p>\n

Gunner Rivers
NFL pedigree: Philip Rivers\u2019s son
College football status: QB, committed to NC State, Class of 2027 <\/p>\n

Quarterbacking runs in the Rivers family as well, as the son of former eight-time Pro Bowler Philip Rivers in February committed to play for the Wolfpack, his father\u2019s alma mater. Once upon a time, before he was a prolific starting signal-caller in the NFL, Rivers was a gunslinger at NC State, throwing for the second-most passing yards in the country while finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting back in 2003. <\/p>\n

Rivers, on the heels of a 44-touchdown, five-interception season for St. Michael Catholic High School, has something to strive for at NC State: his father\u2019s program-record 13,848 career passing yards. <\/p>\n

Cooper Witten
NFL pedigree: Jason Witten\u2019s son
College football status: OLB, committed to Oklahoma, Class of 2027 <\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t be surprising that Cooper Witten committed to Oklahoma, seeing as his announcement came less than two months after the program had hired his father Jason to be the school\u2019s tight ends coach. <\/p>\n

And while Cooper, a four-star outside linebacker, isn\u2019t going to follow in his father\u2019s footsteps at the tight end spot, he will benefit from any football tutelage the elder Witten, who churned out 11 Pro Bowl seasons in 17 seasons for the Cowboys and Raiders, dishes out. <\/p>\n

Duece Jones-Drew
NFL pedigree: Maurice Jones-Drew\u2019s son
College football status: RB, committed to UCLA, Class of 2027<\/p>\n

The elder Jones-Drew spent three seasons at UCLA and was on the 2005 squad that produced one of the program\u2019s nine double-digit win seasons all-time. Then, he earned three Pro Bowl nods while racking up 8,167 rushing yards and 68 touchdowns in nine seasons. <\/p>\n

The younger Jones-Drew will be arriving at UCLA at an exciting time with new coach Bob Chesney at the helm. And he\u2019ll have lofty goals to strive for, such as his father\u2019s single-game program record of 322 rushing yards back in 2004, or his father\u2019s 2,503 career rushing yards with the Bruins. <\/p>\n

Charles Woodson Jr.
NFL pedigree: Charles Woodson\u2019s son
College football status: DB, committed to Michigan, Class of 2027<\/p>\n

What a full-circle moment for Wolverines fans. The elder Woodson starred at Michigan for three seasons, becoming the first and only primary defender to win the Heisman Trophy back in 1997. <\/p>\n

Now, the younger Woodson, a four-star defensive back who on Friday committed to Michigan, will look to continue his father\u2019s legacy with the program, which is entering a new era under first-year coach Kyle Whittingham, just as the program was entering a new era under first-year coach Lloyd Carr when the elder Woodson arrived in 1995. <\/p>\n

And here\u2019s one more bonus name for good measure. <\/p>\n

Dez Bryant Jr.
NFL pedigree: Dez Bryant\u2019s son
College football status: N\/A, wide receiver at Southlake Carroll High School<\/p>\n

The son of former three-time Pro Bowler Dez Bryant, Bryant Jr. already has multiple Power 4 schools lining up for his services in the Class of 2028, as he\u2019s received offer from Kentucky, Texas A&M and SMU. <\/p>\n

Listed at 5\u201910\u201d and 165 pounds, Bryant ran a 4.46 40-yard dash and posted a 9\u20192\u201d broad jump at the Under Armour Next Camp in March. His father, while clearly proud of his son, gave him some tough love coaching on social media<\/a>. <\/p>\n

More College Football from Sports Illustrated\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve all been there. We\u2019ve all heard the ding of a news notification or scoured the news landscape…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-647828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}