NFL players from Bradenton FL are Ace Sanders, Tyrone Williams, Alvoid Mays, Stacey Dawsey, Richard Trapp, Bill Anderson, and Ed Culpepper.
Bradenton has offered a number of notable players to the NFL. Not only the natives but athletes from other states as well. Especially the high schools of the city have been contributing a lot in this field.
By 2015, the IMG Academy was the school that provided the most number of players in the League. 14 players from the Academy went to play in the NFL. The names to recall include Andre Cisco for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Grant Delpit for the Cleveland Browns, Daniel Faalele for the Baltimore Ravens, etc.
The same year, American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida stood as the high school with the second most players in the NFL. The players were Brian Burns, Tyson Campbell, Khalil Herbert, James Houston, and more.
Florida High Schools sent 36 players to participate in the 2023 NFL Draft. The newest additions from the high school of the city include Nolan Smith for the Philadelphia Eagles and DJ Turner for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ace Sanders – WR
Sanders is a former wide receiver in the National Football League born on 11 November 1991. The player went to attend Manatee High School, Bradenton.
The athlete played his high school football for Manatee and was good in track and field as well. He is the son of former safety for Florida State Seminoles, Tracy Sanders.
Ace later went on an athletic scholarship from the University of South Carolina and played his college football for the Gamecocks football team. There he played under the head coach Steve Spurrier from 2010 to 2012.
The player became first-team All-SEC as a kick returner and was titled SEC Special Teams Player of the Year in his junior year in 2012. His collegiate career-best passes count up to nine for 92 yards and two touchdowns from a 63-yard punt return.
It was the game against the Michigan Wolverines in the 2013 Outback Bowl. In the same game, he was named the Most Valuable Player for the match.
NFL Career
The WR was drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft in the fourth round as the 101 overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Sanders made his NFL debut in the week 1 game against the Kansas City Chiefs where he scored his first reception in the League.
The player again appeared in a Thursday Night Football on 5 December of the same season and threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to RB Jordan Todman. The Jaguars got a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans in that match.
Again playing against the Buffalo Bills on 15 December 2023, he went for his first touchdown reception in his professional career. The athlete completed his rookie season by recording 484 receiving yards for 51 catches and a touchdown including 3 kick returns for 140 yards.
His second season did not come as expected as he had to remain suspended for the first four games for violating the NFL Substance abuse policy. Later in the week 5 game against the Steelers, he scored 6 receptions for 55 yards.
Sanders was waived by the team on 17 July 2015. His career stats read a total of 57 receptions for 539 receiving yards, 458 return yards, and one touchdown.
Tyrone Williams – CB
Tyrone was born on 31 May 1973 and played for three major teams in the NFL. He was also an attendee of Manatee High School in Bradenton.
The player did appear in multiple roles during his high school football. He played for both cornerback and running back positions and also went for basketball and track and field.
Williams joined the University of Nebraska and played his college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. His sophomore year gave him 29 tackles, 14 solo tackles, and one interception in the fourth game of the season.
The cornerback was titled Big Eight Co-Defensive Newcomer-of-the-Year and Cornhiskers Defensive Player of the Year. He went on to score 9 tackles and defended 3 passes in the national championship game against Florida State University.
In his collegiate football, the player scored 95 tackles, 5 interceptions, and defended 11 passes, and helped the team to maintain a 36-1 record, to go for 3 Big Eight Conference titles and 2 national championships.
Professional Career
Williams was picked by the Green Bay Packers in the 1996 NFL Draft in the third round as the 93rd overall pick. He remained with the team until 2001.
He began his first season as a rookie reserve and made 25 tackles during the regular season and three in the playoffs. In the last four years of his career with the Packers, the player appeared in 111 games out of 112 and summarized the score to 445 tackles, 19 interceptions, and defended 92 passes.
The CB went on to join the Atlanta Falcons on 16 March 2003 and started only six games. He was benched for the entire half of the season. In his appearance for the Falcons, Tyrone had 20 tackles and defended two passes.
Though he was under a $10.3 million four-year contract with the team, he was released on 2 June 2004. Williams was signed in by the Dallas Cowboys in 2004 and started two games securing six tackles and a sack.
He got his hamstring injured in the team’s game against the Detroit Lions and was placed on the IR list on 15 November and was released on 14 December.
Alvoid Mays – CB
Mays is a former American football cornerback born on 10 July 1996. The native of Palmetto also attended Manatee High School in Florida.
The player went to play his college football at West Virginia. He was selected in the 1989 NFL Draft in the eighth round as the 217th overall pick by the Houston Oilers.
He played for three teams in the NFL and the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League. Alvoid appeared in his first two seasons with the Houston Oilers until 1990.
After that, he was signed by the Washington Redskins in 1990 and the CB played for five seasons with the team. The DB also contributed the Redskins to win the Super Bowl XXVI. His association with the squad remained until 1994.
He played the 1995 NFL season with the Pittsburgh Steelers and went on to score his first as well as only touchdown. It was the game against the San Diego Chargers at Three Rivers Stadium. There he intercepted a pass from a QB of the Chargers and scored a touchdown by returning it.
Later, Mays played for the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League from 1998 to 199. In his NFL career, he had 157 tackles, 1 sack, 5 interceptions, 1 touchdown, two force fumbles, and 2 fumble recovered.
Stacey Dawsey – WR
Dawsey was born on 24 October 1965 and attended Indiana University to play college football. The 57-year-old former athlete only played 3 games in the NFL.
He was also the attendee of Manatee High School. The wide receiver played for Indiana for four seasons from 1983 to 1986. In his first year, he had six kick returns for 67 yards appearing in 11 games in total.
In 1994 his kick return stats counted to 14 returns and 250 yards. During his senior year with the team, he returned 21 kicks for 514 yards.
His collegiate stats read a total of 41 kick returns and 831 yards. The player was selected in the 1987 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints and played only three games with the team.
Stacey scored in all three games he played for the squad, he had 13 receptions from 142 receiving yards and made 2 fumbles. He did not score any touchdowns in those games.
Later, he went to play in the Canadian Football League and joined the Calgary Stampeders for the 1988 season. He played in the CFL for five years.
Richard Trapp – WR
Richard Trapp was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1968 combined draft as the 83rd overall pick. He was born on 21 September 1946.
Though he was originally from Lynwood, California, he eventually came to attend Bradenton’s Manatee High School. There he was a standout high school footballer for Manatee Hurricanes. ame t
Trapp joined the University of Florida and played college football for the Florida Gators football team under head coach Ray Graves. He played in the college from 1965 to 1967.
The WR started three seasons in the position and had 1,783 receiving yards. He caught passes for 298 in the 1966 season and compiled 171 receiving yards in 1967 against the Georgia Bulldogs.
He was selected in the list of first-team All-SEC in both 1966 and 1967 and received the Fergie Ferguson Award, an inter-college honor offered to a senior member of the Florida Gators football team.
The player was also listed in the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. Trapp went on to play the 1968 season of the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills.
In 14 games played for the Bills, he caught 24 passes for 235 yards. After playing his rookie season with the team, he was signed by the San Diego Chargers for the second season of his professional career where he appeared in eight games.
Trapp concluded his professional football summarizing the score to 24 receptions for 274 yards. After retirement, he became a practicing attorney at Orlando, Florida.