The Green Wave NFL Footprint Continues to Grow

NEW ORLEANS – The bowl wins in back-to-back seasons for Tulane Football is not the only new tradition occurring in Uptown under the direction of head coach Willie Fritz.

Most recently, the Green Wave football program has produced several players that have gone on to the National Football league. Over the past four seasons, Tulane has had at least one player selected in the NFL Draft.

The first player Fritz coached at Tulane that went on to be selected in the NFL Draft was Tanzel Smart. Smart recently just signed with the Buffalo Bills and is now the 11th former Tulane player to be listed on an NFL roster.

"So excited about that for Tanzel," Fritz said. "We love Tanzel around here. That guy is everything you want. He's a guy that's just such a good person, but also tough enough to where you could walk down the alley with him and you wouldn't have to worry about anything. He's got it all. He's got a tremendous work ethic. He's a special guy."

The last time Tulane had a player taken in the NFL Draft in four straight years was from 1999-2002.

This past April, Tulane had two players selected in the NFL Draft for the second time in three years, as Darnell Mooney got selected in the fifth round by the Chicago Bears and Thakarius Keyes was chosen by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Tulane also had three players sign as free agents as Darius Bradwell (Los Angeles Chargers), Jalen McCleskey (Atlanta Falcons) and Christian Montano (Pittsburgh Steelers) all inked deals this past April.

"We keep up with all of those guys," Fritz said. "Our No. 1 team is the Saints and then any other team our old players are playing for."

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Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.

The Green Wave NFL Footprint Continues to Grow

Players Mentioned

Darius Bradwell

Thakarius Keyes

Jalen McCleskey

Christian Montano

Darnell Mooney

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