SPORTS EXTRA / FOOTBALL ‘99: A LAND OF PLENTY : FEEDER SYSTEMS : THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Talent-Rich Southland Spreads the Wealth With Widespread Representation in the NFL

California, Texas and Florida are regarded as the best places to find future NFL players.

And although it’s debatable which state produces the best high school talent, there is no question which produces the most.

Last year, the NFL released a survey showing that 202 of the 1,590 players on opening-day rosters had attended California high schools. Texas had 158 and Florida 136.

The sprawling Southland produced most of the California players, though San Diego, with 18, ranked fourth among cities behind Houston with 25, Miami with 23 and Dallas with 21.

A huge population base, warm weather, good coaching and consistently tough competition are routinely cited by players, coaches and NFL executives as the main reasons for the Southland’s supremacy.

“There is no better place than Southern California,” said Gene Washington, the NFL’s director of football operations, who graduated from Long Beach Poly in 1965 and went on to star at wide receiver for Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers. “Florida is really coming on, but the L.A. basin really stands out.”

No prep program shines brighter than the one at Washington’s alma mater. Long Beach Poly has produced 38 NFL players, according to the league, the most in the nation.

Last season, six former Jackrabbits were on opening-day NFL rosters. Detroit safety Mark Carrier, San Francisco cornerback Marquez Pope (now with Cleveland), New England defensive end Willie McGinest, Carolina defensive tackle Don Sasa, Dallas safety Omar Stoutmire and Philadelphia defensive tackle Brandon Whiting once again gave Poly the biggest high school presence in the league.

All areas of the Southland will be represented on NFL rosters this season.

Consider:

* New York Jet wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, Miami running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Tampa Bay safety Charles Mincy, San Diego defensive end Chris Mims and New England running back Lamont Warren all played at Dorsey in the Central City.

* Atlanta running back Jamal Anderson of Woodland Hills El Camino Real High played in the San Fernando Valley, an area that also produced recently retired and future Hall of Famer John Elway, who starred at Granada Hills. Minnesota offensive lineman Todd Steussie played at Agoura High in the nearby Conejo Valley.

* Kansas City quarterback Warren Moon of Hamilton and Chicago return specialist Glyn Milburn of Santa Monica hail from the Westside.

* Kansas City tight end Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach, Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson of El Toro, and Pittsburgh offensive lineman Kris Farris of Santa Margarita, the 1998 Outland Trophy winner at UCLA, are from Orange County.

* Detroit linebacker Chris Claiborne of Riverside North and Green Bay Packer cornerback Craig Newsome of Rialto Eisenhower are from the Inland Empire.

* Baltimore rookie defensive back Chris McAlister of Pasadena High and Tennessee free safety Marcus Robertson of Pasadena Muir represent the San Gabriel Valley.

* Chicago receiver Curtis Conway of Hawthorne and Detroit receiver Johnnie Morton of South Torrance played in the South Bay.

And those are only some of the locals playing in the NFL.

“There [are] so many players from Southern California in the league, it’s hard to keep track of them all,” said Jerry Jaso, beginning his 15th season as head coach at Long Beach Poly. “A lot of these kids go to colleges out of state, so when they wind up in the NFL, you sometimes forget that they got their start here.”

Last year, more than 500 high schools fielded football teams in the CIF’s Southern and City sections, drawing from a population base that dwarfs almost every other region’s in the country.

“Part of it is pretty simple--there’s a larger pool of athletes to pick from so there are more top-level players to be found,” said Dorsey Coach Paul Knox, who is in his 15th season with the Dons.

The mild California climate also plays a role, allowing athletes to work out and sharpen their skills on the field almost year-round.

“Kids in other parts of the country are indoors for part of the year because of the weather,” said Dick Bruich, coach at first-year Fontana Kaiser after 22 successful seasons at Fontana High. “In Southern California, they can do something athletic outdoors, even if it’s not football, no matter what time of year it is. So you don’t just wind up with great football players. You get great athletes.”

Tom Hoak, in his 17th season as coach at Eisenhower, said Southern California players also benefit from highly competitive and creative coaching staffs.

“I’ve been to all-star games and clinics and have had contact with coaches in other states, and the coaches in California, in general, are more innovative,” Hoak said. “If you go to certain parts of the country, every high school program is doing the exact same thing. You will never find that in Southern California.”

Said Jaso, “The level of competition in Southern California brings out the best in everyone. The cream rises because you get challenged so much.”

Some of the NFL players from the Southland who still live in or visit their hometowns return to their high schools periodically.

Many Long Beach Poly players, for example, regularly appear on campus for summer workouts and have contributed financially to the program. Dorsey players have done the same.

Keyshawn Johnson, Lamont Warren, Shaun Williams and other local NFL players took things one step further this summer when they helped sponsor an all-star game that pitted City Section seniors against counterparts from the Southern Section.

Johnson hopes to make it an annual event.

“It’s just something I felt I could do to give something back,” he said. “You never know who might be the next guy to make it.”