Texas recognized by USA Football as best football state

Associated
Press

No shocker
to Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips:

Texas
has been tabbed as the nation’s best football state.

USA
Football on Tuesday presented its Gov.’s Cup Award recognizing
Texas as the country’s ”

Best
Football

State.” The award is
based on criteria ranging from high school participation to TV ratings.

“I
think those of us from
Texas and in
Texas knew that this award might be coming this way some
time,” said Phillips, who accepted the trophy on behalf of all

Texas football. “We
do feel like we are the best football state.”

Texas
earned the award based on a study conducted by The
Wharton Sports Business Initiative at the

University of
Pennsylvania.
The rest of the top five states, in order, were
Pennsylvania,

Florida,
New Jersey
and

Maryland.

USA
Football executive director Scott Hallenbeck, whose nonprofit organization is
geared toward developing the sport, said the award “recognizes everything
that’s great about football.”

The study
looked at the percentage of boys playing high school football, the percentage
of high school seniors receiving NCAA scholarships and birth states of 2007 NFL
draftees and NFL coaches. Nielsen television ratings for NFL games were also
considered.

Accompanying
Phillips were three of his players who, before joining the Cowboys, had played
high school and college football in

Texas.
They were safety Keith Davis (
Italy
and
Sam
Houston

State); offensive guard Leonard Davis
(Wortham and
Texas); and rookie linebacker
Justin Rogers (

Greenville
and SMU).

“These
are three great examples of
Texas football and
the kind of people we have playing football in

Texas,” Phillips said.