NFLU: Since 1999, No Other Team Represents the NFL Like the Miami Hurricanes.

Although the Hurricanes have been down and out the last few years on the field, it doesn't mean it has anything to do with the athletes they have.

Miami provided the NFL with another eight players giving them a grand total of 65 players drafted since 1999. Second most to Ohio State's 70.

In last years NFL Pro Bowl alone, the Hurricanes had a record setting 11 players that either started, backups, or alternates.

The amount of awards ex-Hurricanes have received is unbelievable.

Ohio State has produced more (70) then the Hurricanes since 1999, but it is all about quality, not just quanity.

Here is a list of the players that prove why Miami is the gateway college to NFL stardom.

(From 1999 to the present)

Jeremy Shockey, TE Carolina Panthers

NFL Draft Class: 2002

Draft Round: 1, 14th pick overall.

Resume:

2002 NFL Rookie of the Year.

All Pro Selection (2002)

Pro-Bowl (4 times)

Two-time Super Bowl champion.

Note: Shockey entered the NFL with high hopes and immediately produced All Pro numbers, but injuries and his outspoken personality made him a target for criticism.

Shockey broke his leg in 2007 and was released by the Saints due to an attitude he possessed on and off the field.

Kellen Winslow II, TE Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Draft Class: 2004

Draft Round: 1, 6th pick overall.

Resume:

Pro-Bowl (2007)

All Pro Alternate (2010)

Note: Winslow's career started off horrible getting season ending injuries in his two first seasons.

He came in his third season by catching 89 balls for 875 yards.  His fourth year was even better garnering a spot on the Pro Bowl team with over 1,100 yards receiving.

Last year he was an alternate on the NFL All Pro team.

Vince Wilfork, NT/DE New England Patriots

NFL Draft Class: 2004

Draft Round: 1, 21st pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (3 times)

Pro-Bowl (3 times)

Super Bowl Champion

Note: Although Wilfork doesn't have the gaudy stats like the rest of the players on this list, he is still one of the best nose tackles in the NFL.

He was so valuable to the team he was actually given the franchise tag and later was signed through 2013.

Last year he was rotating between nose tackle and defensive end for the Patriots.

Clinton Portis, RB, Current Free Agent

NFL Draft Class: 2002

Draft Round: 2, 51st pick overall.

Resume:

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (2002)

All Pro Selection (2008)

Pro-Bowl (2 times)

Just 77 yards short of the 10,000 Rushing Yards Club

Note: Clinton's first year in the NFL was a memorable one, gaining over 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Denver Broncos.

He continued his storied career with six-1,000 yard rushing seasons, including four in a row to start his career.

Currently ranked the 26th leading rusher in NFL history.

Frank Gore, RB San Francisco 49ers

NFL Draft Class: 2005

Draft Round: 3, 65th pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (2006)

Pro-Bowl (2 times)

2006 NFC Rushing Champion

Note: Gore is quietly turning into one of the best Hurricanes rushers that ever played in the NFL. Although injuries kept him from his fifth consecutive 1,000 yard season last year, he has put together an amazing career in just six years in the league.

Gore has averaged 4.7 yards per carry, which if he maintains, will put him in the top five in NFL history.

Brandon Meriweather, S New England Patriots

NFL Draft Class: 2007

Draft Round: 1, 24th pick overall.

Resume:

Pro-Bowl (2 times)

Note: Although Meriweather has only been in the league for four years, he has proven he belongs by being on the Pro Bowl team twice in four seasons (2009 and 2010).

Meriweather is a punishing tackler and plays all over the field.

Jonathan Vilma, LB New Orleans Saints

NFL Draft Class: 2004

Draft Round: 1, 12th pick overall.

Resume:

Pro-Bowl (3 times)

Super Bowl Champion

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year

Note: Vilma was an instant success story coming out of Miami by winning the Rookie Defensive Player of the Year award. 

The following year, Vilma led the NFL with an amazing 169 tackles.

As a linebacker he has intercepted the ball 10 times in his career, while deflecting 33 passes.

Jon Beason, LB Carolina Panthers

NFL Draft Class: 2007

Draft Round: 1, 25th pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (2 times)

Pro-Bowl (3 times)

Note: Beason is one of the newest members of this list and already has made a huge impact in the NFL. In just four years into the league he has been in the Pro Bowl three times and been named an All Pro twice.

Beason has averaged 135 tackles per year.

Edgerrin James, RB Current Free Agent

NFL Draft Class: 1999

Draft Round: 1, 4th pick overall.

Resume:

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1999)

All Pro Selection (3 times)

Pro-Bowl (4 times)

10,000 Rushing Yards Club

NFL 2000's All Decade Team

Note:Edge, as he was called, was an instant star in the NFL, gaining over 1,500 yards rushing in his rookie year and after two seasons he had NFL rushing titles.

An ACL tear in his third season hindered him for the next two years, but got back on track rushing for over 1,000 yards in five straight seasons.

Edge is the eleventh leading rusher of all time with 12,246 yards, which in my standards, is Hall of Fame worthy.

Sean Taylor, S Washington Redskins

NFL Draft Class: 2004

Draft Round: 1, 5th pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (1 times)

Pro-Bowl (2 times)

Note: I really don't care what anyone says, there has never been a harder hitter in NFL history. Taylor's punishing hits left everyone in awe.

Taylor had an upside that could have led him to being the greatest safety to ever play, but his NFL career and life ended in 2007 when he was shot and killed in his home.

In just over three seasons he was already a two time Pro Bowler with unlimited potential.

RIP, Sean Taylor.

Reggie Wayne, WR Indianapolis Colts

NFL Draft Class: 2001

Draft Round: 1, 30th pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (3 times)

Pro-Bowl (5 times)

Super Bowl Champion

Note: Wayne has been considered one of the best wide receivers in the NFL gaining 1,000 yards receiving for seven straight years.

He has the 28th most receiving yards in NFL history, only needing 2,600 yards to crack the top 10.

He is a primary target for Peyton Manning and most likely will end up in the Hall of Fame.

Andre Johnson, WR Houston Texans

NFL Draft Class: 2003

Draft Round: 1, 3rd pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (4 times)

Pro-Bowl (5 times)

NFL leader in receiving yards (2 times)

Note: Johnson may end his NFL career as one of the best wide receivers in the history of the NFL.  He has averaged over 1,150 yards per year.

Johnson is the second person in NFL history to lead the league in receiving yards in consecutive seasons.

He is the highest paid receiver in the NFL and is signed with Houston until 2016.

Ed Reed, FS Baltimore Ravens

NFL Draft Class: 2002

Draft Round: 1, 24th pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (7 times)

Pro-Bowl (7 times)

NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2004)

AFC Defensive Player of the Year (2004)

NFL Alumni Defensive Back of the Year (2 times)

Lead the NFL in interceptions (3 times)

Voted as first team Free Safety on Sporting News Team of the Decade (2000's)

Note: Reed has already established himself as the best free safety in the NFL, when he retires, he will be arguable the best free safety in history.

His Hall of Fame career has already been solidified by his ability to find the football, picking of an astonishing 54 passes in just nine seasons and if he were to continue to catch six interceptions per year, he would break the all time mark of 81 in four and a half seasons.

Reed is already the Raven's career interception leader.

Devin Hester, WR/KR/PR Chicago Bears

NFL Draft Class: 2006

Draft Round: 2, 57th pick overall.

Resume:

All Pro Selection (3 times)

Pro-Bowl (3 times)

NFL Alumni Special Teams Player of the Year (3 times)

Voted on NFL 2000's All Decade Team

Most kick/punt return combination in the history of the NFL (14)

Tied with Eric Metcalf for the most punt returns in NFL history (10)

Note: He perhaps is the most exciting football player to ever put on an NFL jersey having broken the punt/kick return record in NFL history in just five years.

He is also the first player to ever return the opening kick of a Super Bowl back for a touchdown.

There is no doubt Hester will be inducted into the Hall of Fame when his career is completed.