Brady now joins Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson as the only quarterbacks to top the NFLPA’s quarterly Top 50 Players Sales List five times–twice as year-end retail kings. Wilson, who ranks No. 8, topped the year-end charts in 2014 and 2015. This also marks a record 12th appearance for Brady in the top three since the Player Sales List’s inception in 2014, and he has never ranked outside of the top nine.
Prescott, who held the top spot through the end of the third quarter, is joined in the top five by Ezekiel Elliott, at No. 4, who led the year-end list last year. In fact, the Dallas duo has now occupied two of the top four spots on the last five Top 50 Player Lists. The only newcomer to the top five is Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown, who made the jump to No. 5 from No. 7 on the third quarter list.
Quarterbacks once again led the offensive positions, with 18, including six among the top 10. Following Brady and Prescott, Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles (No. 3), Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers (No. 6), Wilson (No. 8) and Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders (No. 10), who finishes in the Top 10 on the year-end list for the first time.
Wide receivers account for 14 players on the list, while running backs have six, and tight ends have four, along with one offensive lineman, the Steelers’ OT Alejandro Villanueva. On the defensive side, seven players made the year-end list, with Denver Broncos LB Von Miller the highest-ranked at No. 13. Houston Texans DE J.J. Watt is No. 15, while his brother, Steelers LB T.J. Watt ranks No. 40, the first time that brothers appear in the top 50 since Peyton and Eli Manning at the end of the fiscal year in 2016.
“It’s surreal seeing your name and face on these products, and then to be on the NFLPA’s best-selling players list is humbling,” said Oakland Raiders WR Jordy Nelson. “First and foremost, I have to thank the fans for all their support last year.”
The Eagles are the most represented team, with five players. In addition to Wentz (No. 3), TE Zach Ertz (No. 17), QB Nick Foles (No. 22), WR Alshon Jeffery (No. 43) and RB Jay Ajayi (No. 45) represent Philadelphia. This is the second straight year that quarterbacks from the same team appear on the Top 50 Players Sales List, since Prescott and Tony Romo appeared last year for the Cowboys.
In addition to Ertz, seven other players climbed from the 2017 Rising 50 to the Year-End Top 50 Player Sales List: Texans QB Deshaun Watson (No. 25), San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo (No. 28), Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (No. 36), Chicago Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky (No. 37), T.J. Watt (No. 40), Ajayi (No. 45) and Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce (No. 46). The 2017 rookie class registered strong player retail sales throughout the season. Five rookies earn spots on the year-end list, led by Watson, Trubisky, McCaffrey, Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster and T.J. Watt.
The Top 50 Player Sales List is released quarterly by the NFLPA, via its licensing and marketing arm NFL Players Inc., and is based on overall sales of all NFL player licensed products via online and traditional retail outlets as reported by more than 70 NFLPA licensees, including Fanatics, Nike, Outerstuff, Forever Collectibles, Funko, Fathead, Hallmark, McFarlane Toys, Strideline socks, Wincraft and more. Licensed product categories include men’s, women’s and youth game jerseys and T-shirts, wall decals, figurines, toys, matted and framed photos, vinyl collectibles, bobbleheads, ugly sweaters, plush dolls, drinkware, socks, virtual goods, holiday ornaments and novelties and more. For the fourth consecutive year, NFLPA licensees generated record retail sales, exceeding $1.65 billion during the year. The NFLPA is ranked as the 34th largest global licensor by License! Global.
Highlights from the NFLPA Year-End Top 50 Player Sales List:
- Tom Brady led sales across a number of product categories, including Forever Collectibles bobbleheads, youth sleepwear and Fathead wall decals; Odell Beckham Jr and Carson Wentz trailed Brady in Fathead sales.
- Four of the top 6 leaders in women’s jersey sales belonged to Dallas Cowboys players: Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten.
- Nick Foles sold the most drinkware product from Wincraft, 10 times more than any other player, and led in sales of t-shirts and hoodies from 500 Level.
- Von Miller finished first for most adidas Texas A&M collegiate co-branded jerseys sold.
- Five of the top 10 in Strideline socks sales were Eagles–Foles, Wentz, Chris Long, Jay Ajayi and Alshon Jeffery.
- Aaron Rodgers, Odell Beckham Jr and Julian Edelman all ranked in the top 10 for Funko Pop Vinyl collectible sales.
- Marshawn Lynch topped sales of women’s apparel from G-III.
- J.J. Watt was a top seller of calendars from The Lang Companies.
- Jason Witten finished behind Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers for most licensed cornhole boards sold from Wild Sports and Victory Tailgate.
Year-End Top 50 Player Sales List (March 1, 2017 – Feb. 28, 2018)
1. Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
2. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys
3. Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
4. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
5. Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
6. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
7. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants
8. Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks
9. Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots
10. Derek Carr, QB, Oakland Raiders
11. Marshawn Lynch, RB, Oakland Raiders
12. Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys*
13. Von Miller, LB, Denver Broncos
14. Jason Witten, TE, Dallas Cowboys
15. J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans
16. Khalil Mack, LB, Oakland Raiders
17. Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
18. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
19. Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
20. Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers
21. Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings
22. Nick Foles, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
23. Le’Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
24. Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions
25. Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans
26. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
27. Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots
28. Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, San Francisco 49ers
29. Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders
30. Alejandro Villanueva, OT, Pittsburgh Steelers
31. Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers*
32. Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings
33. Richard Sherman, DB, Seattle Seahawks*
34. Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons
35. Philip Rivers, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
36. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
37. Mitchell Trubisky, QB, Chicago Bears
38. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
39. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals
40. T.J. Watt, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
41. Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams
42. Luke Kuechly, LB, Carolina Panthers
43. Alshon Jeffery, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
44. Clay Matthews, LB, Green Bay Packers
45. Jay Ajayi, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
46. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
47. A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
48. Jarvis Landry, WR, Miami Dolphins*
49. Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants
50. Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
*Team listed indicates player’s team for sales during the 2017 season
The National Football League Players Association is the union for professional football players in the National Football League.
