NFL Players From Beverly Hills High School

Spencer Paysinger was a skillful football player from an early age and captained the Beverly Hills football team. He was coached by his uncle Carter Paysinger.

Paysinger was born in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, on June 28, 1988. Although he lived in South Central LA, he attended the posh Beverly Hills High School (BHHS).

After finishing high school, Paysinger attended the University of Oregon and also captained and led the college football team in his final year.

He was undrafted at the 2011 NFL Draft and was later signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Giants. He was part of the Giants roster from 2011-2014 and played 62 games and was a starter in 14. He managed 140 combined tackles and won the Super Bowl in 2011.

He later signed with the Miami Dolphins on a one-year contract in 2015 and played 14 games and managed 25 combined tackles. He later signed a one-year extension and started 3 games out of 15. In his two years, he managed 84 combined tackles. 

He was signed by the Jets in 2017 and was immediately released before the season started. Carolina Panthers took the opportunity and signed him in December and after playing three games without making any contributions, he was released the same month.

Paysinger is also famous for co-producing and for his role as an assistant coach in The CW series All American, which happens to be a series based on his life and career.

Patrick Dante Ross Cunningham has been part of four different teams in the NFL starting from 1990-1998. He later played for two teams in the Canadian Football League.

He was born on January 4, 1967, in Los Angeles, CA, and stands at a towering 2.01m or 6′ 7″ tall. An alumnus of BHHS, he attended Oregon State University and also Texas A&M University.

After he was eligible for the draft, he was selected as a Round 4 overall pick #106 by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1990 NFL Draft where he only featured in two games.

In 1992, he signed with the Phoenix Cardinals (now Arizona) and was a member of the Redbirds till 1994. He played 35 games and started 32 before signing for the Minnesota Vikings in 1995.

After a year with the Vikings, he signed with the Oakland Raiders till 1998. He played a total of 80 games in the NFL and recorded 1 TD.

Cunningham then shifted to the CFL and played for the Edmonton Eskimos (2001-2002) and the Montreal Alouettes (2002).

Beverly high eagles football is known as the Beverly Hills Normans and previously had Allan Barry as a high school football player while he studied there.

Al Barry was born on Christmas Eve 1930, in Beverly Hills, CA. After finishing high school, he then attended the University of California (USC) where he was offered a scholarship.

He was a tackle for the initial few years before being moved to guard in his senior year. He is also a winner of the 1953 Rose Bowl.

After a successful college season, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1953 Draft as a future draft pick in Round 30 and overall pick of #355. In his rookie season (1954), he started 11 out of 12 games.

He would miss out on the next two years as he was serving in the U. S. Air Force and made his return in 1957 and was a starter in 11 games.

The next season, he was traded to the New York Giants and started all 12 games and made one fumble recovery (FR). 

In the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft, he was picked by the Cowboys but as he did not want to move to Dallas, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams where he could not make it work and was released the same year.

He was signed by the LA Chargers as a free agent and played five games and reached the American Football League Championship Game. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement without winning any major trophy.

Ronnie Knox has had a roller coaster of a career that started from an early age. He has played football for BHHS, Inglewood, and Santa Monica High School all in a span of three years.

His father Harvey Knox is known for interfering with the coaches and as a result, Ronnie has had to change schools every other year. He first attended the University of California and later transferred to UCLA in 1954.

Ronnie is infamous for accepting “under-the-table” financing and his collegiate career as a football player only lasted a year and was declared ineligible.

In 1956, he signed for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL and left the team after a month as he wanted to pursue a career in film. After just six days, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders.

The Chicago Bears selected Knox as a Round 3 overall #37 pick in the 1957 Draft where he managed to play just one game. His stepfather publicly criticized the team and Ronnie would further miss practice sessions which led to him being suspended by head coach George Halas.

The following year, he was signed by the Toronto Argonauts, and in 1959 he bowed out of the football world by statting that  football was a game for animals.

James W. Powers was born in 1928 in LA, California, and played at almost any given position as a football player. After graduating from BHHS, he attended the University of Southern California (USC).

In the 1950 Draft, he was selected as a Round 26 overall pick #335 by the San Francisco 49ers. He started his rookie season at LDH and played 10 games in his rookie season.

He had attempted 20 passes with 9 passes completed. He also had 108 passing yards, all in his rookie season. He remained in the same position the next season and started all 12 games.

In 1952, he was moved to linebacker and started 11 out of 12 games. In his final season, he played as a QB and played all games and had attempted 49 passes with 22 of them completed. He had 367 passing yards at the end of his career and his TD-INT record was 1-4.

As a QB, he had 42 punts for 1706 yards. The 1953 season was his last and on July 27, 2013, he passed away at the age of 85.

Beverly hills eagles high school football team also had Hosea Fortune who would later become a wide receiver for an NFL side in his lifetime.

Hosea Fortune played as a WR while he attended William Marsh Rice University. He was born on March 4, 1959, in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

He went undrafted at the 1982 NFL Draft and was later signed by the Houston Oilers as an undrafted free agent. He did not make it to the final roster and was only an off-season and/or practice squad member.

In 1983, he signed with the San Diego Chargers (now Los Angeles Chargers) and featured in four games. He had recorded 4 punt returns for 16 yards in his NFL career which only lasted a year.

Andrew William Kline was also coached as well as mentored by Carter Paysinger while he was attending BHHS. He later attended San Diego State University where he played collegiate football.

He recorded 5.43s for the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and in the 2000 NFL Draft, he was picked in Round 7 overall pick #220 by the St. Louis Rams. He did not make it into the regular season roster and was a practice and/or off-season squad member.

After just two seasons, Kline had to retire from pursuing his football career due to suffering from multiple concussions while playing. He is still related to sports as he is the founder of Park Lane, which is associated with providing services to several sports teams.