How many Bosa brothers are in the NFL? How Nick, Joey Bosa rose to stardom from football family

Zac Al-Khateeb

How many Bosa brothers are in the NFL? How Nick, Joey Bosa rose to stardom from football family image

For the first time in their NFL careers, brothers Joey and Nick Bosa will be in the playoffs at the same time.

Joey, the elder Bosa, will make his second postseason appearance with the Chargers; the first was in 2019, when Los Angeles lost in the divisional round to the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots.

MORE: Sporting News' NFL experts make their playoff, Super Bowl 57 picks

Nick Bosa has had slightly better playoff success. He already has appeared twice in the postseason with the 49ers. San Francisco made the Super Bowl in 2020 and the NFC championship game in 2022, both times losing to the eventual Super Bowl champions in the Chiefs and Rams, respectively.

MORE: Brock Purdy vs. Jimmy Garoppolo: Would 49ers make a mid-playoffs QB change if vet is healthy?

The fact that Joey and Nick Bosa are on playoff teams is only one aspect of their elite football family. The Pro Bowl-caliber players — and, in the case of Nick Bosa, All-Pro-caliber — are carrying on a tradition of football excellence that dates to before their collegiate careers at Ohio State and even their prep days in Florida.

MORE: Will Mike Williams, Joey Bosa play vs. Jaguars?

The Sporting News looks at the Bosa brothers' football careers, and how they have carried on the legacy that began with their father:

How many Bosa brothers are in the NFL?

There are two Bosa brothers in the NFL at the moment, Joey and Nick. They aren't the first members of their family to play in the league, however.

Their father, John, was the first. He was selected 16th overall in the 1987 NFL Draft by the Dolphins out of Boston College. Like his sons, he played defensive end. Though his playing career only lasted through the 1989 season, John Bosa was a member of the PFWA all-rookie team in 1987.

The Bosa family is distinct in that it is one of just two families to produce three first-round NFL draft picks.

Bosa Year (selection) Team
John 1989 (16th) Dolphins
Joey 2016 (third) Chargers
Nick 2019 (second) 49ers

The only other family to have that distinction is the Manning family — not bad company to keep in the football world. Archie Manning went No. 2 overall in the 1971 NFL Draft to the Saints, while his sons Peyton and Eli were drafted first overall in the 1998 and 2004 NFL drafts, respectively, by the Colts and Chargers.

Bosa brothers' NFL stats

The Bosa brothers have three Pro Bowl seasons to their names, and Nick Bosa was named first-team All-Pro in 2022.

Both have missed significant time due to injury, with Joey Bosa missing four games in 2016; nine games in 2018; four games in 2020; and 12 games in 2022. The 2016, 2018 and 2022 seasons are the only campaigns in which he has not been a Pro Bowl player.

Nick Bosa missed all but two games in the 2020 season, his only campaign not to result in at least a Pro Bowl nod.

Below are their respective career stats:

Joey Bosa (2016-22)

Joey-Bosa-100521-GETTY-FTR
  • Pro Bowl seasons: Four (2017, 2019-21)
  • All-Pro seasons: None
Tackles TFL Sacks QB hits INTs FF (FR)
301 76 60.5 135 0 14 (3)

Nick Bosa (2019-22)

  • Pro Bowl seasons: Three (2019, 2021-22)
  • All-Pro seasons: One (2022)
Tackles TFL Sacks QB hits INTs FF (FR)
156 56 43 106 1 8 (2)

Where did Bosa brothers play college football?

Joey and Nick Bosa played college football at Ohio State, where they both excelled for the Buckeyes.

Joey Bosa (2013-15)

Joey-Bosa-102814-Getty-FTR.jpg
Tackles TFL Sacks INTs FF (FR)
148 51.0 26 1 5 (2)

Joey Bosa enrolled at Ohio State after his prep career at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was the 37th-best player overall and the fourth-best strong-side defensive end in the 2013 class, per 247Sports' Composite rankings.

His was the more decorated career in Columbus: He was a 2014 unanimous All-American — the same season the Buckeyes won the inaugural College Football Playoff national championship — and a consensus selection in 2015.

Nick Bosa (2016-18)

Nick Bosa-051818-GETTY-FTR
Tackles TFL Sacks INTs FF (FR)
77 29 17.5 0 2 (0)

Nick Bosa was rated higher as a blue-chip recruit out of St. Thomas Aquinas. Unlike his older brother, he was a five-star player who ranked inside the top 10 nationally in the 2016 recruiting class. He was the No. 8 overall player and top-rated strong-side defensive end, per 247.

That said, Nick Bosa didn't win a national title or achieve unanimous or consensus All-America status at Ohio State like his brother did, though he was a 2017 first-team selection by the American Football Coaches Association, one of the five selectors used by the NCAA to determine consensus status. Still, he leveraged his collegiate career into a top-two NFL Draft selection.

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.