A Little NFL Draft History

The 1st ever NFL Draft was in 1936 and the #1 Overall Selection was a HB out of Chicago University named Jay Berwanger. American Football to some is a religion and with the recent success the NFL has had it can be argued that Pro Football will be around forever. So let us take a walk down memory lane….

It is a no-brainer that QB and RB have dominated the 1st and 2nd Rounds of the Draft over the years but here are a few tidbits I bet you didn't know about the #1 Overall Draft Pick.

Random One-Liners for #1 Overall Pick

• One Center has been drafted #1 overall - 1939 Chicago Cardinals drafted Ki Aldrich from Texas Christian. He went on to play seven years in the league and was voted to 2 Pro Bowls.
• One Defensive Back has been drafted #1 overall - 1956 Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Gary Glick from Colorado A&M. Gary played seven years in the league and did not make a Pro Bowl appearance.
• One Offensive Guard has been drafted #1 overall - 1961 Buffalo Bills drafted Ken Rice from Auburn. He played 6 seasons and made it to one Pro Bowl.
• 4 positions have never been selected #1 overall -  Tight End, Safety, Kicker and Punter
• 2 Fullbacks have been take with the #1 overall pick - 1937 Sam Francis and 1938 Corbett Davis
• Most Pro Bowls: Bruce Smith - DE - Buffalo Bills - Played 18 years and 11 Pro Bowls
• 2nd Most Pro Bowls: John Elway - QB - Denver Broncos - Played 16 years and 9 Pro Bowls
• Three #1 Overall Picks never played a down in the NFL
• Jay Berwanger - RB/Philadelphia Eagles: Drafted in 1936 from Chicago University
• Corbett Davis - RB/Cleveland Rams: Drafted in 1938 from University of Indiana
• Ernie Davis - RB/Washington Redskins: Drafted in 1961 from Syracuse
• The #1 overall selection who has had the longest career: Vinny Testeverde - QB - 21 years
• Of the 77 #1 overall selections 12 have earned a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame
  
  

  Name	Position	Team	College	Year Drafted
  Troy Aikman	QB	Dallas Cowboys	UCLA	1989
  John Elway	QB	Denver Broncos	Stanford	1983
  Earl Campbell	RB	Houston Oilers	Texas	1978
  Lee Roy Selmon	DE	Tampa Bay Buccs	Oklahoma	1976
  Terry Bradshaw	QB	Pittsburgh Steelers	Louisana Tech	1970
  O.J. Simpson	RB	Buffalo Bills	USC	1969
  Ron Yarry	OT	Minnesota Vikings	USC	1968
  Buck Buchanan	DT	Kansas City Chiefs	Grambling	1963
  Paul Hornung	HB	Green Bay Packers	Notre Dame	1957
  Chuck Bednarik	C/LB	Philadelphia Eagles	Pennsylvania	1949
  Charley Trippi	HB	Chicago Cardinals	Georgia	1945
  Bill Dudley	HB	Pittsburgh Steelers	Virginia	1942

Now let's breakdown the #2 Overall Picks

Random One-Liners for 2nd Overall Pick

• No Tight End, Safety, Kicker or Punter has ever been selected with the #2 Overall Pick
• The Most Pro Bowls by a #2 Overall Selection: Merlin Olson - DT - Drafted in 1962 by Denver Broncos out of Utah State. He played 15 seasons with 14 Pro Bowl appearances.
• The 2nd Most Pro Bowls is held by Tom Mack - OT - Drafted in 1966 by the LA Rams out of Michigan. Tom played 13 seasons with 11 Pro Bowls.
• One never played a down in the NFL
• Tom Brown - OG/NY Jets: Drafted in 1961 from University of Minnesota
• The #2 Overall selection who has had the longest career to date: 17 years by John Brodie - QB from Stanford who was drafted in 1957 by the San Francisco 49ers.
• Of the 77 - #2 Overall selections 11 have earned a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame
  
  

  Name	Position	Team	College	Year Drafted
  Eric Dickerson	RB	LA Rams	SMU	1983
  Lawrence Taylor	DE	NY Giants	North Carolina	1981
  Tony Dorsett	RB	Dallas Cowboys	Pittsburgh	1977
  Randy White	LB	Dallas Cowboys	Maryland	1975
  Tom Mack	OT	LA Rams	Michigan	1966
  Joe Namath	QB	NY Jets	Alabama	1965
  Merlin Olsen	DT	Denver Broncos	Utah State	1962
  Ollie Matson	RB	Chicago Cardinals	San Francisco	1952
  Y.A. Tittle	QB	San Francisco 49ers	LSU	1951
  George McAfree	RB	Philadelphia Eagles	Duke	1940
  Sid Luckman	QB	Boston Redskins	Alabama	1939

I thought it would be interesting to compare the #1 Pick Overall with the #2 Pick Overall. For example, in 2007 the Oakland Raiders drafted Jamarcus Russell with the #1 pick and Detroit followed with taking Calvin Johnson #2. At the conclusion of the 2008 season it seems Detroit made the better selection as Russell has not lived up to high price tag.  Let's examine some other faux pas that the team with the #1 Pick has made.

I hope you enjoyed today's history lesson. 2009 features the Detroit Lions and St Louis Rams with the top 2 picks respectively. Which position deserves to be selected #1? 

Detroit is on the clock!