NFL Countdown: The league gets its first taste of the draft
The NFL Draft is one of the biggest events on the football calendar. Following closely behind the Super Bowl, the draft is one event that fans of all teams can look forward to.
So much can happen on draft night as teams trade players like we saw this year with A.J. Brown and Marquise Brown.
But what about the very first draft?
The first NFL Draft
The very first NFL draft was held all the way back in 1936. It took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia on February 8. The draft, however, didn't have the same meaning to Philadelphia Eagles co-owner Bert Bell.
Heisman winner Jay Berwanger was the 1st NFL Draft pick in 1936.
Asked for $1,000 a game ($17K in today's $). Became salesman instead. https://t.co/Ij3hKnzTms
This led Bell to propose that the league hold a player draft once a year at the 1935 league meeting to help the league become as even as possible. The proposal was met with great fanfare and thus, the draft was born.
All teams had a total of nine picks each and it was the only draft to ever have just nine rounds. The following year it was changed to ten rounds.
The first ever draft pick
Jay Berwanger was the first ever player taken in the NFL draft and what is rather odd is that while he was a fantastic player (won the Heisman trophy) he never played an NFL game.
Berwanger was a halfback out of the University of Chicago and was picked up by the the Eagles. However his wage demands of $25,000 for two years, caused his rights to be traded from the Eagles to the Bears. But Chicago coach George Halas did not entertain signing Berwanger for that much money.
9 days until the #NFLDraft! The 1st NFL draft (1936, Ritz-Carlton in Philly) was the only draft to have 9 rounds: http://t.co/XzyLPtuVHq
The star halfback then turned his back on the NFL and took up a job as a salesman for a foam rubber plant and never played a snap in the league.
Out of the 81 players selected in the first draft, just 24 would go on to play in the league, which is not a very good rate but at the time, it was considered the norm.
The NFL Draft has changed from the first time it was held in 1936! The Philadelphia Eagles took Jay Berwanger No. 1. http://t.co/9BwiBDSked
The first drafted player to play in the league was quarterback/running back Riley Smith, who was taken with the second pick by the then Boston/Washington Redskins.
Out of the 81 players drafted, just four made it into the Hall of Fame. They included Joe Stydahar, Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans, Wayne Millner and Dan Fortmann.
Back then there were no flashy red carpets, cameras, or TV show build-ups like we see today, but it should not be forgotten nonetheless. The first draft was big during the 1930s, but looking at what is has now become, we can thank Bell for making it all happen.