The NFL Draft (1936)
The Start of a Tradition
It all started on a frigid day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1936. Ninety young men were hoping to hear their name announced that night. There were only nine teams selecting players and this would later be changed to ten teams for the 1937 draft (SB Nation). The first draft consisted of nine rounds. The Eagles were set to make their selection with the very first pick in NFL history. They selected Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger. Directly after that, they were forced to trade him because they didn’t think they could meet his demands in salary. Berwanger was asking for $1,000 a game (Jay Berwanger Wikipedia). Berwanger was sent to Chicago and in return, the Eagles received tackle Art Buss.
Nine rounds later the draft was complete. Eighty-one out of the ninety players that entered the draft were selected. There were twenty eight running backs selected, fifteen ends, fourteen tackles, twelve guards, six centers, four fullbacks, one tailback, and one quarterback (1936 NFL Draft- Wikipedia). The only quarterback selected in the first NFL draft was Riley Smith. Smith, selected second overall by the Boston Redskins, was six feet two inches tall and weighed two hundred pounds. Not many were expecting Smith to be drafted at all.
The first NFL draft went down as an important step to make all of the teams close to equal. This made competition stronger and there were many good games. The people loved it because it was entertaining to watch a good game from home or even the stands. This was one of the most important movements in NFL history.
Jay Berwanger (left) , Heisman Trophy winner, and first player selected in the NFL draft. Selected by the Eagles, Berwanger was sure to be an NFL success. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they couldn't meet his salary requests. They were forced to trade him to the Chicago Bears. Berwanger never ended up playing a pro football snap anyways
Bert Bell, pictured at right, was co-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, and is considered the father of the NFL draft.
Photo Credit: NFL.com
The significance
The true significance behind the first NFL draft is it was a great idea proposed by Eagles co-owner Bert Bell. His thought process was a draft would be a fair way for teams that don’t have a lot of money to acquire new players. Today, we still use Bell's theory because owners think it is the most fair way for teams to be equal. If we didn't have a draft the league would most likely not be competitive today. Thanks to Bert Bell teams that struggle the previous year will have the opportunity to pick up a few new players in the NFL draft.