In many ways, the NFL draft is a crapshoot. Sure, you roll the dice with a sixth or seventh round pick, or take a chance on a third-round wide receiver from some small college. But even the #1 overall pick can be a risk.
Since the draft was initiated in 1936, that top pick has carried a lot of weight…a ton of expectations…and yet things haven’t always worked out as expected.
Take the 1936 draft for example. Jay Berwanger, left
, the first Heisman Trophy winner, was the first player drafted by the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles had the selection, then traded Berwanger’s rights to the Chicago Bears after he claimed he had no interest in playing for the Eagles.
Berwanger had no interest in playing for the Bears either. After graduating from the University of Chicago, Berwanger became a sportswriter and later a manufacturer of plastic car parts.
Berwanger wasn’t the only #1 bust. For every Peyton Manning or John Elway there’s a Jeff George or Tim Coach. For every OJ Simpson….whoops, bad example, let’s use Earl Campbell… there’s a Kii-Jana Carter. You remember him, running back out of Penn State who the Bengals drafted first in the 1995 draft. He hurt his knee in the third carry of his first preseason game and was never the same.
There have been 11 NFL Hall of Famers drafted #1 overall — from Bill Dudley in 1942 to Troy Aikman in 1989. And then there are the likes of Gary Glick, Randy Duncan or Terry Baker, and more recently Steve Emtman, Russell Maryland, and Courtney Brown. Oh, and don’t forget Michael Vick.
Jake Long, here’s wishing you the best.
Filed under: NFL draft, football | Tagged: football, Heisman Trophy, Jake Long, Jay Berwanger, NFL draft, No. 1 pick
