Who Was the First Round Pick in the NFL Draft?
Contents
- The first NFL draft was in 1936.
- The first overall pick in the NFL draft was Jay Berwanger, a running back from the University of Chicago.
- Berwanger was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, but he never played a game for them.
- Berwanger was traded to the Chicago Bears for cash and two players.
- Berwanger retired from football after one season.
Who was the first round pick in the NFL Draft? This is a question that many fans and experts alike debate. While there is no clear answer, there are a few players who stand out as potential candidates.
The first NFL draft was in 1936.
The first NFL draft was in 1936.
There were nine rounds in the first NFL draft, and a total of 176 players were drafted.
The first player drafted was University of Minnesota center, Jay Berwanger.
Berwanger was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, but he never played for them. He was later traded to the Chicago Bears for $3,000 and two draft picks, but he still never played a single down in the NFL.
The first overall pick in the NFL draft was Jay Berwanger, a running back from the University of Chicago.
Jay Berwanger was the first overall pick in the 1936 NFL draft, but he never played a down in the NFL.
Berwanger was a three-sport star at the University of Chicago, where he was nicknamed “the Schwartze Wunderkind” (German for “black wonder boy”). He was a consensus All-American in 1935, and won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s top college football player.
The NFL draft was created in 1936 to help teams stock their rosters with talent, but Berwanger had no interest in playing professional football. He left Chicago after graduation and took a job with a rubber company in Ohio, where he worked for decades until his retirement.
Berwanger was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, but he never played a game for them.
With the first pick in the 1936 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles selected University of Chicago running back Jay Berwanger. However, Berwanger never played a game for the Eagles; instead, he became the first (and still only) player to be traded before ever playing a down in the NFL.
The Eagles had acquired the draft rights to Berwanger in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates (now the Steelers). However, after Pittsburgh selected Berwanger, they were unable to agree on a contract with him. Therefore, they traded him to Philadelphia for end Art Ranney and two future draft picks.
Philadelphia then tried to trade Berwanger to the Chicago Bears for end George Halas, Jr., but Berwanger refused to sign with Chicago. He was adamant about only playing for a team in his hometown of Chicago, so he retired from football rather than play for any other team. As a result, he became the first (and still only) player to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft but never play a down in the NFL.
Berwanger was traded to the Chicago Bears for cash and two players.
Berwanger was the first overall pick in the NFL draft, but he never played a down in the NFL. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, but the Eagles traded him to the Chicago Bears for cash and two players. Berwanger’s career was cut short by a shoulder injury, and he retired from football after just one season.
Berwanger retired from football after one season.
Berwanger retired from football after one season. He was the first player ever to be drafted in the NFL draft, but he never played a game in the NFL.
