The 2026 edition of the NFL draft fast approaches. Fans of the Cleveland Browns are hoping this could be another foundational draft after the 2025 one was successful. Although the process of free agency can fill holes and provide quality depth, teams are built through the draft. Every NFL club needs its first three rounds of draft picks to become dependable roster members in order to build the roster and become productive players.
RELATED: ORIGINS OF THE NFL DRAFT PART 1
The NFL began in 1920 as the
“American Professional Football Association.” Two years later, the league name was changed to the “National Football League.”
Rosters did not have any guidelines on how they were to be formed. Teams signed whoever they wanted, for whatever amount of money. The norm back then was being paid per game instead of an annual salary. Most NFL teams played their home games in baseball stadiums because they were large venues. The New York Football Giants played in a polo stadium.
The league’s origins were that its teams were based in medium-to small-sized cities and towns, such as Portsmouth, OH; Muncie, IN; Rock Island, IL; Rochester, NY; Toledo, OH; Decatur, IL; Canton, OH; and Louisville, KY. The only large cities involved were located in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo.
Only a handful of league teams played for the title each year because they had large crowds and could afford the blue-chip college players coming out each year, whereas the bottom third of the NFL signed the afterthought players.
As described in Part 1, Philadelphia Eagles owner Bert Bell came up with an idea to make a list of all eligible players, then allow the worst team to pick first, all the way down to the best club choosing last. He proposed his idea at the 1935 owners’ meeting. The story continues.
A method to achieve competitive balance
In Bell’s biography, “On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell,” he writes that he informed the other owners:
“I’ve always had a theory that pro football is like a chain. The league is no stronger than its weakest link, and I’ve been a weak link for so long that I should know,” as his book states. “Few teams control the championships. Because they are successful, they keep attracting the best college players in the open market, which makes them more successful.”
Of course, the prosperous franchises had the most to lose if such an arrangement were to be instigated and take place every year. After all, these few teams were getting all the best talent, had large crowds every game, played in the most title games, and were crowned as league champions frequently.
The two men viewed as some of the NFL’s greatest influencers as owners, George Halas of the Bears, and Tim Mara of the Giants, were for the idea right off. This was a huge surprise. Both men stated in the owner’s meeting that they realized that fans came to see spirited games, and when one roster was never competitive, it tended to become one-sided and a boring contest.
Both Halas and Mara knew that folks came out to see a competition and should get what they paid for. Hopefully, parity would redeem itself as better attendance for the entire league, which would also increase each game’s visitors’ share. This was discussed, and in the end, the other owners agreed. The first such event would not be put off, but would take place several months later, early in 1936.
While the NFL headquarters were located in Columbus, Ohio, on February 8, 1936, the first NFL college draft took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.
That first draft
Oddly enough, when Bell made his presentation to the other owners, the word “draft” was never mentioned in Bell’s tender.
To be completely accurate, officially, this event is not called “The NFL Draft.”
Its official name to this day is: “The Annual Player Selection Meeting.”
Although “NFL Draft” is plastered everywhere, as soon as TV coverage begins, you will notice that the main host will introduce the event as “Welcome to the annual player selection meeting.”
At the conclusion of the 1935 season, the Lions won the Western Division with a 7-3-2 record while the Giants took the Eastern Division, going 9-3-0, just one game over the Packers and two games above the Bears. Back then, only division winners went to the playoffs, and went straight to the NFL Championship Game.
The Eagles finished 2-9-0, the Redskins went 2-8-1, the Pirates 4-8-0, and the Dodgers ended up 5-6-1. At season’s end, all of the owners convene for a meeting, which is the assembly where Bell brought forth his draft idea.
This meant that Bell’s Philadelphia club would select first. The teams were aligned from worst to first, as Bell envisioned. A list of 90 potential college players was compiled from which to choose. It was decided that nine rounds would be held.
1935 was the first year for the Heisman Trophy, then called the “Downtown Athletic Club Trophy.” All-American halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago was the first trophy winner as the nation’s best college player. Bell thought that meant quite a bit and was excited to choose him with the first overall pick. All Bell could think about was how the people of Philadelphia would come out on Sundays to see college football’s best player. He was known as “the one-man football team” and was a very gifted and versatile athlete.
That first draft lasted nine rounds with 81 players selected. Some interesting notes:
- Offensive end Paul “Bear” Bryant was selected in the fourth round (31st overall) by the Dodgers
- The Giants took future Hall of Fame fullback Tuffy Leemans in the second round
- Four future Hall of Famers would be selected in this maiden draft: OT Joe Stydahar (Bears), E Wayne Millner (Redskins), OG Dan Fortmann (Bears), and Leemans (Giants).
What was strange was the fact that the Bears, Redskins, and Giants used the first NFL draft to increase their roster strength, while the other teams that selected early didn’t improve much the following season. In 1936, the Eagles, Pirates, Cardinals, and Dodgers all ended up below .500, with Philly going 1-11-0. The 1936 NFL Championship Game was between the Packers and Redskins, so nothing really changed.
And what happened to Berwanger?
He demanded $1,000 a game for the upcoming 12-game season. Which, of course, wasn’t met by the Eagles. Halas, who was always looking for a competitive edge, eventually contacted Bell in order to secure the rights for Berwanger. Bell then received OT Art Buss for Beranger’s rights.
It just so happened that Berwanger was also a competitive runner and had aspirations of competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic track team in the decathlon. Of course, a paid contract with the Bears would end that dream because it would kill Berwanger’s amateur status.
Berwanger was quoted on December 11, 1935:
“I haven’t decided what I will do. I may play professional football next fall because of its practical advantages. I might take a coaching job, although it is my ultimate intention to enter business in preference to making a career in professional athletics. For the time being, I am mainly interested in finishing my courses at (the University of) Chicago, graduating next June, and then trying to win a place on the Olympic team.”
After Berwanger missed the cut for the Olympic team, he negotiated with Halas to play for the Bears, but he requested a yearly salary of $15,000, whereas Halas offered an unreal offer of $13,500 a season. Instead, Berwanger took a job as a foam-rubber salesman and also worked part-time as he was named the freshman coach at the University of Chicago. He never played a down in the NFL. When World War II arrived, Berwanger enrolled in the Navy’s flight training program and became a Naval officer.
After the war, Berwanger started Jay Berwanger, Inc., which specialized in rubber, plastic, urethane, and other elastomeric materials sold globally for car doors, trunks, and farm machinery. In 1992, he sold his company for $30 million.
In fact, none of the nine players the Eagles selected in that inaugural draft signed to play in Philly.
Future Drafts
The NFL draft jumped to 12 rounds in 1937 and then to 22 rounds the following year. From 1943 to 1948, a whopping 32 rounds transpired each season. Every year in the 1950s, the draft settled on 30 rounds. From 1960 to 1966, it dropped again to 20 rounds.
When the NFL and the American Football League agreed to a merger, they embarked on a 17-round common draft beginning after the conclusion of the 1966 season. Later, the rounds dropped again to 12, then eight, and finally to the present system of seven rounds.
Several of today’s players are known as “eighth-round draft picks.” This was made famous by former Houston Texans‘ Pro Bowl RB Arian Foster after he went undrafted and ultimately became one of the league’s premier running backs.
Other well-known eighth-rounders include QB Tony Romo and K Brandon Aubrey (Cowboys), WR Victor Cruz and Tommy DeVito (Giants), LB James Harrison (Steelers), TE Antonio Gates and WR Wes Welker (Chargers), LB Bart Scott, K Justin Tucker, QB Tyler Huntley, and C Jeff Saturday (Ravens), P Tommy Townsend (Chiefs), WR Adam Thielen (Vikings), QB Kurt Warner (Packers), RB Phillip Lindsay (Broncos), WR Rashid Shaheed (Saints), and K Adam Vinatieri (Colts).
Back in the day, because the NFL offices were either located for the most part in Philadelphia or New York City, the draft was held at some fancy hotel in those cities. From 1965 to 2014, the draft was always in New York. Beginning in 2015, it was decided that the occurrence had gotten pretty big and that perhaps it could be a local event shared with each club. This one decision ended up impacting each host city’s economic impact with hotels, restaurants, and downtown businesses in general, bringing in hundreds of thousands of fans from every team.
The first NFL draft in 1936 had lasting impressions on the league. But it is also spread to other sports. The NFL was the first to implement a player dispersal system in professional sports.
It would take years before the other professional sports followed suit, but each major league developed its own form of selection process eventually, and it is a standard today with any new startup league. The motive is simple: provide parity within the league. Without this one activity, teams would become stacked, and public interest would undoubtedly wane.
The ability for any team to improve year after year is critical to the league’s very survival. And the catalyst has been the Annual Player Selection Meeting, um, the NFL draft.
