1940 NFL draft

1940 NFL draft
Hilton Milwaukee (the former Schroeder Hotel, location of the draft) photographed in 2021
General information
Date(s)	December 9, 1939
Location	Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, WI
Overview
200 total selections in 22 rounds
League	NFL
First selection	George Cafego, TB Chicago Cardinals
Most selections (20)	each team made 20 picks
Fewest selections (20)	each team made 20 picks
Hall of Famers	2 QB George McAfee C Bulldog Turner
←  1939 1941  →

The 1940 NFL draft was held on December 9, 1939, at the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ^{[1] [2]} With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected George Cafego.

Location

The draft was held in the Empire Room of the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the early history of the NFL, drafts were typically held on the eve of the NFL Championship Game. ^{[3] [4]} The 1939 NFL Championship Game (held the day after the draft) was hosted by the Green Bay Packers, but took place in Milwaukee (at the "Dairy Bowl" stadium in the infield of the Milwaukee Mile racetrack) instead of the Green Bay, Wisconsin due to team owner Curly Lambeau's belief that a game in Milwaukee (a larger city more accessible by rail) would generate greater attendance than one in Green Bay. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} Lambeau's decision paid off, with a sold-out game the day following the draft. ^[4]

Both the hotel (today known as the "Hilton Milwaukee") and the ballroom in which the draft was held remain today, with the ballroom being maintained similar in appearance to how it looked at the time of the draft. ^[3]

Player selections

= Hall of Famer

	Rnd.	Pick No.	NFL team	Player	Pos.	College	Conf.	Notes
	1	1	Chicago Cardinals	George Cafego	FB	Tennessee	SEC
	1	2	Philadelphia Eagles	George McAfee ‡	QB	Duke	SoCon
	1	3	Pittsburgh Steelers	Kay Eakin	HB	Arkansas	SWC
	1	4	Brooklyn Dodgers	Banks McFadden	HB	Clemson	SoCon
	1	5	Cleveland Rams	Olie Cordill	HB	Rice	SWC
	1	6	Detroit Lions	Doyle Nave	QB	USC	PCC
	1	7	Chicago Bears	Bulldog Turner ‡	C	Hardin–Simmons	Ind.
	1	8	Washington Redskins	Ed Boell	QB	NYU	Ind.
	1	9	Green Bay Packers	Hal Van Every	HB	Minnesota	Big Ten
	1	10	New York Giants	Grenny Lansdell	HB	USC	PCC
	2	11	Chicago Cardinals	Snuffy Stirnweiss	B	North Carolina	SoCon
	2	12	Pittsburgh Steelers	Ralph Wenzell	E	Tulane	SEC
	2	13	Philadelphia Eagles	John Schiechl	C	Santa Clara	Ind.
	2	14	Brooklyn Dodgers	Nile Kinnick	B	Iowa	Big Ten
	2	15	Cleveland Rams	Merl Condit	B	Carnegie Tech	Ind.
	3	16	Chicago Cardinals	Lloyd Madden	B	Colorado Mines	RMAC
	3	17	Philadelphia Eagles	Dick Favor	B	Oklahoma	Big Six
	3	18	Pittsburgh Steelers	George Kiick	B	Bucknell	Ind.
	3	19	Brooklyn Dodgers	Rhoten Shetley	B	Furman	SoCon
	3	20	Cleveland Rams	Jack Haman	C	Northwestern	Big Ten
	3	21	Detroit Lions	Bill Fisk	E	USC	PCC
	3	22	Chicago Bears	Ken Kavanaugh	E	LSU	SEC
	3	23	Washington Redskins	Buddy Banker	B	Tulane	SEC
	3	24	Green Bay Packers	Lou Brock	B	Purdue	Big Ten
	3	25	New York Giants	John McLaughry	B	Brown	Ind.
	4	26	Chicago Cardinals	John Shirk	E	Oklahoma	Big Six
	4	27	Pittsburgh Steelers	Pop Ivy	E	Oklahoma	Big Six
	4	28	Philadelphia Eagles	Eberle Schultz	OG	Oregon State	PCC
	4	29	Brooklyn Dodgers	Bill Bailey	E	Duke	SoCon
	4	30	Cleveland Rams	Bobby Wood	T	Alabama	SEC
	5	31	Chicago Cardinals	Marty Christiansen	B	Minnesota	Big Ten
	5	32	Philadelphia Eagles	Frank Emmons	B	Oregon	PCC
	5	33	Pittsburgh Steelers	Clark Goff	T	Florida	SEC
	5	34	Brooklyn Dodgers	Walt Merrill	T	Alabama	SEC
	5	35	Cleveland Rams	Park Myers	T	Texas	SWC
	5	36	Detroit Lions	Harry Smith	OG	USC	PCC
	5	37	Chicago Bears	Ed Kolman	T	Temple	Ind.
	5	38	Washington Redskins	Kirchem, BillBill Kirchem	T	Tulane	SEC
	5	39	Green Bay Packers	Esco Sarkkinen	E	Ohio State	Big Ten
	5	40	New York Giants	Carl Tomasello	E	Scranton	N/A
	6	41	Chicago Cardinals	Vic Reginato	E	Oregon	PCC
	6	42	Pittsburgh Steelers	Frank Bykowski	OG	Purdue	Big Ten
	6	43	Philadelphia Eagles	Singer, SaulSaul Singer	T	Arkansas	SWC
	6	44	Brooklyn Dodgers	Murray, JackJack Murray	C	Wisconsin	Big Ten
	6	45	Cleveland Rams	Ken Heineman	B	Texas Mines	Border
	6	46	Detroit Lions	Rike, JimJim Rike	C	Tennessee	SEC
	6	47	Chicago Bears	John Woudenberg	T	Denver	N/A
	6	48	Washington Redskins	Joe Boyd	T	Texas A&M	SWC
	6	49	Green Bay Packers	Dick Cassiano	B	Pittsburgh	Ind.
	6	50	New York Giants	Smith, LouLou Smith	B	California	N/A
	7	51	Chicago Cardinals	Andy Chisick	C	Villanova	Ind.
	7	52	Philadelphia Eagles	Hal Pegg	C	Bucknell	Ind.
	7	53	Pittsburgh Steelers	Cignetti, PetePete Cignetti	B	Boston College	Ind.
	7	54	Brooklyn Dodgers	Ty Coon	T	NC State	SoCon
	7	55	Cleveland Rams	Bob Nowaskey	E	George Washington	Ind.
	7	56	Detroit Lions	Bob Winslow	E	USC	PCC
	7	57	Chicago Bears	Len Akin	OG	Baylor	SWC
	7	58	Washington Redskins	Roy Zimmerman	B	San Jose State	CCAA
	7	59	Green Bay Packers	White, MillardMillard White	T	Tulane	SEC
	7	60	New York Giants	Rex Williams	C	Texas Tech	Border
	8	61	Chicago Cardinals	Ben Kish	B	Pittsburgh	Ind.
	8	62	Pittsburgh Steelers	Carl Nery	OG	Duquesne	Ind.
	8	63	Philadelphia Eagles	Don Looney	E	TCU	SWC
	8	64	Brooklyn Dodgers	Frank Zadworney	B	Ohio State	Big Ten
	8	65	Cleveland Rams	Anahu, BillBill Anahu	E	Santa Clara	Ind.
	8	66	Detroit Lions	Tranavitch, BillBill Tranavitch	B	Rutgers	Ind.
	8	67	Chicago Bears	Jim Fordham	B	Georgia	SEC
	8	68	Washington Redskins	Orf, BudBud Orf	E	Missouri	Big Six
	8	69	Green Bay Packers	George Seeman	E	Nebraska	Big Six
	8	70	New York Giants	Win Pedersen	T	Minnesota	Big Ten
	9	71	Chicago Cardinals	Pappas, LukeLuke Pappas	T	Utah	MSC
	9	72	Philadelphia Eagles	Jones, DonDon Jones	B	Washington	PCC
	9	73	Pittsburgh Steelers	Boisseau, DickDick Boisseau	T	Washington & Lee	N/A
	9	74	Brooklyn Dodgers	Jocher, ArtArt Jocher	T	Manhattan	N/A
	9	75	Cleveland Rams	Wilfred Thorpe	OG	Arkansas	SWC
	9	76	Detroit Lions	Haas, BobBob Haas	T	Missouri	Big Six
	9	77	Chicago Bears	Hampton Pool	E	Stanford	PCC
	9	78	Washington Redskins	Bob Hoffman	B	USC	PCC
	9	79	Green Bay Packers	Manley, J. R.J. R. Manley	OG	Oklahoma	Big Six
	9	80	New York Giants	Dom Principe	B	Fordham	Ind.
	10	81	Chicago Cardinals	Roche, JackJack Roche	B	Santa Clara	Ind.
	10	82	Pittsburgh Steelers	Shu, PaulPaul Shu	B	VMI	SoCon
	10	83	Philadelphia Eagles	Frank Maher	B	Toledo	OAC
	10	84	Brooklyn Dodgers	Turner, JimJim Turner	OG	Holy Cross	Ind.
	10	85	Cleveland Rams	Smith, HerbHerb Smith	B	Saint Mary's (CA)	Ind.
	10	86	Detroit Lions	DeWitte, LeonLeon DeWitte	B	Purdue	Big Ten
	10	87	Chicago Bears	Pace, TomTom Pace	B	Utah	MSC
	10	88	Washington Redskins	Bob Seymour	B	Oklahoma	Big Six
	10	89	Green Bay Packers	Brown, JackJack Brown	B	Purdue	Big Ten
	10	90	New York Giants	Clark, EarlEarl Clark	B	TCU	SWC
	11	91	Chicago Cardinals	Davis, BillBill Davis	T	Texas Tech	Border
	11	92	Philadelphia Eagles	Elmer Hackney	B	Kansas State	Big Six
	11	93	Pittsburgh Steelers	Cary Cox	C	Alabama	SEC
	11	94	Brooklyn Dodgers	Cutlich, NickNick Cutlich	T	Northwestern	Big Ten
	11	95	Cleveland Rams	Boyd Clay	T	Tennessee	SEC
	11	96	Detroit Lions	Erwin Prasse	E	Iowa	Big Ten
	11	97	Chicago Bears	Lee Artoe	T	California	N/A
	11	98	Washington Redskins	Stoecker, HowardHoward Stoecker	T	USC	PCC
	11	99	Green Bay Packers	Guritz, DonDon Guritz	OG	Northwestern	Big Ten
	11	100	New York Giants	McKibben, JohnJohn McKibben	E	Tulsa	MVC
	12	101	Chicago Cardinals	Andersen, StanStan Andersen	T	Stanford	PCC
	12	102	Pittsburgh Steelers	Rocco Pirro	B	Catholic University	Ind.
	12	103	Philadelphia Eagles	Horner, DurwardDurward Horner	E	TCU	SWC
	12	104	Brooklyn Dodgers	Dougherty, GeorgeGeorge Dougherty	B			Sources say Howard but the first African American was drafted in 1949.
	12	105	Cleveland Rams	Shag Goolsby	C	Mississippi State	SEC
	12	106	Detroit Lions	Binder, KenKen Binder	B	Carroll (WI)	N/A
	12	107	Chicago Bears	McCubbin, BillBill McCubbin	E	Kentucky	SEC
	12	108	Washington Redskins	Johnson, AllenAllen Johnson	OG	Duke	SoCon
	12	109	Green Bay Packers	Gaspar, PhilPhil Gaspar	T	USC	PCC
	12	110	New York Giants	McGee, EdEd McGee	OG	Temple	Ind.
	13	111	Chicago Cardinals	Alton Coppage	E	Oklahoma	Big Six
	13	112	Philadelphia Eagles	Hennis, TedTed Hennis	B	Purdue	Big Ten
	13	113	Pittsburgh Steelers	John Noppenberg	B	Miami (FL)	SIAA
	13	114	Brooklyn Dodgers	Gussie, MikeMike Gussie	OG	West Virginia	Ind.
	13	115	Cleveland Rams	Jack Gregory	T	Chattanooga	Dixie
	13	116	Detroit Lions	Bowers, JustinJustin Bowers	T	Oklahoma	Big Six
	13	117	Chicago Bears	Harry Clarke	B	West Virginia	Ind.
	13	118	Washington Redskins	Sam Bartholomew	B	Tennessee	SEC
	13	119	Green Bay Packers	Ambrose Schindler	B	USC	PCC
	13	120	New York Giants	Payne, JoeJoe Payne	OG	Clemson	SoCon
	14	121	Chicago Cardinals	Hudson, JudsonJudson Hudson	B	Davis & Elkins	N/A
	14	122	Pittsburgh Steelers	Stublar, NickNick Stublar	T	Santa Clara	Ind.
	14	123	Philadelphia Eagles	Bunsen, BillBill Bunsen	B	Kansas	Big Six
	14	124	Brooklyn Dodgers	Coffman, LenLen Coffman	B	Tennessee	SEC
	14	125	Cleveland Rams	Bogden, PetePete Bogden	E	Utah	MSC
	14	126	Detroit Lions	Jack Morlock	B	Marshall	WVIAC
	14	127	Chicago Bears	Crisci, FrankFrank Crisci	T			Case Western Reserve
	14	128	Washington Redskins	Lain, ErnieErnie Lain	B	Rice	SWC
	14	129	Green Bay Packers	Bill Kerr	E	Notre Dame	Ind.
	14	130	New York Giants	Smith, BobBob Smith	B	Oregon	PCC
	15	131	Chicago Cardinals	Ziemba, JoeJoe Ziemba	E	St. Benedict's (KS)	N/A
	15	132	Philadelphia Eagles	Crumbaker, DonDon Crumbaker	E	Kansas State	Big Six
	15	133	Pittsburgh Steelers	McCarthy, RayRay McCarthy	B	Santa Clara	Ind.
	15	134	Brooklyn Dodgers	Conlin, JimJim Conlin	C	NYU	Ind.
	15	135	Cleveland Rams	Owen Goodnight	B	Hardin–Simmons	Ind.
	15	136	Detroit Lions	Stillman Rouse	E	Missouri	Big Six
	15	137	Chicago Bears	Barnes, ShermSherm Barnes	E	Baylor	SWC
	15	138	Washington Redskins	Sandy Sanford	E	Alabama	SEC
	15	139	Green Bay Packers	Mel Brewer	OG	Illinois	Big Ten
	15	140	New York Giants	Turner, OthelOthel Turner	T	Tulsa	MVC
	16	141	Chicago Cardinals	Beryl Clark	B	Oklahoma	Big Six
	16	142	Pittsburgh Steelers	Leon Gajecki	C	Penn State	Ind.
	16	143	Philadelphia Eagles	Green, J. R.J. R. Green	T	Rice	SWC
	16	144	Brooklyn Dodgers	Donovan, DennisDennis Donovan	B	Oregon	PCC
	16	145	Cleveland Rams	Kohler, MorrisMorris Kohler	B	Oregon State	PCC
	16	146	Detroit Lions	Padley, JackJack Padley	B	Dayton	Ind.
	16	147	Detroit Lions	Christianson, AlAl Christianson	B	Knox	N/A
	16	148	Washington Redskins	Bolo Perdue	E	Duke	SoCon
	16	149	Green Bay Packers	Andrus, RayRay Andrus	B	Vanderbilt	SEC
	16	150	New York Giants	Swan, NedNed Swan	C	Drake	MVC
	17	151	Chicago Cardinals	Ralph Foster	T	Oklahoma A&M	MVC
	17	152	Philadelphia Eagles	Molnar, JimJim Molnar	B	Bradley	Illinois
	17	153	Pittsburgh Steelers	Mickey Sullivan	E	NC State	SoCon
	17	154	Brooklyn Dodgers	Funair, FrankFrank Funair	B	Bucknell	Ind.
	17	155	Cleveland Rams	Jack Nix	B	Mississippi State	SEC
	17	156	Detroit Lions	Johnny Hackenbruck	T	Oregon State	PCC
	17	157	Chicago Bears	White, WilburWilbur White	T	Bradley	Illinois
	17	158	Washington Redskins	Steve Andrako	C	Ohio State	Big Ten
	17	159	Green Bay Packers	Archie Kodros	C	Michigan	Big Ten
	17	160	New York Giants	Rogalla, JohnJohn Rogalla	B	Scranton	N/A
	18	161	Chicago Cardinals	Bryant, LowellLowell Bryant	B	Clemson	SoCon
	18	162	Pittsburgh Steelers	Daly, SeatonSeaton Daly	T	Gonzaga	Ind.
	18	163	Philadelphia Eagles	Schwartzer, ErnieErnie Schwartzer	OG	Boston College	Ind.
	18	164	Brooklyn Dodgers	Strosser, WaltWalt Strosser	B	Saint Vincent	N/A
	18	165	Cleveland Rams	Ralph Stevenson	OG	Oklahoma	Big Six
	18	166	Detroit Lions	Frank Ribar	OG	Duke	SoCon
	18	167	Chicago Bears	Schlosser, RalphRalph Schlosser	C	Gonzaga	Ind.
	18	168	Washington Redskins	Graybeal, JayJay Graybeal	B	Oregon	PCC
	18	169	Green Bay Packers	Jim Gillette	B	Virginia	Ind.
	18	170	New York Giants	Monk Edwards	T	Baylor	SWC
	19	171	Chicago Cardinals	Buckley, RussRuss Buckley	B	Gustavus Adolphus	MIAC
	19	172	Philadelphia Eagles	Schneller, BillBill Schneller	B	Ole Miss	SEC
	19	173	Pittsburgh Steelers	Harvey, ThadThad Harvey	T	Notre Dame	Ind.
	19	174	Brooklyn Dodgers	Hydock, SteveSteve Hydock	E	Albright	Ind.
	19	175	Cleveland Rams	Dante Magnani	B	Saint Mary's	Ind.
	19	176	Detroit Lions	McCarthy, HerbHerb McCarthy	B	Denver	N/A
	19	177	Chicago Bears	Popov, JohnJohn Popov	B	Cincinnati	Ind.
	19	178	Washington Redskins	Slagle, CharleyCharley Slagle	B	North Carolina	SoCon
	19	179	Green Bay Packers	Al Matuza	C	Georgetown	Ind. (Univ.)
	19	180	New York Giants	Walden, CecilCecil Walden	OG	Oregon	PCC
	20	181	Chicago Cardinals	Rupert Pate	T	Wake Forest	SoCon
	20	182	Pittsburgh Steelers	Katzenstein, MarvinMarvin Katzenstein	T	Colorado Mines	RMAC
	20	183	Philadelphia Eagles	Debord, BillBill Debord	T	Kansas State	Big Six
	20	184	Brooklyn Dodgers	Howell, MiltMilt Howell	OG	Auburn	SEC
	20	185	Cleveland Rams	Luke Lindon	T	Kentucky	SEC
	20	186	Detroit Lions	Parten, DubDub Parten	T	Centenary	N/A
	20	187	Chicago Bears	Young Bussey	B	LSU	SEC
	20	188	Washington Redskins	Murphy, BuckBuck Murphy	B	Georgia Tech	SEC
	20	189	Green Bay Packers	Jim Reeder	T	Illinois	Big Ten
	20	190	New York Giants	Sullivan, JohnJohn Sullivan	E	San Francisco	Ind.
	21	191	Detroit Lions	Morgan, MalvernMalvern Morgan	C	Auburn	SEC
	21	192	Chicago Bears	Ray McLean	B	Saint Anselm	N/A
	21	193	Washington Redskins	Wetzel, MelMel Wetzel	T	Missouri	Big Six
	21	194	Green Bay Packers	Eichler, VinceVince Eichler	B	Cornell	Ind.
	21	195	New York Giants	Bynum, WeenieWeenie Bynum	B	Centenary	N/A
	22	196	Detroit Lions	Orf, BobBob Orf	E	Missouri	Big Six
	22	197	Chicago Bears	Walt Kichefski	E	Miami (FL)	SIAA
	22	198	Washington Redskins	Steve Sitko	B	Notre Dame	Ind.
	22	199	Green Bay Packers	Luebcke, HenryHenry Luebcke	T	Iowa	Big Ten
	22	200	New York Giants	Claxton, MyronMyron Claxton	T	Whittier	N/A

Hall of Famers

• George McAfee, quarterback from Duke taken 1st round 2nd overall by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1966. ^[8]

• Bulldog Turner, center from Hardin–Simmons taken 1st round 7th overall by the Chicago Bears.

Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1966. ^[8]

Notable undrafted players

†	= Pro Bowler [9]

Original NFL team	Player	Pos.	College	Conf.	Notes
Cleveland Rams	Fred Gehrke	HB/CB	Utah	MSC
Green Bay Packers	Ray Riddick	E	Fordham	Ind.
New York Giants	Jack Hinkle	HB	Syracuse	Ind.
Pittsburgh Steelers	Tommy Thompson  †	QB	Tulsa	MVC
Washington Redskins	Ray Hare  †	HB	Gonzaga	Ind.

References

1. Salomone, Dan (October 2, 2014). "NFL Draft headed to Chicago in 2015". Giants.com. New York Giants. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
2. "NFL Draft Locations". www.footballgeography.com. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
3. Littau, Timothy (April 8, 2025). "'Still the Same As It Was': Inside the Milwaukee ballroom that hosted the 1940 NFL Draft". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
4. "Last NFL Draft in Wisconsin Was Missed Opportunity For City". Kewaunee County Star News. January 10, 2024. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
5. McGlynn, Stoney (December 11, 1939). "Bays crush Giants in title game". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 15.
6. Kuechle, Oliver E. (December 11, 1939). "Packers' power and deceptive passing game defeat Giants, 27-0". Milwaukee Journal. p. 6, part 2.
7. Snider, Steve (December 11, 1939). "Pro grid reaches new heights in playoff". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. p. 26.
8. List of Hall of Fame Inductees at profootballhof.com ^{"Pro Football Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2008.}
9. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.

External links

• NFL.com – 1940 Draft
• databaseFootball.com – 1940 Draft ^{[ usurped ]}
• Pro Football Hall of Fame