The National Football League draft, also called the NFL draft or (officially) the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order relative to its record in the previous year, which means that the last place team is positioned first and the Super Bowl champion is last. From this position, the team can either select a player or trade its position to another team for other draft positions, a player or players, or any combination thereof. The round is complete when each team has either selected a player or traded its position in the draft. The first draft was held in 1936, and has been held every year since.
Johnny Lee Brewer was an American football tight end and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints. He played college football at the University of Mississippi.
Ralph Eugene Neely was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL). He played 13 seasons and 172 games for the Cowboys from 1965 to 1977.
The 1936 NFL draft was the first draft of National Football League (NFL). It took place on February 8, 1936, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The draft was instituted in an effort to end bidding wars among the league's teams by the arbitrary assignment of negotiating rights to amateur players. It was haphazardly decided that the last place team from the previous season would get the first selection, and the process would continue in reverse order of the standings. Under this structure the Philadelphia Eagles, who finished 1935 at 2–9, would select first.
The 1961 NFL draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dallas Cowboys as they had only participated in the 1960 NFL expansion draft that year.
The 1965 NFL draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants.
The 1966 NFL draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965.
The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Perhaps as a tip of the hat to wartime sensibilities, the 1944 draft was officially called the "1943 Preferred Negotiations List" by the league.
The 1939 NFL draft was held on December 9, 1938, at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected center Ki Aldrich.
Steven Cyril DeLong was an American football defensive lineman who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He was a first round draft selection in both the AFL and NFL Drafts in 1965. He played collegiately for the University of Tennessee, and professionally for the San Diego Chargers and Chicago Bears. In 1969 with San Diego, he set a team record with 17 sacks, a mark which stood until Gary Johnson had 17+1⁄2 in 1980. He was traded from the Chargers to the Bears on July 26, 1972, for a fourth-round selection in the 1973 NFL Draft.
The 1966 American Football League draft was held on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The AFL added the Miami Dolphins as an expansion team in 1966 to bring its total to nine franchises for its seventh season. The Dolphins were awarded the first overall pick in the draft, who used it to select running back Jim Grabowski. The only Hall of Famer to come out of this draft was kicker Jan Stenerud, who was picked by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the Red Shirt portion of the draft.
Thomas Welborn Myers is a former American football quarterback who played for two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round of the 1965 NFL Draft, and the Denver Broncos in the twelfth round of the 1965 AFL Draft. He played for the Lions from 1965–1966. He played college football at Northwestern.
Thomas Victor Longo was an American football defensive back who played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourteenth round of the 1965 NFL Draft. He was also selected by the Oakland Raiders in the eleventh round of the 1965 AFL Redshirt Draft. Longo played college football at the University of Notre Dame and attended Lyndhurst High School in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.
Randolph B. Schultz was an American football player in the National Football League (NFL).
