9781422283066

T he P ro F ootball D raft ALL ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

by Jim Gigliotti

ALL ABOUT PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

F antasy F ootball

F ootball and P layer S afety

I nside C ollege F ootball : P reparing for the P ros ?

I nside H igh S chool F ootball : A C hanging T radition

I nside P ro F ootball M edia

T he I ntense W orld of a P ro F ootball C oach

T he P ro F ootball D raft

P ro F ootball P layers in the N ews

R unning P ro F ootball : C ommissioners , O wners , F ront O ffice , and M ore

T he S uper B owl : M ore T han a G ame

T he P ro F ootball D raft

by Jim Gigliotti

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© 2017 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

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Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3576-8 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3583-6 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8306-6

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

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Cover photograph by AP Images/Jeff Haynes for Panini.

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C ontents

Key Icons to Look For Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos : Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Introduction: The Big Day … .…….…….…….…….… 6 Chapter 1: Origins …….…….…….…….…….…….… 10 Chapter 2: History …….…….…….…….…….…….… 22 Chapter 3: Explosive Growth …….…….…….…….… 32 Chapter 4: Modern-Day Draft …….…….…….…….… 48 Find Out More …….…….…….…….…….…….…….… 62 Series Glossary of Key Terms …….…….…….…….… 63 Index/About the Author …….…….…….…….…….… 64

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains ter- minology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

I ntroduction

Jameis Winston’s first NFL treat is a kiss from his grandmother after Tampa Bay made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2015.

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T he B ig D ay

In Bessemer, Alabama, Jameis Winston sat with his mother and father, grandmother and girlfriend, reporters and cameramen, and as many other friends and relatives that could cram into a medium- sized living room. They all waited for Winston’s cell phone to ring with the news of where the former Florida State quarterback would be playing in the NFL in his rookie season in 2015. Meanwhile, in Honolulu, Hawaii, another quarterback, the Uni- versity of Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, sat in the alumni center of his former high school. He was at a table surrounded by family and friends, waiting for his phone to ring, too. Like Winston, Mariota was sure to be one of the top picks in the 2015 NFL Draft, going either

Words To Understand alumni men and women who have graduated from a particular school general managers members of a sports team’s front office in charge of building that club’s roster

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No. 1 to Tampa Bay or No. 2 to Tennessee—or per- haps another team would make a big trade in the final minutes before the first pick or two was announced so it could take him. In Chicago, where the NFL Draft was actually being held, former Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes waited for his name to be called in the “Green Room.” It wasn’t really a room, but rather a large gath- ering space where draft prospects could eat and talk

Fans of many teams flock to the theater where the NFL Draft is held, hoping to see their teams’ futures change.

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with friends, relatives, and each other. Waynes was there with more than 25 other former star college players who figured to go in the first couple of rounds. Outside the Green Room, tens of thousands of NFL fans milled about in Selection Square in Chi- cago’s Grant Park. If they weren’t lucky enough to be in Auditorium Theatre watching NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell call the names live, they were roam- ing through exhibits learning about league history or mingling with other followers of their favorite team. And in homes and work places all across the United States, television sets were tuned in to ESPN or NFL Network, and computers streamed the pro- ceedings. Welcome to the modern NFL Draft, where col- lege players’ dreams are made, and pro teams’ for- tunes are won and lost—even if those results might be a few years down the road. Once a cozy gath- ering of a few dozen NFL insiders—team coaches, general managers , and perhaps an owner or two— the draft has now grown into a phenomenon on a Super Bowl scale. Let’s see how we got there.

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C hapter 1

A leather helmet and high-top shoes were part of Mel Hein’s gear when he joined the NFL after being drafted in 1931.

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O rigins

Mel Hein was a standout center and a linebacker for Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, in the late 1920s and ear- ly 1930s. He never missed a game in his college career, playing almost every minute on offense, defense, and special teams . Hein earned first-team All-America honors in his senior year in 1930, and he led the Cougars to an undefeated regular-season re- cord and a berth in the Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day in 1931. He was so good that his uniform No. 7 has been officially retired by Washington State in his honor.

Words To Understand innovative capable of coming up with new ideas or doing something in a new way marquee the featured items; in this case, the most popular teams postmaster the person in charge of a post office special teams the kicking game in football: kickoffs, punts, field goals, and extra points

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A Different World In today’s football world, Hein would be one of those players surrounded by family and friends in his liv- ing room at home, with a camera focused on his face, waiting for his cell phone to ring. The NFL exec would tell Hein he was the player an NFL team was sure would turn its fortunes around. Or Hein would

Before the draft began, teams signed whatever players they could, such as these members of an early Packers team.

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be in the Green Room wherever the NFL Draft was being held, waiting—with some of the other college stars of his day—to find out he was one of the top picks. When a league executive tapped him on the shoulder, he would quickly put on his adoptive team’s cap, and walk out to the podium to pose for a picture with the commissioner and hold up the jersey of his new favorite team. But Mel Hein did not play in today’s football world. And because he played college ball at an out- of-the-way place such as Pullman, he didn’t exactly have NFL teams pounding on his door to sign him. So instead of having the league come to him, he went to it: Hein wrote to several NFL teams telling them he wanted a job playing pro football. The Providence (Rhode Island) Steam

Roller was the first team to write back. The Steam Roller offered Hein $135 a game to come play for them. The club enclosed a contract for Hein to sign. He was thrilled. Football wasn’t anywhere near the big-mon- ey sport then that it is now, but $135 wasn’t

The early NFL Draft was held in a very different time.

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bad. Money went a lot further back then, too: $135 in 1930 converts to almost $2,000 today. And that was per game. The Steam Roller played eleven games in 1931. Hein wrote back to the Steam Roller accepting their offer, and he dropped the signed contract in the mail. At a Washington State basket- ball game the next day, Hein ran into Ray Flaherty, an assistant coach with the New York Giants. Flaherty had played at and coached Gonzaga Uni- versity, which is not far from Washing- ton State. Flaherty asked Hein if he had heard back from the Giants. “No, I haven’t,” Hein said, “but it doesn’t matter, anyway.” Oh, but it did, Fla- herty said, because the Giants were willing to offer Hein $150 a game. Flaherty urged Hein to contact the postmaster in Providence. When

Delivered! Wide receiver Don Hutson, who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1935 to 1945, was the top pass catcher of his era. He revolu- tionized pro football by creating many of the standard routes still used today, and he made the forward pass a weapon. How Hutson joined the Packers is a classic story. After starring at Alabama, where he became known as the “Alabama Antelope,” Hutson signed contracts with both Green Bay and Brooklyn of the NFL. Both teams cried foul. NFL President Joe Carr settled the dispute. He decided that the contract with the earlier postmark would be honored. Both letters were postmarked on the same day…but the Packers got the future Hall of Famer—their letter was stamped 17 minutes earlier.

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