1936 NFL draft
General information
Date(s)February 8, 1936
LocationRitz-Carlton Hotel
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Overview
81 total selections in 9 rounds
LeagueNFL
First selectionJay Berwanger, HB
Philadelphia Eagles
Mr. IrrelevantPhil Flanagan, G
New York Giants
Most selections (9)each team selected nine players
Fewest selections (9)each team selected nine players
Hall of Famers
4
1937 →

The 1936 National Football League 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.[1][2][3] 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.[4]

This was the only draft to have nine rounds; the number increased to ten for the 1937 draft. The first player ever drafted, Jay Berwanger, who had previously been awarded the initial Heisman Trophy, never played in the NFL. His rights were traded by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Chicago Bears, as the Eagles felt they would be unable to meet Berwanger's reported demand of $1000 per game.[4] The Eagles received tackle Art Buss from the Bears in exchange for Berwanger's rights.[5] George Halas was unable to convince Berwanger to sign with the Bears. After this, Berwanger got a job in rubber sales. Riley Smith, the second pick, was the first player drafted to play in the NFL.

Breakdown of players selected

The following is the breakdown of the 81 players selected:

Player selections

† = Pro Bowler[6]
‡ = Hall of Famer[7]
Positions key
B Back BB Blocking back C Center
E End FB Fullback G Guard
OT Offensive tackle TB Tailback WB Wingback
Rnd. Pick No. NFL team Player Pos. College Conf. Notes
1 1 Philadelphia Eagles Jay Berwanger  HB Chicago Big Ten
First winner of the Heisman Trophy award in 1935[8]
1 2 Boston Redskins Riley Smith  QB Alabama SEC
1 3 Pittsburgh Pirates Bill Shakespeare  B Notre Dame Ind.
1 4 Brooklyn Dodgers Dick Crayne  FB Iowa Big Ten
1 5 Chicago Cardinals Jim Lawrence † WB TCU SWC
1 6 Chicago Bears Joe Stydahar‡† T West Virginia Ind.
1 7 Green Bay Packers Russ Letlow † OG San Francisco Ind.
1 8 Detroit Lions Sid Wagner  OG Michigan State Ind.
1 9 New York Giants Art "Pappy" Lewis  T Ohio Buckeye
2 10 Philadelphia Eagles McCauley, JohnJohn McCauley  B Rice SWC
2 11 Boston Redskins Keith Topping  E Stanford PCC
2 12 Pittsburgh Pirates Len Barnum  B West Virginia Wesleyan WVIAC
2 13 Brooklyn Dodgers LeVoir, Vernal "Babe"Vernal "Babe" LeVoir  B Minnesota Big Ten
2 14 Chicago Bears Ed Michaels  OG Villanova Ind.
2 15 Chicago Cardinals Gomer Jones  C Ohio State Big Ten
2 16 Green Bay Packers Wheeler, J.W. "Dub"J.W. "Dub" Wheeler  T Oklahoma MVIAA
2 17 Detroit Lions Cheshire, ChuckChuck Cheshire  B UCLA PCC
2 18 New York Giants Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans‡† FB George Washington Ind.
3 19 Philadelphia Eagles Muller, WesWes Muller  C Stanford PCC
3 20 Boston Redskins Ed Smith  BB NYU Ind.
3 21 Pittsburgh Pirates Bobby Grayson  B Stanford PCC
3 22 Brooklyn Dodgers Wagner Jorgensen  C St. Mary's (CA) Ind.
3 23 Chicago Cardinals Eddie Erdelatz  E St. Mary's (CA) Ind.
3 24 Chicago Bears Roscoe, GeorgeGeorge Roscoe  B Minnesota Big Ten
3 25 Green Bay Packers Bernie Scherer  E Nebraska MVIAA
3 26 Detroit Lions Andy Pilney  B Notre Dame Ind.
3 27 New York Giants Frank "Butch" Loebs  E Purdue Big Ten
4 28 Philadelphia Eagles Bill Wallace  B Rice SWC
4 29 Boston Redskins Paul Tangora  OG Northwestern Big Ten
4 30 Pittsburgh Pirates Truman Spain  T SMU SWC
4 31 Brooklyn Dodgers Paul "Bear" Bryant  E Alabama SEC
4 32 Chicago Bears Bob Allman  E Michigan State Ind.
4 33 Chicago Cardinals Ed Brett  E Washington State PCC
4 34 Green Bay Packers Ward, TheronTheron Ward  B Idaho PCC
4 35 Detroit Lions Sheldon Beise  B Minnesota Big Ten
4 36 New York Giants Gene Rose  E Tennessee SEC
5 37 Philadelphia Eagles Shuford, HarryHarry Shuford  B SMU SWC
5 38 Boston Redskins Groseclose, WilsonWilson Groseclose  T TCU SWC
5 39 Pittsburgh Pirates Sandefur, DickDick Sandefur  FB Purdue Big Ten
5 40 Brooklyn Dodgers Bob Wilson  TB SMU SWC
5 41 Chicago Cardinals Riordan, StanStan Riordan  E Oregon PCC
5 42 Chicago Bears Vern Oech  OG Minnesota Big Ten
5 43 Green Bay Packers Darrell Lester  C TCU SWC
5 44 Detroit Lions Francis, KavanaughKavanaugh Francis  C Alabama SEC
5 45 New York Giants Edward A. Jontos  OG Syracuse Ind.
6 46 Philadelphia Eagles Barabas, AlAl Barabas  B Columbia Ind.
6 47 Boston Redskins Larry Lutz  T California PCC
6 48 Pittsburgh Pirates Orr, MauriceMaurice Orr  T SMU SWC
6 49 Brooklyn Dodgers Joe Maniaci † B Fordham Ind.
6 50 Chicago Bears Christofferson, TedTed Christofferson  B Washington State PCC
6 51 Chicago Cardinals Antonini, EttoreEttore Antonini  E Indiana Big Ten
6 52 Green Bay Packers Bob Reynolds  T Stanford PCC
6 53 Detroit Lions Abe Mickal  B LSU SEC
6 54 New York Giants Durner, GusGus Durner  T Duke SoCon
7 55 Philadelphia Eagles Jac Weller  OG Princeton Ind.
7 56 Boston Redskins Don Irwin  FB Colgate Ind.
7 57 Pittsburgh Pirates Marty Peters  E Notre Dame Ind.
7 58 Brooklyn Dodgers Schreiber, HerbHerb Schreiber  B St. Mary's (CA) Ind.
7 59 Chicago Cardinals Dennis, TackTack Dennis  B Tulsa MVC
7 60 Chicago Bears Dick Smith  T Minnesota Big Ten
7 61 Green Bay Packers Wally Fromhart  B Notre Dame Ind.
7 62 Detroit Lions Charles Wasicek  T Colgate Ind.
7 63 New York Giants Peeples, BobBob Peeples  T Marquette Ind.
8 64 Philadelphia Eagles Pepper Constable  B Princeton Ind.
8 65 Boston Redskins Wayne Millner‡ E Notre Dame Ind.
8 66 Pittsburgh Pirates Ed Karpowich  T Catholic University Ind.
8 67 Brooklyn Dodgers Bob "Bones" Hamilton  B Stanford PCC
8 68 Chicago Bears Sylvester, JohnJohn Sylvester  E Rice SWC
8 69 Chicago Cardinals Ross Carter  OG Oregon PCC
8 70 Green Bay Packers Wally Cruice  B Northwestern Big Ten
8 71 Detroit Lions Rennebohm, DaleDale Rennebohm  C Minnesota Big Ten
8 72 New York Giants Heekin, DaleDale Heekin  B Ohio State Big Ten
9 73 Philadelphia Eagles Paul Pauk  B Princeton Ind.
9 74 Boston Redskins Saunders, MarcelMarcel Saunders  OG Loyola (CA) Ind.
9 75 Pittsburgh Pirates Meglen, JoeJoe Meglen  B Georgetown Ind.
9 76 Brooklyn Dodgers Jim "Monk" Moscrip  E Stanford PCC
9 77 Chicago Cardinals Larsen, NielsNiels Larsen  T Stanford PCC
9 78 Chicago Bears Dan Fortmann‡† OG Colgate Ind.
9 79 Green Bay Packers J. C. Wetsel  OG SMU SWC
9 80 Detroit Lions Train, Bob "Choo Choo"Bob "Choo Choo" Train  E Yale Ind.
9 81 New York Giants Phil Flanagan  OG Holy Cross Ind.

Hall of Famers

Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.[9]
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1967.[9]
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1968.[9]
Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1978.[10]

Notable undrafted players

† = Pro Bowler[6]
Original NFL team Player Pos. College Conf. Notes
Chicago Bears Ray Nolting  HB Cincinnati Buckeye
Philadelphia Eagles David Smukler  FB Temple Ind.

Schools with multiple draft selections

Selections Schools
7 Stanford
6 Minnesota
5 Notre Dame, SMU
3 Alabama, Colgate, Princeton, Rice, St. Mary's, TCU
2 Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Washington State

References

  1. ^ "History: 1936 Draft". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "NFL Draft Locations". www.footballgeography.com. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b "Chicago Bears Granted Option on Jay Berwanger". Milwaukee Journal. February 10, 1936. p. D4. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  5. ^ "Outstanding Pro Linemen Coming Here With Eagles". Reading Eagle. October 29, 1936. p. 24. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.
  7. ^ Players are identified as a Hall of Famer if they have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
  8. ^ "Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c "List of 1960s Hall of Fame Inductees". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  10. ^ "List of 1970s Hall of Fame Inductees". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2011.

External links

NFL drafts
1936 NFL season
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