National Football League draft
The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][2] Perhaps as a tip of the hat to wartime sensibilities, the 1944 draft was officially called the "1943 Preferred Negotiations List" by the league.[3]
With the first overall pick of the draft, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Angelo Bertelli.
Although there were 32 rounds in the 1944 draft, each of the league's 11 teams selected 30 players, for a total of 330 players picked.[4] The five worst-finishing teams picked alone in rounds 2 and 4, while the five best-finishing teams plus the expansion Yanks picked alone in rounds 31 and 32.
By agreement of league owners, the new Yanks franchise received the first pick of the first round and then dropped to 11th in the order of draft selection, making their next choice at 27.[5] As a mechanism for reestablishing the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers as individual entities after their wartime merger-of-convenience as the so-called Phil-Pitt Steagles in 1943, these teams selected fourth and ninth alternately in the 1943 draft.[6] This had the effect of giving Pittsburgh picks 10, 15, 31, and 41 at the top of the draft and Philadelphia picks 5, 20, and 36.
Player selections
Round one
Round two
Round three
Round four
Round five
Round six
Round seven
Round eight
Round nine
Round ten
Round eleven
Round twelve
Round thirteen
Round fourteen
Round fifteen
Round sixteen
Round seventeen
Round eighteen
Round nineteen
Round twenty
Round twenty-one
Round twenty-two
Round twenty-three
Round twenty-four
Round twenty-five
Round twenty-six
Round twenty-seven
Round twenty-eight
Round twenty-nine
Round thirty
Round thirty-one
Round thirty-two
Hall of Famers
- Otto Graham, quarterback from Northwestern taken 1st round 4th overall by the Detroit Lions.
- Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.[9]
- Steve Van Buren, halfback from LSU taken 1st round 5th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.[9]
- Bob Waterfield, quarterback from UCLA taken 5th round 42nd overall by the Cleveland Rams.
- Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.[9]
- Ed Sprinkle, guard/defensive end from Navy taken undrafted by the Chicago Bears.
- Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2020.[10]
Notable undrafted players
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ "NFL Draft Locations". www.footballgeography.com. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ George Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944. Chicago: National Football League, 1944; p. 77.
- ^ Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944, pp. 77–87, passim.
- ^ Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944, p. 87.
- ^ Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944, pp. 80, 85.
- ^ Angelo Bertelli, 1943 Heisman Trophy winner "Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on October 7, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
- ^ Michael did not learn that he had been drafted until 1999, when he saw his name in a list of every drafted Syracuse player. Merron, Jeff (April 18, 2005). "The strangest NFL draft moments". ESPN. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ a b c List of 1960s Hall of Fame Inductee's at profootballhof.com "Pro Football Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
- ^ Mayer, Larry (January 15, 2020). "Ex-Bears great Sprinkle elected to Hall of Fame". chicagobears.com.
Former Bears defensive end Ed Sprinkle has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020.
- ^ 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 – 1944 Draft
- databaseFootball.com – 1944 Draft
- Pro Football Hall of Fame