The NFL Draft

the NFL Explained podcast the NFL Draft. I'm like, yeah, hey, Adedy Kinkabwalla, good morning, Mike. I'm laughing thinking about intricate handshakes and bear hugs and the commissioner being picked up on stage by one especially excited drafty. Are you a bear hug person? I feel like in that moment, I totally would be would you not? No, you got it to me? Um, I'd be a bear hug person. You

can to me in my life just changed. It's it's all the hard work, my entire of dedicating myself to trying to be the best I can be, and then it comes to fruition and I get drafted by an NFL team. Yeah, I'm bear hug to be tears or just big smile. There might be I'll embrace it. I can be that kind of guy. So yeah, there might be a tear or two shed tears. Well, you know what, it's the raw emotion that is part of why the draft has exploded. It takes up a primetime TV slot.

There's a red carpet now for players and their moms sometimes, and it's changed venues in recent years. We are going to get to that because it is one of my favorite parts of the draft coming up this year, the giant, grown up playground that is Las Vegas. But to see just how far we've come, Mike, we really should take our listeners back to a time when there was actually no film to watch on potential prospects, and there were no mock drafts. There was no scouting come by, none

of that. And then there's actually, you know what, Mike, before the draft, there was the pre draft years and the pre draft years. The Bears, the Packers, the Giants were the ones that just dominated the league because they're the ones that had the most money and they could sign the top college players, guys like Red Grange and

Don Hudson. So it was really Burt Bell, who was Philadelphia's co owner and by the way, a future commissioner, who proposed a draft for the first time in nineteen thirty six, and his argument at the time was that it would increase competition and it would make all of the nine franchises financially viable. And February eighth of that year,

all of the NFL owners unanimously approved that idea. And while the order of the draft still generally remains worse to first, although there's been some conversation about a lottery, Mike, But anyway, as of now, the draft is still worse to first. The mechanics surrounding it are very very different. No lottery, no lottery, please do it. Um no, I'm good, I'm good with this. I I'm I'm a planner. I

like to know what is about to happen. The lottery would be complete chaos, and then those mock drafts just would feel a whole lot different for me, and Lord knows, I live in the world of mock drafts. But um, kudos to Burke Bell, by the way, because that is, I mean, great idea obviously, Um you know, and I think we take for granted what the draft is and trying to maintain a certain level of of competition. But let's continue going down memory lane here. So in year

number one, it was nine rounds and nine teams. And if you're like nine teams won't trust us, you can go back to one of our early episodes where we go through the names and the history of the NFL and those franchises. It's actually our first two episodes of this podcast, so highly encourage you to go back. But indeed you hit the nail on the head. No tape to analyze, no combine, complete chaos. In my mind. Selections were made from newspaper clippings and word of mouth. So

think old school Twitter when I say newspaper clippings. Instead of looking on the screen, there actually hard copy. Your fingers would have a little ink on them and not feel great after you read them. But the point is that's how teams were trying to figure out who they should take. Draft selections were untimed. Oh boy, and the league pulled together a listed ninety players written on a blackboard where teams could make their picks a D D.

Something tells me your handwriting better than mine. But you had that's an important job, whoever it was writing those names up on the big board. Uh. With the first ever pick in the NFL Draft, the Eagles actually selected University Chicago's Jay berg Wagner. He was the nineteen thirty five Heisman Trophy winner. Now, when the Eagles felt like they couldn't meet his demands of a thousand dollars a game of d D, they decided to trade his rights

to the Bears. Well, we just talked about the Bears being one of the richer original clubs, right, so could they pay him k is what he was asking for? George Hollis is like, M, I don't know about that. How about this? He decided to go work for a rubber company instead. But can you imagine in this day and age, you go play in the NFL or you can go work in a rubber company. I don't know that you can find a rubber company that could pay more than an NFL salary these days. Uh. That's actually

a really good point, even at that league minimum. So, with the draft gaining a ton of steam, the l A Rams were the first team to hire a full time scout and it paid dividends. They reached the championship game three times over the next five seasons, including one title.

Kudos to the scouting departments across the NFL. So when the a f L arrived on the scene as a competing league in nineteen sixty, the NFL had a secret draft in nineteen fifty nine to keep the a f L from grabbing any star players in the first year of their existence. Box them out, baby, all right, So they use strategies like having babysitters to watch over top college prospects so the a f L couldn't contact them

in any way. A d D. Kind of a cool story, and you know my background covering college football, I've heard enough of these recruiting stories that if you are an upper echelon college recruit, sometime coaches they get assigned to you and sort of in the same way where they will wait. I've heard plenty of coaches will wait outside

before signing dad. I don't know if it's changed because the early signing period and how that's worked, but some teams will actually assign a coach so that other coaches can't go and manipulate and have conversations with some of those players. Now, of course their cell phones and the whole thing. But the point is you gotta do what it takes to win. Reads back to the NFL in the nineteen fifties. Well, look, the two leagues finally merged

in nineteen sixty seven. That started what we now know as the common Draft era, and it was actually the Steelers that got a little lucky on its way to a dynasty. Nineteen seventy the Steelers and the Bears had tied for the worst record, so there was a coin toss to decide who gets the number one overall pick. Pittsburgh wins, and the Steelers used that selection on Terry Bradshaw, the quarterback who would eventually lead them to four Lombardi Trophies.

They then put together in nineteen seventy four the draft mic that has to stand to this day as the all time best draft ever by one team. Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Lynn Swan, and John Stalworth. Four Hall of famers chosen in one draft by one team. Now, Dick Hayley and Bill Nunn were the architects of that scouting, of that drafting, and the Bill Nune piece of this is really really interesting because he used to be a

newspaper writer. He was a newspaper writer in Pittsburgh, and then the Steelers decided that he really had a tremendous eye for talent, and he started helping the Steelers with their scouting. And what Bill Nunn did was really open an avenue to historically black colleges and to African American athletes who are often overlooked. He finally was recently inducted to the Hall of Fame. But I can tell you this, in the city of Pittsburgh, Bill Nunn is tremendously revered

and recognized. I can't imagine that, by the way. I mean, think about that, Mike. Can you imagine one team right now getting four Hall of Famers in one draft? No, it's crazy. Sometimes I see to myself, in an entire draft, how many potential Hall of Famers are going to be in just the entire draft. Oh that's such a good point, you know what, That would make a really good That might be one of the questions I throw in for our next grab bag episode. Oh yeah, I like that.

Which year produced the most total Hall of Famers? Yeah? Across all teams? All right, file that one away in your notepad. Mike. Anyway back to this one. In the nineteen seventies, the NFL decreased the number of draft rounds from twenty down to twelve. It's stayed at twelve rounds

until now. In the nineteen seventies, one of the more notable draft traditions was born, and that was when a former NFL wide receiver Paul Slatta, approach Commissioner Pete Rosel and he asked Stiff he could celebrate the last pick in the draft and call him Mr. Irrelevant. The celebration, as Paul s Alatta saw, it would be a flight to Newport Beach, California, and a parade, And wouldn't you know it, it was the Steelers who had the final

pick in the nineteen seventies six draft. They chose Kelvin Kirk. He thought he was being mocked, but then he ended up agreeing, I mean, come on, it's a free flight to Newport Beach. Except he missed the flight the parade. However, Mike still went on and they found a local butcher to fill in for Kirk. A local butcher. Okay, um, yeah, whatever it takes. Have you missed the flight? That's a

story for another episode. There you go. Yeah, yeah, well, I'm glad you bring up the idea of Mr. Irrelevant and just sort of the pomp and circumstance that comes with the TV coverage. So the draft itself was becoming a real event. ESPN actually televised it for the first time ever in nineteen eighty and at that point on no turning back. The first fifty two years of the draft,

it was held on a Tuesday and Wednesday. The draft moved to a Sunday and Monday from eight to nine four, mainly because the Maryette Marquee offered the NFL a better rate on the days for the ballroom space, which is just crazy. Always have to look for a bargain no Expedia points, I guess to to sort of bring the cost down those reward numbers. The draft. It actually moved to the weekend slot in when the event was moved

to Madison Square Garden. It did a one year stop over at the Jacob Javitt's Convention Center in two thousand five before settling in two thousand six at Radio City Music Hall. Jets fans really found their voices. If you were recalled I know a d D. You certainly did the NFL Network began actually simulcasting at that point, and it just sort of really took off to another gear. That's also the year the time allotted between picks decreased.

Round one went from fifteen minutes to ten. In two thousand and eight, round to move down to seven minutes from ten. So in the draft went to prime time, moving the first round to Thursday and the next two rounds to Friday night. Now the ratings actually increased thirty five percent in that first year in prime time. The first round of draft saw twelve point six million viewers according to the Nielsen Ratings, which for perspective, is about the same as the clinching game of last year's NBA

Finals and Major League Baseball's World Series. So, just like the league is looking to do the NFL combine, the league actually just started a bidding process for draft locations. Rather than just keeping it in New York, which is kind of a cool thing, let's spread the level a little bit it had been there from It has since made stops Chicago twice, Philly, Dallas, Nashville, the Commissioner's Basement, which I think was cool but probably not Roger Goodell's

favorite location. That happened obviously in during COVID and then of course Cleveland and as we mession at the top, d yes Lost Vegas. Help you're growing into this. We can't gloss over this. What's really funny about this is that the draft was forced to move. The NFL has done a tremendous job of turning what are seemingly mundane or procedural events into huge events like the Draft, like the Combine where fans can sit in the stands now.

But this wasn't actually an active choice. What happened is that Radio City Musical was booked and if I'm correct, I believe it was the Ice Capades that we're going to be at Radio City Music Hall in April and May. So the NFL had to move, and then happened upon this idea of showcasing other NFL cities by turn, and this has just been one of my favorite, favorite favorite things. Now, who can forget the throngs of people partying in Nashville.

And then I'll tell you last year I got to be boots on the ground in Cleveland for the week leading up to the Draft, Mike and we did bits at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we did bits with some of the great restaurants in town. And what it was is that you think about NFL fans looking at stadiums on their TVs, and usually many times, Mike, these fans watch games on TV and all they really know of the city where this team is playing is the stadium or whatever the drone blimp shot shows them.

The draft moving gives each of these NFL cities an opportunity to showcase so much more of what it is beyond just the stadium. And I'm a huge, huge fan. I love the idea of moving the draft around and cute little aside. The draft was in the Commissioner's basement in he made picks from an old, old, old armchair. That armchair was set to Cleveland last year, and I did joke on air that um Roger Goodell's wife Jane

asked that we not send it back nostalgia. I guess not enough to keep him the commissioner's man cave piece of furniture that's someone's looking to get rid of. Anyway, We're gone up on how we went from a chalkboard to the bright lights of Sin City. So when we come back, we'll take a look at some of the more interesting draft day facts like which colleges have sent the most players to the league and much much more. When we come back NFL draft explained. Alright, alright, welcome

back to NFL, explained to d ed Kikabwela with Mike. Yeah, Mike, top quiz time, right off the top. But yes, which NFL team has the worst winning percentage since the merger? Oh? I think gonna give me like a softball. Um, there's a part of me that wants to say, God, process of elimination, Um, Lions, box Jets. I'm just trying to think of some some teams that have had I just had some wins that really I don't know. Can I go with one of those three? Maybe? Alright, fine, that's

the way you want to do it. It is actually the Tampa Bay Buck. They had one forty two per cent of their games. So it does stand to reason that the Bucks actually also have the most number one overall draft picks since nineteen sixty seven, even though they didn't actually answer the league as a franchise until nineteen But even crazier than that, Mike was it their first

ever draft pick. Leroy Selman turned into a Hall of Famer, despite all of those early struggles from the team, and of course, following the Bucks on the list of most number one overall selections are the Bills, the Bengals, the Owns, the Colts, and the Patriots, all of whom have had four. There are only three teams that have never had the joy or pain of having the first overall pick. Got any guesses there? The Ravens are one that I do know, just because of the move and whatnot. So I will

I'll say Ravens for sure. And by the way, I like how I angered probably three franchises when I only have anger one. Next time you put me in that position, I'm only going to go with one team. Well, you got one, right, So how can Bucks fans be upset? Oh? Well, just because they're probably just mad at me. But you're right, just because they're probably just angry. It's although they should be in a good mood, right like the team they

got Brady back. So someone's always mad at you. In any case, there are only three teams that have never had the first overall pick, the Ravens, as you said, and also the Broncos and the Seahawks. Okay, all right, So we're in there. At some point. I gotta flip the script here on somebody's quizzes for you. But you mentioned the Bucks drafting the Hall of Famer and Leroy Salmon at one four times a number one overall pick has gone hunt to wear a gold Jacket's kind of crazy.

But the pick that has produced the most bus in Canton the sixth overall pick with fifteen, so six the lucky number in the NFL. They probably have a few more on the way. Julio Jones quit Nelson of the culture is also this other guy, um Gun Slinger, one of my favorites in the league, justin Herbert. He might be on his way. We time will tell. There's a

whole lot of football still left in his career. So I don't know if I should should say he's all the way, can't bound, but he's having some success that division. Talking about putting pressure on a young man. But okay, since we're talking about pressure and you did just say the word bust as in the statues that are in the Hall of Fame, I'm going to flip that and talk about some of the all time draft busts, as in top picks who flapped Mike, what qualifies as a

bust in your mind? Okay, so I don't There's got to be like a technical term for it. I'm actually not crazy about the term bust because I think what normal casual fans or even something some hardcore fans don't realize, is the amount of dedication it takes to get to this point. Right, So you are still elite when you are drafted in the NFL, just some guys don't have

the same amount of success. So if you said to me what defines the term bust, I would say the level of success that that pick number wise tends to have in the league. And if you if you don't meet that threshold. So let's just say you're the number one overall pick and you just you're out of the league in a couple of years, Well, clearly you haven't lived up to the expectation level of being a number one overall pick. So for me, that would sort of

classify at least be one factor in defining bus. Well, I don't know if it's just expectation. I would also say the amount of capital that a team expends to get someone. So again, you know there's more capital associated with the second overall pick, as compared to the third

pick in the seventh round. Anyway, having said all of that, because of that point, I think a lot of people will immediately think of Ryan Leaf just because he's forever linked to Peyton Manning, who went number one overall in nineteen Leaf was chosen by the Chargers number two, and then went on to compile a career record of four and seventeen while tossing fourteen touchdowns and thirty six interceptions.

There's actually quite a few other notable quarterbacks who went number one overall and proved to not be the most ideal of choices. There's Tim Couch, who was drafted by the Browns in nineteen nine and produced a record at just twenty two and thirty seven. Jamacus Russell, who was taken number one by the Raiders in two thousand and seven. After posting a career record of just seven and eighteen, he was released in two thousand and ten and then

he never played again. You know, it's interesting, though, two year point we talked about the Browns and drafting a quarterback number one. A few years ago they drafted Baker Mayfield number one overall, and Baker Mayfield ended a very very long playoff drought, Baker may Field led the Browns their first winning season, and wherever Baker Mayfield and the Browns are about to divorce before the end of his first contract. I don't know that i'd call him a

bust because of all that he accomplished. But I don't know that he matches the expectations of a number one overall pick, as you just said, especially in a year when we talk about the Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning and how you're always kind of compared, especially in a year where Josh Allen was also chosen and Lamar Jackson, who's won an m v P, was also sure. It's all really really good points. So I'm actually typing the question into my notes page on my phone. What's the technical

definition of a bust? That will be for our mail bag episode. I will be asking that question when we when we throw that one and that there's an answer to that one. Yeah, something tells me our research team and NFL Network will be able to figure that one out. They're really good at stuff like that. A couple other players you could throw out there, Achille Smith or ak In product drafted by the Bangals in number three overall. This one's things a little bit because New Orleans actually

offered nine picks to move into the third spot. The Bangles instead said, you know what, rolling the dice with them three and fourteen record for Cincinnati in that time. Bengals also had the number one overall pick four years earlier when they took Penn State running back to JOHNA. Carter. He rushed for seven hundred and forty seven yards in four seasons with Cincinnati. You know, it makes me sad the top picks that don't work out, because obviously, you know,

the expectations are absurdly high for them. The stories that I love are the guys that were taken later in the draft and turned into hood and gems. The leader in that category, of course, has to be the greatest of all time, Tom Brady. He was taken in the sixth round at pick the Patriots and two thousand. But you know, another Hall of Fame quarterback, Roger Staubach. And I'm saying that because we all know Tom Brady will be in the Hall of Fame whenever he does actually

officially retire and stay retired. In any case, another Hall of Fame quarterback, Roger's back tenth round in nine. He won two Super Bowls with the Cowboys. The Broncos took Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe and Terrell Davis in the seventh and sixth rounds. I mean Antonio Brown, who I know has not exactly been the most ideal teammate of late, was a sixth round pick by the Steelers. Digging and deep there, which I like, did you drop rid Chard Chairman's name into the mix? Because he I feel like

he should be there. He was a fifth rounder by the Seahawks in I feel like you're showing your West Coast bias, but go right ahead. There's a little bit of that going on right now, only because Stanford was a team that I covered for a very long time. How about this for a little nug here on the Cardinal It's coming up on the NFL Explained Podcast. Welcome back to the NFL Explained Podcast. Mike Yammin and Deeedi Kinka Walla with you. D Let's get right back to this.

How about this for a little nug here on the Cardinals. Stanford has the second most quarterbacks drafted since the common Era began seventeen seventeen, which is kind of crazy a DD. You know you're always doing the pop quiz thing on me. How about this for you? Do you know which school has the most though when it comes to quarterbacks drafted in the common era, I'll give you a hint. I'll give you it's a Packbull school, Pack twelve. And did

you notice how I said pack twin? Like I didn't know if I was saying packed well for Pac ten right there? Um? Oh, well it has to be USC, wasn't there like that? You Like, it was like Matt Leinard and Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley and like anybody and everybody like you just had to play the position and you'd be drafted out of that school. Yeah, that's what happens when you go to USC and you're the team starting quarterback. You get thrust into the Heisman conversation.

Everyone thinks you are bound for NFL stardom, but you're right hit the nail on the head s C nineteen. Of those quarterbacks, Carson Palmer's probably the one who had the best NFL career of the group. Maybe there's some conversation and debate to be had there, but I throw

his name into the mix. Florida State, Washington, Ohio State actually round out the top five schools with the most quarterbacks drafted since nineteen Buckeyes they'll have the most players drafted in the first round with eight three, followed by yeah, we'll say it again, USC, then Alabama, Notre Dame, and Miami the school with the most number one overall picks, Damn Trojans talk about that history, USC in Oklahoma both with five a DD. I feel like this is such

a generational thing too. You know, if you had asked me and I'm thinking about the last let's call it five drafts, I'm definitely thinking SEC. Oh, no doubt right, whether it's Alabama or l s U or But again, everything is cyclical, and so we were just mentioning players drafted in the first round. How about this one father son combos drafted in the first round. And listen to this. There's actually two instances of a dad being a first rounder and two of his kids being taken in the

first round. Actually, if you think about it, I think they're probably pretty obvious. Yeah, well the mannings right, like that's that's that's the lay up for me. I'm trying to remember who the other so there's well, and here's

what's crazy about that too. Archie Manning was drafted by his hometown Saints in nineteen seventy one, and then Peyton, like we mentioned earlier, was taken by the Colts, and Eli Manning was the number one overall pick of San Diego in two thousand and four, but he didn't want to play there, and so of course he spent his entire career with the Giants. But here's what's crazy. There

could be a nephew. There could be a third generation first round pick because Peyton and Eli's older brother, Cooper, has a son named arch Mike. He's a superstar in high school. Right now. You kind of have to be with that name, don't you. Well, here's another name that has pulled that out, and you mentioned Ohio State. Well, Joey and Nick Bosa or drafted in the first round in two thousand sixteen and two thousand nineteen. And their dad, of course, was a longtime NFL player, drafted in the

first round in nine seven out of Boston College. And I'll tell you this. I was at Nick Bosa's pro day at Ohio State. I met his dad and he looked like he could still play or put the hurt on somebody. That does not surprise me at all. I remember actually being at a Niners practice before the season it started. Dude looks like a Greek god. I mean, the whole family. The genetic thing. It is definitely a real deal because it's not just physically what you have.

But just think about being around NFL dudes all the time. How often do you mentioned pro day's adity. How often do you go to a pro day or do you see a guy or talk to a player who's in the NFL and you hear that their dad or their uncle was a coach or a former player themselves. Like all of that exposure to to the game I think gives them a huge edge. And once again, it does come down to genetics because I could have been exposed to it my entire life. Adini, I am playing in

the NFL. That's not going to happen. It's interesting you say that because I was just at Kenny Pickett's pro day, the quarterback out of pit and I met his parents, who were the most lovely people, and I was chatting with his dad about how Kenny knew he wanted to be a quarterback, at the age of five, and that was that. But of course hidden high school he did play other positions. And so when I asked Kenny, I said to him, Hey, your dad said you could have

made a pretty good linebacker too. He laughed, and he said that's high praise because his dad was a really good linebacker. And he said, I hope I bring that edge to the quarterback position, so there's definitely that. Did you shake his dad's hand? I'm trying to actually as we chat here, there are two guys this year whose father's were drafted in the NFL, who had older brothers who were drafted and who also could be drafted now.

So BC offensive lineman Alec Lyndstrom has a father who played in the NFL and made a Pro Bowl and an older brother who is in the NFL named Chris. And then Michigan State fullback Connor Hayward as a father Craig Ironhead Hayward, who of course was in the Pro Bowl and has a big brother, Cam Hayward, who is the great defensive lineman for the Steelers, who as well has made the Pro Bowl. I don't believe that either of these young players are going to be first round picks.

Though you think Kenny's first quarterback off the board. I do, actually, but let's get back. Let's get back to this one. So anyway, some of the other father son combos that are drafted in the first round. The Steelers have another one, Devin Bush, who's their middle linebacker. Devon Bush Jr. Was drafted in two thousand nineteen. Is dad. Devon Bush also was drafted in nineteen. Jamal Adams two thousand seventeen. His dad George Adams Night five. Of course, Jake Matthews and

Bruce Matthews, Craig and Cam Hayward. As I just said, mark Ingram, his dad was also a first round pick. Claim Matthews Jr. In Clay Matthews, they were both first round picks. Kellen Winslow Jr. And his dad Kellen Winslow, we're also first round picks. And then of course the Mannings, as we said, and the Boss. Okay, this is purely

an opinion. There's no wrong answer, right answer, But I will ask you the question add before we wrap up this show, the best father son combo in pro sports, because there's one that comes to mind, but I think the Mannings might have it. But I don't to me. The griffis I was literally going to say that. I can't believe you took it out of my mouth like that. I love how I asked you the question that I as before giving me a chance to answer. I was giving you time. I was, that's what like, you know

what good friend does like that? You know, Okay, give them time to the NBA, the NFL and Major League Baseball that quickly, plus like maybe golf and tennis and some other things. All right, great, thanks Mike. Alright, add the one thing that I think we can say we both learned in this podcast, not only draft related, but just life related. Janett X is a real thing. Hype around the draft. It's going to be a ton of fun Vegas, ap A d D. You've been covering pro days,

I've been covering Pro days. I know we will be glued to the television hopefully. Actually no, I will be working in studio at dB. I don't know if you're going to head to Vegas for the Draft, but nonetheless, I know everyone we went through the television ratings a little bit earlier on the show. I would imagine a lot of eyeballs. The future of the league we will be a front row seat for in Vegas once again.

NFL Network. You can catch it on April and you'll definitely have a lot more information at your draft party to share with all your friends. Thank you everybody for joining us. That was the NFL Draft. Explain