April 26, 1976 - The first 4 strap chin strap is introduced to further the player head protection. According to an NCAA.org post the college game adopted a safety rule to ensure all players would be securing the four point chin straps to their helmets to try and keep helmets in the optimum position to protect players.In fact the NCAA made it mandatory equipment. https://www.ncaa.org/sport-science-institute/concussion-timeline
April 26, 1983 - The famous 1983 NFL Draft took place as Stanford University quarterback John Elway was the first pick by the Baltimore Colts. This set up the Newspaper.com Football History Headline top billing by the Associated Press the following day in the Easton, Maryland Star-Democrat as it read “Elway’s Vow Not to Play for Colts Ignored.” The Colts were not able to work out a deal with their player of choice prior to the Draft and allegedly turned down multiple trade offers for the spot and still decided to choose Elway. Elway touted as the best quarterback prospect since Joe Namath turned around after the pick was made to say he would forgo the NFL and sign a lucrative baseball contract with the New York Yankees. The former Stanford signal caller said he would change his mind if he was traded to a West Coast team though. Elway made it no secret that he did not want to play for Baltimore. The article goes on to quote the QB as saying, “I don’t want to be a jerk but I told Mr. Kush, you’ve been offered three ones and a quarterback and now you have nothing.” Then he hung up the phone. The Mr. Kush he was referring to was Colts then head coach Frank Kush. SMU running back Eric Dickerson was the second overall pick by the Los Angeles Rams, Curt Warner another back from Penn State went third to the Seahawks.
Going back to Elway the article gave him three options, he would sit out a year and then get redrafted in 1984, play MLB for the Yankees or get traded to the Cowboys or a West Coast team. The Colts kept trying to work out a deal with Elway and then finally on May 2nd, over a week after the Draft this headline came out in the St. Joseph News-Press via the New York Times News Service, “Colts send Elway to Broncos.” Next week in our May 2 edition we will go more in depth on the rest of this story.
If you want to be able to be able to read through some old articles like Star-Democrat or the St. Joseph News-Press, you need to check out Newspapers.com. At Newspapers.com, you can get access to over 640 million pages’ worth of news from the US, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland and more dating back from 1798 to yesterday. Get a free one week subscription to Newspapers.com by visiting SportsHistoryNetwork.com/newspapers. And with a paid subscription, you’ll also be helping to support the production of this and other Sports History Network shows. Besides Elway and Dickerson other Pro Football Hall of Fame players from this Draft class incluse Jimbo Covert, Bruce Matthews, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Darrell Green and Richard Dent.
April 26, 1992 - The 1992 NFL Draft commenced with the Indianapolis Colts selecting Steve Emtman the defensive end from Washington. So far we do not see anyone from this class that has been enshrined into Canton. The Pro Football Reference does share the top ten picks with us though.
Pick Tm Player Pos College/Univ
1 IND Steve Emtman DE Washington
2 IND Quentin Coryatt LB Texas A&M
3 RAM Sean Gilbert DT Pittsburgh
4 WAS Desmond Howard WR Michigan
5 GNB Terrell Buckley DB Florida St.
6 CIN David Klingler QB Houston
7 MIA Troy Vincent DB Wisconsin
8 ATL Bob Whitfield T Stanford
9 CLE Tommy Vardell RB Stanford
10 SEA Ray Roberts T Virginia
The 1992 NFL Draft was the last of the NFL Drafts that went 12 rounds.
April 26, 2003 - For the 2003 NFL Draft the Cincinnati Bengals were the first on the clock and they chose USC quarterback Carson Palmer as the first overall first pick. The only player so far from this class to be fitted for a gold jacket is Troy Polamalu, the Safety teammate of Palmer at Southern Cal who the Steelers took with the 16th selection. Here is the top ten according to Pro Football Reference.com
Pick Tm Player Pos College/Univ
1 CIN Carson Palmer QB USC
2 DET Charles Rogers WR Michigan St.
3 HOU Andre Johnson WR Miami (FL)
4 NYJ Dewayne Robertson DT Kentucky
5 DAL Terence Newman DB Kansas St.
6 NOR Johnathan Sullivan DT Georgia
7 JAX Byron Leftwich QB Marshall
8 CAR Jordan Gross T Utah
9 MIN Kevin Williams DT Oklahoma St.
10 BAL Terrell Suggs LB Arizona
April 26, 2008 - The 2008 NFL Draft had the University of Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long going as the first pick by the Miami Dolphins. Our friends at the Pro Football Reference once again share the top ten selections of this draft class.
Pick Tm Player Pos College/Univ
1 MIA Jake Long T Michigan
2 STL Chris Long DE Virginia
3 ATL Matt Ryan QB Boston Col.
4 OAK Darren McFadden RB Arkansas
5 KAN Glenn Dorsey DT LSU
6 NYJ Vernon Gholston DE Ohio St.
7 NOR Sedrick Ellis DT USC
8 JAX Derrick Harvey DE Florida
9 CIN Keith Rivers LB USC
10 NWE Jerod Mayo LB Tennessee
April 26, 2012 - The 2012 NFL Draft at the time was thought to be a rare franchise quarterback goldmine. It started off that way too as three in the top ten were promising starting young QBs in the League. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck first pick by Indianapolis Colts and here is how the top ten rounded into shape per the Pro Football Reference.
Pick Tm Player Pos College/Univ
1 IND Andrew Luck QB Stanford
2 WAS Robert Griffin III QB Baylor
3 CLE Trent Richardson RB Alabama
4 MIN Matt Kalil T USC
5 JAX Justin Blackmon WR Oklahoma St.
6 DAL Morris Claiborne DB LSU
7 TAM Mark Barron DB Alabama
8 MIA Ryan Tannehill QB Texas A&M
9 CAR Luke Kuechly LB Boston Col.
10 BUF Stephon Gilmore DB South Carolina
April 26, 2018 - Another good looking batch of quarterback prospects were on hand for the 2018 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns used the first overall pick to choose Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. It was the first time in history that four signal callers were taken in top 10 selections. Here is how the Pro Football Reference saw the first ten picks come off of the board.
Pick Tm Player Pos College/Univ
1 CLE Baker Mayfield QB Oklahoma
2 NYG Saquon Barkley RB Penn St.
3 NYJ Sam Darnold QB USC
4 CLE Denzel Ward CB Ohio St.
5 DEN Bradley Chubb DE North Carolina St.
6 IND Quenton Nelson G Notre Dame
7 BUF Josh Allen QB Wyoming
8 CHI Roquan Smith ILB Georgia
9 SFO Mike McGlinchey T Notre Dame
10 ARI Josh Rosen QB UCLA
