May 19

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss the birth of the NFL Draft and legendary players of the College HOF on their birthday, Archie Manning, London Fletcher and John Friesz as well as many more Legendary stories.

The Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the day comes from the May 20, 1935 edition of the Pittsburgh Press that says, “ You Can’t Say We Didn’t Do Plenty!” of course, it is about the May 19, 1935 meeting in the Steel City of the top brass and owners of the NFL franchises as they laid out some new pivotal rules and policies the League adopted. Among the items discussed and approved by Commissioner Joe Carr and the boys was a waiver rule where the team with the worst record the previous season would have first dibs at waived by rival teams. The group also made a decision on the former Cincinnati franchise and gave the rights to the city of St. Louis. 

Bert Bell, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, purchased some players from the Detroit Lions. Halfback Robert Rowe, guard Maurice Bodenger, and tackle Robert Emerick were now part of Coach Lud Wray’s Eagles squad. The Eagles also purchased the rights of tackle Carl Jorgensen from the Packers and halfback Bud Witte. The League also promised that they would sponsor programs to better acquaint and associate the fans with the NFL. In other news from the meetings, Boston Redskins owner George Preston Marshall and his new Coach Eddie Casey tried to get Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Pirates to trade his team captain Mugsy Skaldany to the Boston franchise. 

Marshall’s offer of tackle Steve Sinko, fullback Jim Musick, and an end named Malone was rejected by Rooney and the Pirates as they could not let their beloved star Mugsy go. The most significant item that came out of this meeting was Bert Bell’s suggestion for the NFL to adopt an annual college draft to begin in 1936. According to an NFL.com post, Bell proposed that the NFL hold an annual player draft to level the playing field and make sure that every franchise remained financially viable. League owners voted unanimously to adopt his proposal, setting up the inaugural NFL Draft in 1936. 

This first draft was a far cry from the spectacle fans have come to expect today and held on Feb. 8, 1936, at Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, clubs selected from a pool of only 90 players. But what it has turned into now, not even Bert Bell could have imagined! Bell and his Philadelphia Eagles had the first selection in this inaugural NFL Draft.

Here are some bios on  birthday boys that are either in the College Football Hall of Fame or the Pro Football Hall of Fame that were born on this day. There is plenty more about them to read by either clicking their high-lighted name or at the top of this page clicking the "On This Day in Football History" and going to May 19 Football History.

May 19, 1949 - Drew, Mississippi - Mississippi quarterback from 1968 to 1970, Archie Manning was born. Manning received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989. He was drafted into the NFL by the New Orleans Saints and also spent time with the Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings as well before he hung it up after 14 years in the League.

May 19, 1967 - Missoula, Montana - John Friesz the signal caller of the University of Idaho from 1986 through the 1989 season arrived into the world.  The College Football Hall of Fame proudly placed a display in honor of John Friesz into their legendary museum in 2006. Friesz was taken in the sixth round of the 1990 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers.

May 19, 1975 - Cleveland, Ohio - London Fletcher the standout John Carroll University linebacker of 1995 to 1997 was born. The NFF tells us that Fletcher was a two-time First Team All-American, as London was also the Football Gazette’s 1997 Division III Linebacker of the Year. Fletcher recorded 202 tackles during his stellar final season in University Heights, which remains a single-season school record. That year, he also set the single-game record with 29 tackles against Ohio Northern. By the end of his Blue Streak career, Fletcher had tallied 386 tackles, 37 tackles for loss, 14 sacks and three interceptions. His No. 3 jersey was retired by JCU in 2017 during a special 20-year celebration of the 1997 football team. London Fletcher was honored with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019 after the National Football Foundation tabulated their votes, becoming the first Bluestreak player to receive the honor. Unbelievably London went undrafted in 1998, but yet he worked and played hard and spent an impressive 16 seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins. Fletcher made a definite impact at the pro level as he helped the Rams win Super Bowl XXXIV, and he earned four Pro Bowl selections with the Redskins. Fletcher finished his NFL career with 215 consecutive games started, which are tied for the sixth most in league history and the most by a linebacker.

The picture in the banner above is from Newspapers.com and was contributed by Pittsburgh Press on May 20, 1935 and is titled " NFL Meeting May 19, 1935."