"NFL Draft Light Bulb Moment"...

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 players of rival teams. The group also decided 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 to 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 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 a yearly 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. Held on Feb. 8, 1936, at Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, clubs selected from a pool of only 90 players. But not even Bert Bell could have imagined what it has turned into now! Bell and his Philadelphia Eagles had the first selection in this inaugural NFL Draft.