Randy Inman
Bruce Bostwick
James Rickard
jesse-podoll
Robin PottratzLate Round Draft Picks Who Made It Big
April 21st 2009 08:25
This weekend is the annual NFL draft which allows lucky college gridiron stars to take their game to the professional level. This year's draft will encompass 7 rounds over two days beginning Friday afternoon.
Almost every year one of the late round picks displays talents never expected and eventually enters for the record books.
That brings up a point. What is a "late round" pick?
Students of today's game would answer, "That's someone from the 7th Round."
Maybe so but there was a time when the 7th Round was the middle of the draft and still a prized position. As recently as 1980 there were 12 Rounds to the draft. Further, the 1957 draft, what is considered the best draft ever, consisted of thirty rounds! Stars of yesteryear may never have made it to the NFL under the current draft. Even the New York Jet's No. 1 pick for 1965, Joe Namath, was a 12th Round choice for the St. Louis Cardinals. Another notable pick from the middle rounds is Johnny Unitas who went in the 9th Round to the 1955 Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, my vote for the best late rounder would have to go all the way back to the glory days of the Green Bay Packers and pick their quarterback, Bart Starr.
Starr was a 17th Round pick out of Alabama in 1956 before going to the Pack and playing there his entire career where he amassed over 24,00 yards in passing while leading the team to 5 NFL championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls. He then went on to be named to the NFL's "all-decade" team for the 1960's and eventually had his number, 15, retired by the team.
After retirement, Bart Starr immediately became an assistant coach at Green Bay and rose to the head coaching position in 1975. Unfortunately, the magic he created as a quarterback proved illusive a second time and he attained only a 52-76-2 record.
Always a man of integrity, an award named for him, The Bart Starr Award, is given annually to an NFL player displaying outstanding character. Currently the only living Packer to have his number retired, Starr will live forever among Packer fans.
image from bartstarr.com
Almost every year one of the late round picks displays talents never expected and eventually enters for the record books.
That brings up a point. What is a "late round" pick?
Students of today's game would answer, "That's someone from the 7th Round."
Maybe so but there was a time when the 7th Round was the middle of the draft and still a prized position. As recently as 1980 there were 12 Rounds to the draft. Further, the 1957 draft, what is considered the best draft ever, consisted of thirty rounds! Stars of yesteryear may never have made it to the NFL under the current draft. Even the New York Jet's No. 1 pick for 1965, Joe Namath, was a 12th Round choice for the St. Louis Cardinals. Another notable pick from the middle rounds is Johnny Unitas who went in the 9th Round to the 1955 Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, my vote for the best late rounder would have to go all the way back to the glory days of the Green Bay Packers and pick their quarterback, Bart Starr.
Bart Starr
Starr was a 17th Round pick out of Alabama in 1956 before going to the Pack and playing there his entire career where he amassed over 24,00 yards in passing while leading the team to 5 NFL championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls. He then went on to be named to the NFL's "all-decade" team for the 1960's and eventually had his number, 15, retired by the team.
After retirement, Bart Starr immediately became an assistant coach at Green Bay and rose to the head coaching position in 1975. Unfortunately, the magic he created as a quarterback proved illusive a second time and he attained only a 52-76-2 record.
Always a man of integrity, an award named for him, The Bart Starr Award, is given annually to an NFL player displaying outstanding character. Currently the only living Packer to have his number retired, Starr will live forever among Packer fans.
image from bartstarr.com
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