who was the first person ever drafted in the nfl
1936 NFL Draft This was the only draft to have nine rounds; the number increased to ten for the 1937 draft. The first player ever drafted, Jay Berwanger, who had previously been awarded the initial Heisman Trophy, never played in the NFL. His rights were traded by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Chicago Bears, as the Eagles felt they would be unable to meet Berwanger's reported demand of $1000 per game.[4] The Eagles received tackle Art Buss from the Bears in exchange for Berwanger's rights.[5] George Halas was unable to convince Berwanger to sign with the Bears. Riley Smith, the second pick, was the first player drafted to play in the NFL.
Bert Bell Bell's implementation of the draft did not show immediate results,[184] but it was "the single greatest contributor to the [league]'s prosperity" in its first eighty-four years.[185] His original version of the draft was later ruled unconstitutional,[186] but his anchoring of the success of the league to competitive balance has been "hailed by contemporaries and sports historians".[187] Bell had often said, "[o]n any given Sunday, any team in the NFL can beat any other team."[188]