The First 20 Number One Overall Drafts Picks

Welcome to the Total Sports Recall podcast. I’m Harv Aronson and this episode is part two of a four-part series that looks back at the top 20 first over picks of every major sport. In my last episode baseball was the focus so now we turn our attention to the National Football League.

Since the NFL draft began in 1936 there have been some genuinely talented players selected first in the draft process and then there were men who were deemed a bust. As you may know well, the team receiving the first pick in the draft is the team with the worst record in the league of the season before. With that said, I will review who that top player selected was starting with the first-ever draft in 1936 and looking back at every top pick for the next 20 years ending with 1955.

So, let’s get the draft review rolling with the first pick in the draft in 1936 who was…

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1936 - JAY BERWANGER (PHILADELPHIA EAGLES)

Jay Berwanger, a running back coming out of the University of Chicago and drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. What makes Berwanger a special player is that not only was he the first ever number one pick, but he was also the first to be awarded a Heisman Trophy before the trophy had that name. In 1935 the Downtown Athletic Club presented a trophy to the top player in college football and Berwanger was the first recipient. A year later the trophy was renamed to the title that still exists today.

More specifically, the Downtown Athletic Club defined the award as “the most valuable player east of the Mississippi.” A bit of trivia on Berwanger. He may have been the first pick ever, but he NEVER played a single down of professional football. The reason was because upon being drafted, Berwanger let it be known that he would demand a salary of $1,000 per game. The Eagles believed they could not meet this demand, so his negotiating rights were traded to the Chicago Bears and in return Philadelphia obtained offensive tackle Art Buss.

Berwanger then threw a monkey wrench into the whole transaction by refusing to sign with Chicago because he wanted to remain an amateur in order to compete for the 1936 United States Olympic team on the decathlon squad. Berwanger could not qualify and the Bears famous owner George Halas could not come to terms on a contract with Berwanger after offering the young player a salary of $13,000 but the award-winning running back demanded $15,000.

Instead of playing football Jay Berwanger went to work for a Chicago based rubber company and also coached at his alma mater the University of Chicago. Berwanger later regretted his decision. Without football, Berwanger turned to rugby and there he was on a championship team from Chicago. In 2016 Berwanger was inducted into the U.S Rugby Hall of Fame. The NFL’s first ever top draft pick passed away in 2002 at the age of 88.

1937 - SAM FRANCIS (PHILADELPHIA EAGLES)

A year after Berwanger was drafted and did not play in the NFL along came 1937’s number one pick, Sam Francis. With the Philadelphia Eagles having the top pick for the second year in a row, they again went with a running back this time a fullback to be exact with the name Sam Francis. The University of Nebraska sent Francis to the pros and just like his predecessor, Francis became a Bear. Only this player actually made it to the playing fields of the NFL.

Francis made his debut the year he was drafted playing in eight games starting three. On 48 rush attempts he gained 129 yards good for only 2.7 yards per carry. He improved somewhat a year later when he finished the season with 297 yards and improved his average to 3.5 yards per tote. He also scored three times on the ground.

In 1939 Francis was sent packing first to the Pittsburgh Steelers and then before the season was over, he suited up with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This is where he would finish his career just one year later. In the end, his career rushing total was 873 yards and just five touchdowns.

Following his career, Francis was hired to be the head coach at Kansas State University. His tenure there lasted just one season, a campaign that saw him lose all 10 games in the 1947 season. With that said, he was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Francis passed away at the age of 88 in 2002.

1938 - CORBY DAVIS (CLEVELAND RAMS)

The Rams used to be in Cleveland. In 1938 that’s where they called home and prior to that year’s NFL season Cleveland had the first overall pick in the draft using it to select Corby Davis, a running back out of Indiana University.

Davis had a four-year career with the Rams playing in 39 games 12 as a starter. He had exceptionally low numbers rushing for just 382 yards in his career and his per carry average was a low 2.7. He did score four touchdowns.

Davis left the NFL by his own choosing enlisting in the military where he was wounded in 1944 and after recovering continued his service to his country. Later he would be a college football referee as well as being employed by the Scott Foresman publishing company. Tragically he lost his life at the age of 53 in 1968 when out on a boat he was stepping out of it and tripped falling on a tree branch that rupture his spleen causing his demise.

1939 - KI ALDRICH (CHICAGO CARDINALS)

Ki Aldrich was the league’s top pick of the 1939 draft, and he went to the Chicago Cardinals as a center. TCU is where he played his college ball and the Cardinals may have wished they could have traded that pick in because with the very next pick, Sid Luckman was drafted. Luckman would go on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks in history.

As for Aldrich, he did play seven NFL seasons, two with the Cardinals ad another five with the Washington Redskins. In 73 career games he started 53 of those. As a center he also played some defense finishing his career with eight interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

On defense he played linebacker. Given the size of today’s offensive linemen, it’s hard to wrap your head around that Aldrich’s playing weight at center in 1939 was just 207 pounds.

In 1942 Aldrich was a member of Washington’s league championship team. Four years prior, TCU won the national collegiate championship. There were more accolades for Aldrich as well. He was the MVP of the Cotton Bowl in 1937. He was named to the NFL Pro Bowl twice.

He is a member of the Southwest Conference All-Time Team named in 1969. In 2938 he was names as a consensus All-American. At TCU he was a teammate of Sammy Baugh and Davey O’Brien. Baugh is quoted as saying “he was the toughest player I’ve ever known.”

In 1960 Aldrich was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and he died on March 12, 1983, at the age of 66.

1940 - GEORGE CAFEGO (CHICAGO CARDINALS)

As a new decade began in 1940, the first pick of the 1940s was George Cafego, a fullback selected by the Chicago Cardinals and a University of Tennessee product.

The Cards passed on drafting the next man picked who was George McAfee that capped off his career with an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In his NFL career, Cafego played not just fullback but also as a halfback and sometimes quarterback.

Despite being a Cardinals draft pick he ended up on the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940 and due to the war did not play again until 1943 when from Brooklyn he landed with eh Washington Redskins. He rounded out his playing career with the Boston Yanks from 1944 and through the 1945 season. Following his retirement from pro football he would go to coaching working for the following colleges, Furman, Wyoming, Arkansas, and the University of Tennessee.

He returned to the NFL as an assistant coach with the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings in 1986 and 1987. In 1998, George Cafego passed away at the age of 82.

1941 - TOM HARMON (CHICAGO BEARS)

The name Mark Harmon may be familiar to many. He’s a well-known actor and former quarterback who played for the UCLA Bruins. In 1941, his father Tom was the NFL’s first overall draft pick after a career at Texas A&M. The Chicago Bears had that first selection and used it on the fullback which Harmon played.

Tom Harmon may have the most interesting personal story of any man ever drafted by the NFL. First and foremost, I’ve already mentioned his son Mark. But Tom Harmon had two more children and was married to and actress and model who was Elyse Knox. Mark Harmon’s other two siblings were Kristin and Kelly.

Kristin would marry famous singer Ricky Nelson in 1963, and she was not just an actress like her little brother but also an artist. Their two kids Gunnar Eric Nelson and Matthew Gray Nelson became the band, Nelson.

Kelly Harmon was too an actress and a model but would have a career as an interior designer. Famous people were obviously associated with the Harmon family. That’s because Kelly Harmon married car designer John DeLorean. After that marriage failed, she married Sports Illustrated publisher Robert Miller.

Then there is Mark Harmon, UCLA quarterback, and a cast member of St. Elsewhere, Chicago Hope, and NCIS. He would marry Mork and Mindy star Pam Dawber in 1987. Harmon was also named sexiest man alive by People Magazine in 1986.

As for Tom Harmon, he lasted just two years in the NFL and not with team that drafted him. Instead of making the Bears team Harmon found himself in Los Angeles playing for the Rams. In two seasons there he rushed for 542 yards and three touchdowns. His per carry average however was a healthy 5.1. He played in 22 career games but started just four.

Tom Harmon suffered a heart attack on March 15, 1990, and he passed away from complications at just age 70. He is a member of the College football Hall of Fame. His wife Elyse died in 2012. She was 94 at the time. Like her father before her, Kristen Harmon passed away from a heart attack in 2018 at age 72. Today Kelly Harmon is 78 and Mark Harmon is 75.

1942 - BILL DUDLEY (PITTSBURGH STEELERS)

In 1942 the Pittsburgh Steelers had the first overall pick in the draft, and they brought a “Bullet” to the NFL. That would be “Bullet” Bill Dudley a running back from the University of Virgina. Born on Christmas Eve 1921, Dudley’s birth name was William McGarvey Dudley. Dudley would put together a hall of fame career that landed him in Canton, Ohio with a bust on display.

Bill Dudley could do it all on a football field playing in the offensive backfield but also throwing some passes as a quarterback and he even served time as a placekicker and punter. All this in just 90 career games. He was a starter in 72 of them. He would finish his career with 3,057 yards rushing, 18 touchdowns scored running the ball, 123 receptions through the air amassing 1,383 yards with 18 receiving touchdowns.

As a placekicker he attempted 66 field goals and made exactly half of them. On extra point attempts he made all but six of 127 attempts. As a quarterback, that was the weakest of all positions Dudley played. On 222 career passing attempts he completed just 81 of those which is a completion percentage of just 36.5. He threw just six touchdowns and was intercepted 17 times.

Known as a Pittsburgh Steelers Dudley also played three years each for the Steelers, Lions, and Redskins. There have been only two players in NFL history to score a touchdown in six different ways which are rushing, receiving, punt returns, kickoff returns, interception returns, and fumble returns. Deion Sanders is one of those two and Bill Dudley the other.

Not just the pro football hall of fame but Dudley is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. In his post football life Dudley turned to politics and served four terms in the Virgina House of Delegates. After a massive stroke in 2010 he passed away five days later on February 4, 2010. He was 88 years old.

1943 - FRANKIE SINKWICH (DETROIT LIONS)

In 1943 the NFL’s first overall pick was a Bulldog right out of the University of Georgia. The Detroit Lions snatched Frankie Sinkwich with the league’s first pick. He became the first NFL first round pick to be from another country having been born in Starjak, Yugoslavia.

Yet another running back drafted into the NFL, Sinkwich had a short pro career playing for the Lions for two seasons and then another two with the New York Yankees, finishing his career in Baltimore with the Colts for one season in 1947.

Sinkwich was the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1944 and was a member of Georgia’s national championship team in 1942. For his career he rushed for 1,090 yards, passed for another 1,913 and ran into the end zone for a score seven times passing for another 19 but getting intercepted 42 times. As a punter Sinkwich averaged 41.5 yards per boot.

As a head coach at the University of Tampa, in 1950 his team finished 5-4 and a season later 7-3-1. Sinkwich has many accolades but after a lengthy illness passed away in 1990 at the age of 70. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. A fine amateur athlete, Sinkwich is quoted as saying about his young athletic prowess, “When people ask why I succeeded in athletics, I always tell them that I didn’t want to get beat.”

1944 - ANGELO BERTELLI (BOSTON YANKS)

Moving along to the next year 1944 the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sent their quarterback into the NFL draft, and this young man became the league’s first overall pick. The player was Angelo Bertelli, and the Boston Yanks landed the young QB.

However, Bertelli went to serve the United States in World War II and was out of football until 1946 when instead of reporting to the Yanks, he signed with the Los Angeles Dons in the All-American Football Conference (AAFC).

After one season in Los Angeles Bertelli would play two more seasons in Chicago in the same league suiting up for the Chicago Rockets. His Heisman Trophy season of 1943 did not mirror his performance professionally as Bertelli played in just 16 games in three seasons with only three starts.

Once he left football he established businesses in Clifton, New Jersey, one of which was a retail liquor outlet. During the 1950s and 1960s he was on air as the color analyst for Princeton University football games.

Sadly, battling brain cancer, Bertelli died in 1999 at the age of 78. He left behind his wife of 55 years and together they had four children, one of which shortened his name to Bob Bert, and he became a member of the music ground Sonic Youth.

1945 - CHARLEY TRIPPI (CHICAGO CARDINALS)

1945’s NFL draft presented a man who became a household name and an outstanding pro player. The top pick went to the Chicago Cardinals, and they used it to draft Charley Trippi. A halfback out of the University of Georgia, Trippi is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In nine years of NFL playing time, Trippi rushed for 3,506 yards and a 5.1 yards per carry average. That included 23 touchdowns and five times in his career he had runs from scrimmage for 40 yards or more with his longest rush ever being 59 yards. Trippi would start 74 of 99 games and he also caught 130 passes for another 1,321 yards.

Charley Trippi also manned the quarterback position with the Cardinals the only team he ever played for and as a quarterback he attempted 434 passes completing 205 while finding a teammate in the end zone for a score 16 times. He did have an 80-yard completion in 1951.

One thing you can credit Charley Trippi for is having a long life. Born in 1921, he lived over 100 years finally passing on October 19, 2022. After his football career had concluded, he became an assistant coach with his Cardinals team both in Chicago and after they moved to St. Louis.

Not just a hall of famer but Trippi was a member of the 1947 NFL champion Cardinals team, a first-team all-pro in 1948, was named to the Pro Bowl twice, made the 1940s All-Decade team for the NFL, is in the Arizona Cardinals Ring of Honor, at Georgia the Bulldogs won the National Title in 1942, he was the winner of the Maxwell Award in 1946 and named the SEC Player of the Year for 1946, and his jersey number 62 has been retired by the University of Georgia.

Obviously, Charley Trippi is also in the College Football Hall of Fame. Several Major League Baseball teams showed an interest in Trippi as he was an outstanding baseball player as well. Those teams included the Boston Red Sox, Boston Braves, and the Philadelphia Phillies. But football was Trippi’s choice of sport. While playing football Trippi coached the University of Georgia baseball team where his teams managed a 34-18 won/loss record.

When Charley Trippi turned 100 years of age he became only the second Pro Football Hall of Fame player to hit the century mark with the other being Clarence “Ace” Parker. At the University of Georgia, the school has retired just four jersey numbers and Trippi’s 62 is one of them. At Sanfor Stadium in Georgia the south lower stands of the stadium have exactly 61 rose but row 61 is labeled “62” in honor of the great player named Trippi.

Upon is death on October 19, 2022, he was the sole survivor of the NFL’s 1940s All Decade Team and from the 1947 Chicago Cardinals championship team he too was the only man alive from that roster.

1946 - BOLEY DANCEWICZ (BOSTON YANKS)

I guess you can say the NFL went “Boley for dollars” with the Boston Yanks using their first overall pick to draft Boley Dancewicz, another Notre Dame Quarterback. This Fighting Irish player was born Francis Josephy Dancewicz on October 3, 1924, in Lynn, Massachusetts.

He died a tragic death when in June of 1985 he sustained a serious spinal injury after falling off a ladder at his home. The injury caused his passing, and he was only 60 years of age.

1947 - BOB FENIMORE (CHICAGO BEARS)

Thus far in this review it’s been nearly all offensive players and in 1947 it was yet another running back going on the very first pick of the draft this time the Chicago Bears had the top spot and with it came Bob Fenimore right out of Oklahoma A&M University which later became Oklahoma State. Interestingly, when Terry Bradshaw was the NFL’s top pick for my team the Steelers in 1970, he would get the nickname “The Blonde Bomber.”

That moniker also belonged to Fenimore. He was also called “The Blonde Blizzard.” His alma mater won the collegiate national championship with Fenimore on the roster in 1945. That same season Fenimore was named to the All-American team. The season before he was first team All-American. His jersey number 55 is retired at Oklahoma State.

Fenimore had a short NFL career, just one season. 10 games played in 1947 no starts, 53 passes attempted for 189 yards and a touchdown and it was over. At Oklahoma State, however, he still holds the record for career interceptions obviously having played defense there and that mark is 18 still on the books.

He led the country in total yards in 1944 and a year later held the top mark for total offense and rushing yards.

If not for the performances of Army’s Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard, Fenimore may have taken home the Heisman Trophy finishing third behind those two standouts. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame inducted in 1982. Fenimore is also in Oklahoma State’s Ring of Honor placed there in 2022.

After one year in the NFL, he became a long-tenured Insurance agent for Massachusetts Mutual Life. He passed away on July 28, 2010, at 84 years of age.

1948 - HARRY GILMER (WASHINGTON REDSKINS)

Yet another quarterback what the overall number one pick in 1948 this time an Alabama Crimson Tide signal caller named Harry Gilmer. His new team was the Washington Redskins. Long before the University of Alabama sent Joe Namath to the NFL and later inducted him into the Hall of Fame there was Gilmer.

Gilmer would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993 but his pro career pales in comparison to what he did with the Crimson Tide. At Alabama Gilmer was the 1946 Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player. Four times he made the All-SEC first team. In 1945 he was named SEC Player of the Year. Gilmer is also in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Once he made the Washington Redskins roster, he only became a part time quarterback. In eight NFL seasons two of which were with the Detroit Lions, Gilmer started only 27 of 76 games played. He attempted only 579 passes and completed just 263. His touchdown by passing totaled only 23 and he threw 45 interceptions.

Gilmer became popular for throwing the “jump pass” something he began to do in high school because of his lack of height, and he stood just 6 feet tall even. Following his pro career, he went into coaching where he served under some prominent names like Buddy Parker where he was an assistant with the Steelers. He also worked for Norm Van Brocklin.

Hired as the head coach of the Detroit Lions in the mid-60s, Gilmer was fired from that position in 1966 and became so disliked by the fans in Detroit that he was the target of snowballs in the season finale that year after a loss to the Vikings. Gilmer passed away in 2016 at the age of 90.

1949 - CHUCK BEDNARIK (PHILADELPHIA EAGLES)

A perfect symbol of “toughness” in a football player throughout NFL history might be best exemplified by our next number one draft pick, Chuck Bednarik. Looking back at his career many will remember him most for his devastating hit on Frank Gifford. But the Philadelphia Eagles knew they had a special player when they drafted him in 1949.

Bednarik’s nickname speaks for itself…” Concrete Charley.” Coming out of the small school the University of Pennsylvania, the 6-foot 3-inch 233-pound linebacker was simply a BEAST. He also played on both sides of the ball, manning the center position as well. Originally from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania his parents had emigrated to the United States from Slovakia and perhaps the gritty nature of Bednark stems from his father’s days working in the steel industry.

A veteran of the Air Force, Bednarik was a B-24 waist gunner. He earned many accommodations in the military After his four-year stint with the Air Force, the athletic Bednarik put together a stellar career at Penn and was well prepared for a professional hall of fame career which came to fruition when he was inducted in 1967. Two years later the College Football Hall of Fame provided him with the same honor.

As one of the greatest players in NFL history his accolades are far too many to mention here. His Eagles won the NFL title twice, making him a two-time league champion having won the championship in 1949 and 1960. Bednarik has been named to so many honor teams it would make you dizzy stating them all.

To honor Chuck Bednarik, the Philadelphia Eagles retired his jersey number 60 so that no other player on the Eagles can ever sport those digits again. In post football he became the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission. Bednark will always be iconic as a symbol of a tough two-way player the sometimes caused some fear and rattling of nerves in opponents. He died at the age of 89 on March 21, 2015, leaving behind a historic legacy one of the best ever.

1950 - LEON HART (DETROIT LIONS)

As a new decade began in 1950, the Detroit Lions kicked off the oldies but goodies decade of the 50s with possessing the overall first pick in the NFL draft of that year. With it they selected Leon Hart, an end out of Notre Dame. Another great Fighting Irish product, Hart was the Heisman Trophy Award winner for 1949 also winning the Maxwell Award. For three straight seasons from 1947-1949 he was named All-American.

While at Notre Dame, Hart and the Fighting Irish never lost a game winning 36 and tying twice. They also won the national championship in 1946, 1947, and 1949. Like myself, Hart was born in good old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A big man during his playing days at 6 feet 5 inches and 257 pounds, ironically, Hart graduated from Turtle Creek High School a neighborhood I had lived in for two years back in 2013.

Hart retired from football with a championship pedigree having won those collegiate titles but also with the Detroit Lions was a member of Detroit’s NFL championship teams of 1952, 1953, and 1957. Hart had a decent career with the Lions but was not good enough to land him in the Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame but in the NFL while he did start in 71 of 92 games and rushed for 2,499 yards in his eight year career, he finished his career as an outstanding player but not great enough to earn a yellow jacket in Canton.

Following his retirement Hart went into business and owned a manufacturing company that created equipment for balancing tires. He died in South Bend, Indiana at 73 years old buried in where else, Cedar Grove Cemetery in Notre Dame.

1951 - KYLE ROTE (NEW YORK GIANTS)

Many football fans might remember the name Kyle Rote. He was 1951’s top pick from Southern Methodist University and some may remember him as a soccer player but that would be his son Kyle Rote Jr. who had a fine career in soccer.

As for Kyle Rote Senior, drafted by the New York Giants as an end, Rote put in an 11-year career all with the Giants but for the lack of a better term, was mostly a journeyman player.

His bet rushing effort came in the final year of his career in 1961 when he caught 53 passes for 805 yards. He did have an impressive yards-per-reception average with a mark of 16.0. He caught 48 touchdown passes in those 11 seasons and five times had a reception of over 50 yards with 75 being the longest.

Following his football career, he went on to be a Giants backfield coach and a sports broadcaster for WNEW and WNBC radio in New York City as well as appearing on television for NBC. According to his son Kyle Jr., his lasting impression of Rote Senior was the “To me the most remarkable thing about him from a football standpoint was that he had fourteen teammates who named their sons after him.”

If you ever visit San Antonio, Texas you will find Kyle Rote Street there. Rote was also a writer penning the books “Pro Football for the Fans,” “The Language of Pro Football,” and he wrote the “Giants Fight Song.” He published poetry, wrote song lyrics, was an accomplished pianist and an oil painter but died you at the age of 73 in 2002.

1952 - BILLY WADE (LOS ANGELES RAMS)

There is simply something about overall number one picks in the NFL and quarterbacks. They say quarterback is the most important position on a football field so perhaps that is why men at that position have been first so many times. It happened again in 1952 with the pick of Billy Wade by the Los Angeles Rams. They selected the Vanderbilt quarterback first.

Wade would have a successful pro career playing for the Rams and Chicago Bears over 13 seasons. In the end he would finish with 18,530 yards passing and 124 touchdowns. Wade would lead the NFL in several categories during his career, 225 completions in 1962 and his 412 attempts was the best of that season. In 1959 he was the NFL leader in completion percentage with a 58.6 mark.

The season before Wade led the league in yards passing with 2,875. He also threw the longest pass for the season that resulted in a touchdown twice one for 93 yards in 1958 and another for 98 yards in 1961. In 1958 his 239.6 yards per game led the NFL. 1977 was a special year for Wade as he received the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Award and in 2008 the University of Vanderbilt placed him their Athletics Hall of Fame.

The end of Billy Wade’s life was difficult and tragic. He had to have open heart surgery, had two knee replacements, and lost his eyesight. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 85.

1953 - HARRY BABCOCK (SAN FRANSISCO 49ERS)

Next we have Harry Babcock drafted in 1953 by the San Francisco 49ers after a career at Georgia. Unlike earlier draft picks already mentioned, there are not a lot of highlights to Babcock’s college or pro career. At Georgia he did make first team All-SEC twice and was a second team All-American in 1952.

Once in the pros, his career was short lived, just three seasons where he never started a game and in 30 games rushed for just 181 yards. He did play one season with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League but never made it off their practice squad. He lived to be only 66 passing away in 1996 while living in Florida.

1954 - BOBBY GARRETT (CLEVELAND BROWNS)

Our final two draft picks were both quarterbacks. First, we have 1954’s Bobby Garrett who went to the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are still searching for a franchise quarterback and in 1954 it certainly wasn’t Bobby Garrett who last all of one season in the NFL and it wasn’t even with the Browns. Garrett never made it through training camp as a regular and was traded to the Green Bay Packers.

In Green Bay, Garrett played in just nine games and threw 30 passes, completing exactly half. Having played at Stanford University Bobby Garrett is in the school’s athletic hall of fame. He was also named M.V.P. at the Hula Bowl one season as well as Most Valuable Player of the East-West Shrine game.

Two other awards he won were the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy presented to the most outstanding players on the Pacific Coast and the Pop Warner Trophy for the Most Valuable Player on the West Coast. He died at the age of 55 in 1987.

1955 - GEORGE SHAW (BALTIMORE COLTS)

Here we are the last of the first 20 overall number one draft choices in NFL history and the last man standing is George Shaw a quarterback out of the University of Oregon who the Baltimore Colts made the league’s first pick in the 1955 draft. Unfortunately for Shaw, Johnny Unitas came to the Colts in 1956, and Shaw obviously had no chance of ever starting a game in Baltimore. But because of an injury to Shaw that’s how Unitas got the starting role.

Lucky for Shaw though is that he has a championship ring earned in one of the most historic championships in history when the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts went to overtime in the 1958 title game. Thanks to Johnny Unitas, Shaw went from the Colts to ironically the Giants and then wrapped up his career as a Viking and finished in Denver. Of 71 career games he started in just 32. As a starting quarterback his final won/loss record was 12-17-2.

Following his career, he became a stockbroker where he grew to Vice President of his firm. He would lose his life to cancer on January 3, 1998, at just 64 years of age.

RECAP

This has been an extensive list with lots of names and plenty of history. But these were the first 20 first overall picks in the history of the NFL. In two weeks, it will be the National Basketball Association I will review. After that this series will conclude with the National Hockey League.

If you wish to reach me at this show the official email is [email protected]. Also feel free to check out my writing and podcast portfolio at www.clippings.me/totalsportsrecall.

This is Harv Aronson wishing everyone a great next two weeks and it is my hope you will tune in again to the Total Sports Recall Podcast.

The First 20 Number One Overall Drafts Picks – NFL