Sports History On This Day: April 8

April 8 NFL Drafts

We have had a few NFL Drafts take place on the 8th day of April with some number one picks that folks here on SHN are talking about.

April 8, 1943 – I don’t think the Football History Dude, Arnie Chapman, or even his Pops, Big Arn remember this one but in the 1943 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions used the first overall pick on Frank Sinkwich from the University of Georgia.

Frank was the first Heisman Trophy winner that Georgia ever produced. The star college halfback played only a couple of years in the Motor City before jumping to the Big Apple to play with the AAFC Yankees and the original Baltimore Colts of the same league.

April 8, 1945 – Was the day set aside for the NFL Draft for the 1945 season. In it, Charley Trippi from the University of Georgia was the very first overall first pick by the Chicago Cardinals. This famous player is a very common topic of Joe Ziemba on the When Football was Football Podcast. We cannot do Mr. Trippi enough justice here in this small space so we will leave that to our resident expert on all things football Chicago with Joe.

Yes, these two men played together for a bit in the Bulldog backfield and must have been quite the conundrum for opposing defenses. Take a look at the great picture of them together!

To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.

Charley Trippi and Frank Sinkwich posing together while playing for the Georgia Bulldogs football team
The photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is titled Charley Trippi and Frank Sinkwich posing together while playing for the Georgia Bulldogs football team., taken by an unknown.

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