The NFL Draft used to be far more than seven rounds. Some of the best players slipped and slipped into double-digit rounds. And some of these made it all the way to Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Roosevelt Brown (27)
Yes, there were 27 rounds — actually 30 — when Roosevelt Brown was chosen by the New York Giants in 1953. He was the 321st selection, a defensive lineman out of Morgan State. Brown signed a $3,500 contract and went on to be a nine-time Pro Bowler and NFL champion.
John Madden (21)
John Madden is better known for coaching the Oakland Raiders and, um, for a video game attached to his name. Long before, the Philadelphia Eagles made Madden their selection in the 21st round of the 1958 draft. Madden played college ball at Cal Poly. He came out of college with one bad knee and injured his other one in the first training camp, ending his playing career.
Raymond Berry (20)
Raymond Berry went to SMU, which focused on the running game. In three seasons with Mustangs, Berry caught 33 passes. That led to him falling into the 20th round of the draft, selection 232 by the Baltimore Colts. Berry made a pretty good combo with Johnny Unitas. The wideout caught 631 passes after being chosen in 1955. He spent his entire career as a Colt and was a two-time NFL champ and six-time Pro Bowler.
Andy Robustelli (19)
Another slick pick was Andy Robustelli, a defensive lineman out of Arnold College. The Los Angeles Rams chose Robustelli with the 228th selection in 1951. He remained out West through 1955 when the New York Giants acquired him. Robustelli was part of one championship with the Rams and another with the Giants.
Chris Hanburger (18)
Chris Hanburger was a two-way player at North Carolina. You could say he was always in the middle, patrolling the middle linebacker slot and on offense was the center. The 245th pick in 1965, Hanburger played 14 seasons as a Redskin and was a nine-time Pro Bowler
Bart Starr (17)
The great Bart Starr was the quarterback of the legendary Packers in the Vince Lombardi years. It didn’t start out as a path to stardom. He was not selected until pick 200 in 1956 despite going to college at Alabama. Starr wound up a five-time NFL champ, including three in a row from 1965-67, and two-time Super Bowl winner and game MVP.
Arnie Weinmeister (17)
Arnie Weinmeister took a different route to Canton. He was actually born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1923. He went to the University of Washington and then served four years in the military. He was the 166th pick in 1945. Weinmeister played for the football New York Yankees in the All-America Football Conference and then for the New York Giants.
Willie Davis (15)
Willie Davis was another gem found late in the draft. After playing at Grambling State, Davis was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 161st overall pick. After a couple seasons in Cleveland, Davis went to Green Bay, where he played on five title teams and two Super Bowl champs as part of Green Bay’s hellacious defense.
Deacon Jones (14)
David “Deacon” Jones was a member of the Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome.” An eight-time Pro Bowler, Jones was the 186th pick in 1961, chosen from Mississippi Valley State, which later produced one Jerry Rice, too. Jones was an eight-time Pro Bowler and twice the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Billy Shaw
Now this is a unique Hall of Famer. Billy Shaw was drafted 184th overall by the Dallas Cowboys. However, he spurned them and played his entire career for the Buffalo Bills. He earns the honor of being the first player to be enshrined without playing a game in the NFL.
Nick Buoniconti (13)
The NFL did not draft Nick Buoniconti out of Notre Dame. The Boston Patriots did with the 102nd overall pick in Round 13 in 1962. He went on to become one of the game’s great middle linebackers and starred for Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins.
Dante Lavelli (12)
Dante Lavelli was the 103rd overall pick in 1947 out of Ohio State by the Cleveland Browns. Lavelli remained in Ohio for his entire pro career, winning three championships and making three Pro Bowls as a Brown.
George Blanda (12)
One of the longest and greatest careers in any sport belongs to George Blanda. He went to school at Kentucky and was the 119th pick by the Chicago Bears in 1949. His career continued until 1975. Blanda played on three AFL championship teams. He was a quarterback and placekicker and remains a legend.
Tom Fears (11)
Tom Fears was the 103rd pick out of UCLA in 1945 by the Los Angeles Rams. The wideout was born in Mexico and moved to LA when he was six. He was part of one NFL championship team and was a Ram for his entire career, which lasted from 1948-56. Fears was the first Mexican born player to be drafted by the NFL. He also served time in the military.
Jackie Smith (10)
Jackie Smith was the 129th overall pick out of Northwestern State in 1963. He spent all but one of his years with the Cardinals. The final season was with the Dallas Cowboys. He is unfortunately remembered for dropping a pass in the end zone in the Super Bowl. It obscures a career that saw him catch 480 passes and was a five-time Pro Bowler.
Roger Staubach (10)
The great Roger Staubach would have been a higher selection coming out of college as the Heisman Trophy winner. However, since he went to the Naval Academy, Staubach faced a military obligation. Staubach was a 10th-round future draft choice in the 1964 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, who used a a future pick to draft him a year before his college eligibility was over. Staubach served in the military and came to the NFL as a 27-year-old rookie. He won two Super Bowls, was an MVP in the game, and six-time Pro Bowler.
