He won the Heisman Trophy and the national championship. Now, Joe Burrow joins 18 fellow LSU quarterbacks who were selected by NFL teams. A sidenote: One, Y.A. Tittle, was actually a first-round pick twice. How that happened is explained along with background on the other Tigers quarterbacks who merited being picked by NFL teams.
1940: Young Bussey
Ruey Young Bussey was a professional American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears. Bussey was drafted by the Bears in the 20th round of the 1940 NFL Draft. Bussey was killed in action during World War II. He was the only Bears player to die in the war.
1948, ’51: Y.A. Tittle
Y.A. Tittle was the sixth overall selection of the 1948 NFL Draft, taken by the Detroit Lions. However, Tittle began his professional career with the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference in 1948. After a 1-11 record in 1949, the Colts joined the NFL in 1950. The team again posted a single win against 11 losses, and the franchise folded after the season due to financial difficulties. Players on the roster at the time of the fold were eligible to be drafted in the next NFL Draft. Tittle was then drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, third overall, in the 1951 NFL Draft after the Colts folded.
1960: Warren Rabb
Warren Rabb was the quarterback of the national championship winning 1958 LSU Tigers football team. He was selected in the second round of the 1960 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He completed his professional football career with the Montreal Alouettes in 1963.
1962: Jimmy Field
1965: Pat Screen
In 1965, Pat Screen was drafted in the 10th round by the Cleveland Browns. Screen did not play professionally but returned to the university to earn an LSU law degree.
1971: Buddy Lee
Buddy” Lee was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round and was later traded to the Los Angeles Rams.
1973: Bert Jones
Bert Jones was chosen second overall by the Baltimore Colts in 1973 to be the heir apparent to Johnny Unitas, who was later traded to San Diego. The 1976 regular season was Jones’ finest as a professional; he threw for 3,104 yards and a career-high 24 touchdowns, compiling a passer rating of 102.5. He was one of only three quarterbacks to achieve a 100+ passer rating during the entire decade of the 1970s, joining Dallas’ Roger Staubach (1971) and Oakland’s Ken Stabler (1976).
1980: David Woodley
Despite being an eighth-round selection in 1980 NFL Draft and initially fourth on the depth chart, David Woodley elected the team MVP for his rookie season in 1980. In the strike-shortened season of 1982, Woodley handled the lion’s share of the time at quarterback en route to Miami winning the American Football Conference title. The Dolphins went on to face the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII. At the time, he was the youngest Super Bowl starting quarterback in NFL history at age 241⁄4.
1986: Jeff Wickersham
Jeff Wickersham was taken in the 10th round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. On Aug. 20, 1986, the Dolphins released Wickersham. Wickersham also played for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL for the 1987 and part of the 1988 seasons.
1990: Tom Hodson
Tommy Hodson was selected in the third round, 59th overall, in the 1990 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. He started the last six games of his rookie season, passing for 968 yards. However, during Hodson’s next two seasons with the Patriots, he made only 68 passing attempts in 1991 and 91 passing attempts in 1992. From 1993-96, Hodson served as a back-up for the Miami Dolphins, the Dallas Cowboys, and the New Orleans Saints, but saw no playing time except for 5 passing attempts in 1995 for the Saints
2001: Josh Booty
Josh Booty was taken as the 177th pick (sixth round) of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks. The choice came after a baseball career that saw Bootly drafted fifth pick overall in the first round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft (1994). The Marlins reportedly paid him $1.6 million, a the-draft signing bonus record, if he did not play football in the duration of his contract, but he eventually decided to pursue a career in pro football.
2002: Craig Nall
Craig Nall was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU and Northwestern State. Nall also played for the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and Florida Tuskers.
2002: Rohan Davey
Rohan Davey (No. 6 in the photo) was selected by the New England Patriots coming off a record-setting career at LSU, taken in the fourth round as the 117th pick of the 2002 NFL Draft Davey showed potential in 2004 playing in NFL Europe. He had a record-setting season, was named “Player of the Year”, and won the World Bowl with the Berlin Thunder. Upon returning to the Patriots, he lost his back-up job to Doug Flutie and lost the third-string slot, losing that job to seventh-round pick Matt Cassel. Davey won two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, as the backup to Tom Brady in 2003 and 2004. He was released by the Patriots in August 2005.
2004: Matt Mauck
Matt Mauck went pro after the 2003 college season and was selected in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos with the 225th pick in the seventh round. He made the roster but did not appear in any games in 2004. In 2005, he signed with the Tennessee Titans. He appeared in two games during the season, including one start in the final regular-season game of the year, a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mauck entered the 2006 NFL offseason on the Tennessee Titans roster but was cut at the end of the preseason.
2007: JaMarcus Russell
JaMarcus Russell was selected by the Oakland Raiders as the No. 1 overall pick out of LSU in 2007. Russell was one of four LSU players taken in the first round, along with safety LaRon Landry, and wide receivers Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis. His career was a flop and he is considered one of the biggest busts in NFL Draft history.
2008: Matt Flynn
Matt Flynn was taken by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round (209th selection overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 23, he was signed to a four-year rookie contract through the 2011 season. In 2008, Flynn won the competition for the back-up role to Aaron Rodgers, beating out fellow rookie and second-round pick Brian Brohm. Flynn was seen as being less talented than Brohm because of Brohm’s superior size, arm and foot speed, coupled with the fact that Brohm was selected much higher in the draft compared to Flynn. He eventually left as a free agent, signing a rich deal with the Seattle Seahawks but was beaten out of the starting job by Russell Wilson.
2014: Zach Mettenberger
Zach Mettenberger was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of LSU. He played has also played for the San Diego Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football (AAF).
2018: Danny Etling
Etling was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round (219th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft. On Sept. 1, Etling was waived by the Patriots and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Patriots on Feb. 5, 2019. At the start of 2019 training camp, Etling transitioned to the wide receiver position. He was waived on Aug. 13. The next day, Etling was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Falcons. He was waived 18 days later and was signed to the practice squad the next day. On October 26, after an injury to starter Matt Ryan, Etling was promoted to the active roster as the team’s backup quarterback. He was waived on Oct. 28, and re-signed to the practice squad. On Dec. 30, 2019, Etling was signed to a reserve/future contract.
