Being selected No. 1 overall in a draft is an honor and tribute to talent. Sometimes it works out and other times it doesn’t. A look at 14 players who were the top pick in the draft and went on to earn a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One comes with an asterisk: He was an AFL selection.
Bill Dudley
Bill Dudley played three seasons each with the Steelers (1942, ’45-46), Detroit Lions (’47-49), and Washington Redskins (’50-51-53). His career was interrupted in 1943 and ’44 when he served with the Army Air Corp during World War II. He returned to the Steelers during the 1945 campaign. The 1946 season was, for Dudley, one for the record book; as he led the league in rushing, punt returns, interceptions, and “lateral passes” attempted. He was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player that year. The following season, Dudley scored 11 touchdowns for the Lions on one punt return, one interception return, seven pass receptions, and two rushes. Six times Dudley was named first- or second-team All-NFL.
Charley Trippi
Although primarily a running back, Charley Trippi’s versatility allowed him to fill a multitude of roles over his career, including quarterback, defensive back, punter, and return specialist. A “quintuple-threat”, Trippi was adept at running, catching, passing, punting, and defense. Trippi is the oldest living member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the oldest living first overall NFL draft pick. He had 3,506 rushing yards, 2,547 passing yards, 1,457 kickoff return yards, 1,321 receiving yards and 864 punt return yards. Trippi scored 53 total touchdowns.
Chuck Bednarik
Chuck Bednarik — aka Concrete Charlie — was one of the most devastating tacklers in the history of football and the last 60-minute man, or full-time two-way player in the National Football League (NFL). Bednarik played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949-62 and, upon retirement, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967, his first year of eligibility.
Paul Hornung
Paul Hornung (pictured, left) was an excellent all-around college athlete at Notre Dame, where he played basketball in addition to football. He won the Heisman Trophy on a team with a losing record. He played on Packer teams that won four NFL titles and the first Super Bowl. He is the first Heisman Trophy winner to play pro football, be selected as the first overall selection in the NFL Draft, win the NFL MVP award, and be inducted into both the professional and college football halls of fame.
Buck Buchanan
Buck Buchanan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. The New York Giants took him 265th overall in the 19th round of the 1963 NFL Draft, while he was the first overall selection in the AFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Eddie Robinson, his coach at Grambling State, where he had been an NAIA All-American in 1962, called him “the finest lineman I have seen.” Buchanan was the first African-American No. 1 overall draft choice in professional football.
Ron Yary
Ron Yary was the first overall pick of the 1968 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, becoming the first offensive lineman to be selected first overall. He played from 1968-1981 with the Minnesota Vikings, and 1982 with the Los Angeles Rams. During Yary’s tenure with the Vikings, the team won 11 division titles. During that period, Minnesota won the 1969 NFL championship and NFC titles in 1973, ’74 and ’76, and played in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX and XI where Yary was one of 11 players to have played in all four games for the Vikings. Yary was named All-Pro six consecutive seasons (1971-76) and second-team All-Pro in 1970 and ’77 and was an All-NFC choice from 1970-77. He played in seven consecutive Pro Bowls.
O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson was the Buffalo Bills’ No. 1 pick out of USC in 1969. He was the first back to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Simpson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw played for 14 seasons with Pittsburgh, which drafted him No. 1 overall out of Louisiana Tech. He won four Super Bowl titles in a six-year period (1974, ’75, ’78, and ’79), becoming the first quarterback to win three and four Super Bowls, and led the Steelers to eight AFC Central championships. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility. Bradshaw was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Lee Roy Selmon
Lee Roy Selmon was a consensus All-American in 1974 and ’75 and a member of consecutive national championship teams for the Oklahoma Sooners in those seasons. Selmon was selected by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the first overall pick in the 1976 NFL Draft. He played from 1976-84, all with the Buccaneers. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
Earl Campbell
The Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell, played college football for Texas, where he won the Heisman Trophy and earned unanimous All-America honors in his senior season, as well as numerous other accolades. He was drafted first overall by the Oilers in 1978 and had an immediate impact in the league, earning NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Earl Campbell was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in each of his first three seasons, during which he averaged nearly 1,700 rushing yards per season. He won the AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1979 after leading the league in rushing yards and touchdowns. On July 27, 1991, Campbell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
John Elway
John Elway was drafted by the Baltimore Colts first overall in 1983 out of Stanford. He was traded to the Denver Broncos, for whom he played his entire career. A two-time Super Bowl winner and nine-time Pro Bowler, Elway was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in his first year of eligibility and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Bruce Smith
Bruce Smith was drafted first overall by the Buffalo Bills out of Virgina Tech in 1985. The holder of the NFL career record for quarterback sacks with 200, Smith was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility.
Troy Aikman
Troy Aikman was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys out of UCLA in 1989. Aikman played 12 consecutive seasons as the starting quarterback with the Cowboys, the most number of seasons by any Cowboy quarterback. During his career he was a six-time Pro Bowl selection, led the team to three Super Bowl victories, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXVII. Aikman was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Orlando Pace
Orlando Pace was the cornerstone of a Rams offensive line that blocked for an offense that compiled more gross yards than any other team during his 12 years in St. Louis (50,770 in 12 seasons), finished second in completion percentage (61.8 percent) and fifth in touchdown passes (289) over that time. Under Pace’s protection, the Rams’ passing offense compiled more than 3,000 yards in all 12 of his NFL seasons, seven different quarterbacks eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark in a season, including three times surpassing the 4,000-yard mark, and blocked for seven 1,000-yard rushers. A five-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl selection, Pace earned a Super Bowl ring with the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. Pace was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Looking ahead
Peyton Manning was the No. 1 overall pick in 1998. He is a lock to get into the Pro Football HOF. His brother, Eli, was the top overall selection in 2004. He won two Super Bowls. Will he be enshrined in Canton?
