OKAY Just for Funsies Lets Talk History of the Draft

In last week’s article I broached the subject of the NFL Draft and what we could ~maybe~ expect. It got me thinking, what is the history of the draft? It felt like asking how babies were made when you were nine years old because no one seemed to know. So I did some digging, and here’s what I found:

In 1934 there was this thing called the waiver system introduced and it allowed coaches and owners to pick up players in a more ‘spread out fashion’ as in not the same “best” team getting the “best players” every year. This is important because while some teams have managed to create a sort of dynasty effect of endless wins, i.e. most recently The Patriots, it was important even in the early years to negate this happening and make sure there was an even spread of talent throughout the league. And so, Bert Bell, the Philadelphia Eagles co owner at the time, presented this “Waiver System” that was unanimously voted on to be used next go around, and this is basically the blue print to what we know as the modern day NFL draft. Now it’s not necessarily the same glitz and glam we see today with the roaring lights and collasal budget, a couple things had to come first. ‘Clubs’ as they were referred to started to form. These clubs are what we now know as the modern day AFC and NFC. First to form was the BLESTO which included the Lions, Steelers, Eagles, and Bears. I think somehow those teams smooshed together makes the word BLESTO. Next came the NFS which included the Colts, Browns, Packers, and St. Louis Cardinals. Finally the Quandra was formed which included the Cowboys, Rams, 49ers, and Saints. Starting to feel like a real high pressure kick ball game right? Like if you don’t get picked for a team you’re lame? Well that’s exactly why later, in 1970, the AFC and NFC were formed to more equally split the teams as they ventured into drafting, scheming and scouting. Now Scouting and the act of Drafting is a whole other issue to work and we’ll get to it, but not now. Happy Tuesday!