The strange story of the first player ever picked in the NFL draft

NFL draft season is upon us, as all 32 teams from around the league scramble to assess the best players entering the professional ranks from the college game and contemplate which prospects they will use their precious picks to acquire.

One of the most talked-about players in the 2025 draft class is Travis Hunter, the Colorado Buffaloes two-way star who last year won the Heisman Trophy, the award given annually to college football’s outstanding player.

Hunter is set to be one of the top picks come the last weekend in April when the draft takes place in Green Bay, Wisconsin. And if he gets chosen first overall, it will be a mirror image of the first-ever draft some 89 years ago, when the top selection was also the reigning Heisman winner.

But it would take a very cruel and unlikely twist of fate for Hunter’s career to follow the same path as the 1936 No.1 pick, Jay Berwanger, who never played a single minute in the NFL.

The draft process was introduced in the mid-1930s in an effort to end teams engaging in expensive bidding wars for the best up-and-coming college players.

Held in the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the hometown Eagles held the opening pick and Berwanger, a standout halfback out of the University of Chicago, was the prized prospect.

The 6ft 1ins 21-year-old had rushed for 577 yards, passed for 405 yards, returned kick-offs for 359 yards and scored six touchdowns during the previous college football season, becoming the first-ever recipient of the Heisman.

But the Eagles’ delight at landing the country’s best emerging talent was short-lived. Berwanger was demanding a salary of $1,000 per game, which Philadelphia would not meet.

Read next | Travis Hunter: The two-way phenom forcing NFL teams to rethink player roles

They traded his draft rights to the Chicago Bears, but the Bears were unable to convince Berwanger to play for them, either. He instead decided to give up on football altogether, taking a job as a rubber salesman.

Even for the most talented young players entering the draft, there are no guarantees of NFL stardom. But this year’s top-picking teams can be assured that Hunter will last longer in the league than the first Heisman-winning No.1 pick.

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