# 1936 NFL draft

The 1936 NFL draft was the first draft of National Football League (NFL). It took place on February 8, 1936, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The draft was instituted in an effort to end bidding wars among the league's teams by the arbitrary assignment of negotiating rights to amateur players. It was haphazardly decided that the last place team from the previous season would get the first selection, and the process would continue in reverse order of the standings. Under this structure the Philadelphia Eagles, who finished 1935 at 2–9, would select first.
This was the only draft to have nine rounds; the number increased to ten for the 1937 draft. The first player ever drafted, Jay Berwanger, who had previously been awarded the initial Heisman Trophy, never played in the NFL. His rights were traded by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Chicago Bears, as the Eagles felt they would be unable to meet Berwanger's reported demand of $1000 per game. The Eagles received tackle Art Buss from the Bears in exchange for Berwanger's rights. George Halas was unable to convince Berwanger to sign with the Bears. After this, Berwanger got a job in rubber sales. Riley Smith, the second pick, was the first player drafted to play in the NFL.

## Breakdown of players selected

The following is the breakdown of the 81 players selected:
| 28 backs 15 ends 14 offensive tackles | 12 guards 6 centers 4 fullbacks | 2 blocking backs 1 tailback 1 wingback |

## Player selections

| † | = Pro Bowler |
| ‡ | = Hall of Famer |
Positions key :
| B | Back | BB | Blocking back | C | Center |
| E | End | FB | Fullback | G | Guard |
| OT | Offensive tackle | TB | Tailback | WB | Wingback |
| Rnd. | Pick No. | NFL team | Player | Pos. | College | Conf. | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Philadelphia Eagles | Jay Berwanger | HB | Chicago | Big Ten | First winner of the Heisman Trophy award in 1935 |
| 1 | 2 | Boston Redskins | Riley Smith | QB | Alabama | SEC | |
| 1 | 3 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Bill Shakespeare | HB | Notre Dame | Ind. | |
| 1 | 4 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Dick Crayne | FB | Iowa | Big Ten | |
| 1 | 5 | Chicago Cardinals | Jim Lawrence $^†$ | WB | TCU | SWC | |
| 1 | 6 | Chicago Bears | Joe Stydahar$^‡$$^†$ | T | West Virginia | Ind. | |
| 1 | 7 | Green Bay Packers | Russ Letlow $^†$ | OG | San Francisco | Ind. | |
| 1 | 8 | Detroit Lions | Sid Wagner | OG | Michigan State | Ind. | |
| 1 | 9 | New York Giants | Art Lewis | T | Ohio | Buckeye | |
| 2 | 10 | Philadelphia Eagles | McCauley, JohnJohn McCauley | B | Rice | SWC | |
| 2 | 11 | Boston Redskins | Keith Topping | E | Stanford | PCC | |
| 2 | 12 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Len Barnum | B | West Virginia Wesleyan | WVIAC | |
| 2 | 13 | Brooklyn Dodgers | LeVoir, BabeBabe LeVoir | B | Minnesota | Big Ten | |
| 2 | 14 | Chicago Bears | Ed Michaels | OG | Villanova | Ind. | |
| 2 | 15 | Chicago Cardinals | Gomer Jones | C | Ohio State | Big Ten | |
| 2 | 16 | Green Bay Packers | Wheeler, DubDub Wheeler | T | Oklahoma | Big Six | |
| 2 | 17 | Detroit Lions | Cheshire, ChuckChuck Cheshire | B | UCLA | PCC | |
| 2 | 18 | New York Giants | Tuffy Leemans$^‡$$^†$ | FB | George Washington | Ind. | |
| 3 | 19 | Philadelphia Eagles | Muller, WesWes Muller | C | Stanford | PCC | |
| 3 | 20 | Boston Redskins | Ed Smith | BB | NYU | Ind. | |
| 3 | 21 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Bobby Grayson | B | Stanford | PCC | |
| 3 | 22 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Wagner Jorgensen | C | St. Mary's (CA) | Ind. | |
| 3 | 23 | Chicago Cardinals | Eddie Erdelatz | E | St. Mary's (CA) | Ind. | |
| 3 | 24 | Chicago Bears | Roscoe, GeorgeGeorge Roscoe | B | Minnesota | Big Ten | |
| 3 | 25 | Green Bay Packers | Bernie Scherer | E | Nebraska | Big Six | |
| 3 | 26 | Detroit Lions | Andy Pilney | B | Notre Dame | Ind. | |
| 3 | 27 | New York Giants | Frank Loebs | E | Purdue | Big Ten | |
| 4 | 28 | Philadelphia Eagles | Bill Wallace | B | Rice | SWC | |
| 4 | 29 | Boston Redskins | Paul Tangora | OG | Northwestern | Big Ten | |
| 4 | 30 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Truman Spain | T | SMU | SWC | |
| 4 | 31 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Bear Bryant | E | Alabama | SEC | |
| 4 | 32 | Chicago Bears | Bob Allman | E | Michigan State | Ind. | |
| 4 | 33 | Chicago Cardinals | Ed Brett | E | Washington State | PCC | |
| 4 | 34 | Green Bay Packers | Ward, TheronTheron Ward | B | Idaho | PCC | |
| 4 | 35 | Detroit Lions | Sheldon Beise | B | Minnesota | Big Ten | |
| 4 | 36 | New York Giants | Gene Rose | E | Tennessee | SEC | |
| 5 | 37 | Philadelphia Eagles | Shuford, HarryHarry Shuford | B | SMU | SWC | |
| 5 | 38 | Boston Redskins | Groseclose, WilsonWilson Groseclose | T | TCU | SWC | |
| 5 | 39 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Sandefur, DickDick Sandefur | FB | Purdue | Big Ten | |
| 5 | 40 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Bob Wilson | TB | SMU | SWC | |
| 5 | 41 | Chicago Cardinals | Riordan, StanStan Riordan | E | Oregon | PCC | |
| 5 | 42 | Chicago Bears | Vern Oech | OG | Minnesota | Big Ten | |
| 5 | 43 | Green Bay Packers | Darrell Lester | C | TCU | SWC | |
| 5 | 44 | Detroit Lions | Francis, KavanaughKavanaugh Francis | C | Alabama | SEC | |
| 5 | 45 | New York Giants | Edward A. Jontos | OG | Syracuse | Ind. | |
| 6 | 46 | Philadelphia Eagles | Barabas, AlAl Barabas | B | Columbia | Ind. | |
| 6 | 47 | Boston Redskins | Larry Lutz | T | California | PCC | |
| 6 | 48 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Orr, MauriceMaurice Orr | T | SMU | SWC | |
| 6 | 49 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Joe Maniaci $^†$ | B | Fordham | Ind. | |
| 6 | 50 | Chicago Bears | Christofferson, TedTed Christofferson | B | Washington State | PCC | |
| 6 | 51 | Chicago Cardinals | Antonini, EttoreEttore Antonini | E | Indiana | Big Ten | |
| 6 | 52 | Green Bay Packers | Bob Reynolds | T | Stanford | PCC | |
| 6 | 53 | Detroit Lions | Abe Mickal | B | LSU | SEC | |
| 6 | 54 | New York Giants | Durner, GusGus Durner | T | Duke | SoCon | |
| 7 | 55 | Philadelphia Eagles | Jac Weller | OG | Princeton | Ind. | |
| 7 | 56 | Boston Redskins | Don Irwin | FB | Colgate | Ind. | |
| 7 | 57 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Marty Peters | E | Notre Dame | Ind. | |
| 7 | 58 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Schreiber, HerbHerb Schreiber | B | St. Mary's (CA) | Ind. | |
| 7 | 59 | Chicago Cardinals | Dennis, TackTack Dennis | B | Tulsa | MVC | |
| 7 | 60 | Chicago Bears | Dick Smith | T | Minnesota | Big Ten | |
| 7 | 61 | Green Bay Packers | Wally Fromhart | B | Notre Dame | Ind. | |
| 7 | 62 | Detroit Lions | Charles Wasicek | T | Colgate | Ind. | |
| 7 | 63 | New York Giants | Peeples, BobBob Peeples | T | Marquette | Ind. | |
| 8 | 64 | Philadelphia Eagles | Pepper Constable | B | Princeton | Ind. | |
| 8 | 65 | Boston Redskins | Wayne Millner$^‡$ | E | Notre Dame | Ind. | |
| 8 | 66 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Ed Karpowich | T | Catholic University | Ind. | |
| 8 | 67 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Bones Hamilton | B | Stanford | PCC | |
| 8 | 68 | Chicago Bears | Sylvester, JohnJohn Sylvester | E | Rice | SWC | |
| 8 | 69 | Chicago Cardinals | Ross Carter | OG | Oregon | PCC | |
| 8 | 70 | Green Bay Packers | Wally Cruice | B | Northwestern | Big Ten | |
| 8 | 71 | Detroit Lions | Rennebohm, DaleDale Rennebohm | C | Minnesota | Big Ten | |
| 8 | 72 | New York Giants | Heekin, DaleDale Heekin | B | Ohio State | Big Ten | |
| 9 | 73 | Philadelphia Eagles | Paul Pauk | B | Princeton | Ind. | |
| 9 | 74 | Boston Redskins | Saunders, MarcelMarcel Saunders | OG | Loyola (CA) | Ind. | |
| 9 | 75 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Meglen, JoeJoe Meglen | B | Georgetown | Ind. | |
| 9 | 76 | Brooklyn Dodgers | Jim Moscrip | E | Stanford | PCC | |
| 9 | 77 | Chicago Cardinals | Larsen, NielsNiels Larsen | T | Stanford | PCC | |
| 9 | 78 | Chicago Bears | Dan Fortmann$^‡$$^†$ | OG | Colgate | Ind. | |
| 9 | 79 | Green Bay Packers | J. C. Wetsel | OG | SMU | SWC | |
| 9 | 80 | Detroit Lions | Train, BobBob Train | E | Yale | Ind. | |
| 9 | 81 | New York Giants | Phil Flanagan | OG | Holy Cross | Ind. | |

## Hall of Famers

* Dan Fortmann, guard from Colgate taken 9th round 78th overall by the Chicago Bears.
    Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.
* Joe Stydahar, tackle from West Virginia taken 1st round 6th overall by the Chicago Bears.
    Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1967.
* Wayne Millner, end from Notre Dame taken 8th round 65th overall by the Boston Redskins.
    Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1968.
* Alphonse “Tuffy” Leemans, back from George Washington University taken 2nd Round 18th overall by the New York Giants.
    Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1978.

## Notable undrafted players

| † | = Pro Bowler |
| Original NFL team | Player | Pos. | College | Conf. | Notes |
| Chicago Bears | Ray Nolting | HB | Cincinnati | Buckeye | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | David Smukler | FB | Temple | Ind. | |

## Schools with multiple draft selections

| Selections | Schools |
| 7 | Stanford |
| 6 | Minnesota |
| 5 | Notre Dame, SMU |
| 3 | Alabama, Colgate, Princeton, Rice, St. Mary's, TCU |
| 2 | Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Washington State |