|
Draft Memories: Chuck Bednarik
To be drafted into the National Football League is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thousands of players have experienced that joyful moment since the college draft was instituted by the NFL in 1936. However, only a select number of these drafted players excelled on the NFL gridiron to the point that earned them a bust in Canton. Over the years, Profootballhof.com has sat down and asked some Hall of Famers to relive their draft day.
 |
| Chuck Bednarik |
First man picked!
While he was a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik never thought about playing pro football let alone becoming the NFL's first overall pick, as the bonus pick in the 1949 NFL Draft.
"The NFL was still young and growing," commented the NFL's last "sixty-minute" man recently. "The Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia didn't get the publicity as the University of Penn did."
However, one could say that the Eagles were on a roll. They had just won the championship in 1948 and then received the bonus pick in the '49 draft, which they used to select "Concrete Charlie".
"I was mildly excited but not overwhelmed," Bednarik told profootballhof.com.
That soon changed when the newspapers in Philadelphia began giving the Eagles and Bednarik a lot of ink. "Now, I was really excited," said Chuck.
Bednarik help lead the Eagles to another world championship in 1949 and was a stalwart for the Eagles - both on offense as a center and a linebacker on defense - for the next 14 seasons. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.
Bonus Pick
From 1947-1958, the National Football League draft included a bonus pick rule whereby one team would receive the first pick of the draft. The bonus pick was selected by lottery and each team was eligible for the pick only once.
Hall of Famers Taken in the 1949 NFL Draft
Chuck Bednarik, C/LB, Philadelphia Eagles - 1st round (Bonus pick - 1st overall)
Doak Walker, HB, Boston Yanks - 1st Round (3rd overall)
Norm Van Brocklin, QB, Los Angeles Rams - 4th round (37th overall)
George Blanda, QB, Chicago Bears - 12th round (119th overall)
|