Moments in NFL Draft History: 1989 Draft alters National Football League
In 1936, Hall of Famer BERT BELL developed a plan to maintain competitiveness in the National Football League. He implemented a “draft-style” event where teams with a worse record could have an opportunity to select college prospects before the more successful teams from that year could.
Stemming from that day 90 years ago into a three-day tentpole event, the NFL’s yearly draft has become one of the most important events on the League’s calendar.
Dubbed the “greatest draft class of all time” by NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football,” the 1989 NFL Draft saw four of its first five selections enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Barry Sanders, linebacker Derrick Thomas and cornerback Deion Sanders were selected in the first five picks of the league-altering draft.
1989 NFL Draft (April 23, 1989)
- Round 1 (1st overall): TROY AIKMAN to the Dallas Cowboys
- Round 1 (3rd overall): BARRY SANDERS to the Detroit Lions
- Round 1 (4th overall): DERRICK THOMAS to the Kansas City Chiefs
- Round 1 (5th overall): DEION SANDERS to the Atlanta Falcons
- Round 1 (20th overall): STEVE ATWATER to the Denver Broncos
Aikman attended the draft with his agent, Leigh Steinberg, whom the film “Jerry Maguire” is loosely based on. Steinberg noted that Aikman was the only player to attend the draft that year at the Marriot Marquis in New York City.
“Now, several top prospects attend the draft live,” Steinberg wrote in a contributing article for Forbes. “Today’s NFL Draft bears little resemblance to the low-key event it was when I began my career back in 1975.”
Selected third overall, Barry Sanders set a monumental precedent that permanently altered the college-to-NFL process. Despite an NFL rule stating that collegiate juniors could not declare for the draft, Sanders was allowed to do so after Oklahoma State was found guilty of numerous NCAA rules violations. One year later, in 1990, the NFL lifted the rule disallowing collegiate juniors to declare.
Selected fourth overall, Thomas became the first draft selection made by new Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Carl Peterson. Making an immediate impact, Thomas set the Chiefs’ rookie record for sacks with 10 in 1989 and earned his first of nine consecutive Pro Bowl nods.
The fifth overall selection, Deion Sanders, never wavered in his confidence. At the 1989 NFL Combine, New York Giants general manager and Pro Football Hall of Fame contributor GEORGE YOUNG tried to give Sanders a test to gauge his mental capabilities. Young, who had a reputation for testing players, implemented and used the now-popularized Wonderlic test.
“They sat me down and gave me a thick book,” Sanders told Pro Football Talk. “I mean, this thing was thicker than a phone book. I said, ‘What’s this?’ They said, ‘This is our test that we give all the players.’ I said, ‘Excuse me, what pick do you have in the draft?’ They said, I think, 10th. I said, ‘I’ll be gone before then. I’ll see y’all later. I ain’t got time for this.’ ”
Selected 20th overall, Atwater was drafted with a pick the Broncos nearly had relinquished months prior. After the NFL’s future all-time sack leader became a free agent after the 1988 season, the Broncos put in a bid to make BRUCE SMITH the highest-paid defensive player in league history. Buffalo retained the ability to keep their disruptive defensive end under the new free agency framework, which allowed the Bills the “right of first refusal.” If the Bills had not matched the offer sheet, within the 1982 CBA rules, Denver would have given their first-round pick to the Bills.
Instead of signing Smith, the Broncos selected Atwater, a future eight-time Pro Bowler.
This article from the Hall of Fame Communications Team is part of recurring series celebrating memorable moments in NFL history.
