The first NFL Draft...
With the NFL Draft right around the corner (April 29-30) let's look back at the first-ever draft held 70 years ago today on February 8, 1936. The first player drafted by the NFL was also the first Heisman Trophy winner in 1935 only it wasn't called that yet. When University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger got the call from Manhattan's Downtown Athletic Club, he was told he was getting a trophy for being "the most valuable football player east of the Mississippi". It wasn't until the following year that the prize was renamed after the club's athletic director, John W. Heisman...
Jay Berwang-huh ? You might ask who this guy was and I would tell you that he called plays, ran, passed, punted, blocked, tackled, kicked off, kicked extra points and returned punts and kickoffs, whew. Of the 107 opposing team players he faced during his senior year, 104 said the six-foot, 195-pound halfback was the best they had ever seen. Jay was coached by the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg during his freshman year and was the only Heisman winner ever tackled by a future president of the United States, Gerald Ford. That happened in a game against Michigan in 1934...
Berwanger was drafted and signed by the Philadelphia Eagles but Chicago Bear coach George Halas acquired the rights to Jay. When Berwanger asked for $25,000 for a 2-year contract, Halas backed off and he would never play a game in the NFL, choosing instead to become a foam-rubber salesman. He would also write a sports column for the Chicago Daily News. The foam-rubber business paid off, making Berwanger a millionaire. The Heisman Trophy was given to his aunt Gussie who used it as a doorstop...
Jay Berwanger died of lung cancer on June 26, 2002 at the age of 88...
More February 8 Memories...
1910) The American version of the Boy Scouts (which had started in England) is started by William D. Boyce and called the Boy Scouts of America...
1915) Director D.W. Griffith's Civil War epic, "Birth of a Nation" premieres at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles (the 3-hour movie cost $100,000, a bloody fortune at the time)...
1922) President Warren Harding installs a radio in the White House (replacing the milk containers and string)...
1924) The 1st coast-to-coast radio broadcast takes place, a speech by the Bell Telephone VP to a meeting of a men's club in Chicago. Some 50 million people hear it in New York, Providence, Washington, D.C., Oakland and San Francisco...
1936) Jay Berwanger is the 1st player drafted by the NFL (feature story)...
1953) Walt Disney is featured on a one-hour special broadcast on Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" (a year later Disney starts his own show)...
1961) Lawrence Welk is #1 with "Calcutta" (only one take was needed and the instrumental includes a harpsichord)...
1963) Lamar Hunt, owner of the AFL franchise in Dallas moves to Kansas City and starts the Chiefs...
1965) The Supremes release "Stop! in the Name of Love"...
1969) The last issue of the Saturday Evening Post is published...
1969) George Harrison's tonsils are removed and destroyed in London so they cannot be sold (what would that fetch on eBay today ?)...
1971) The Nasdaq stock-market index debuts...
1971) "One Bad Apple" is #1 for The Osmonds...
1973) U.S. Senate leaders name 7 members of a select committe to investigate Watergate...
1974) Ringo Starr releases "You're 16"...
1980) President Jimmy Carter announces a plan to re-introduce draft registration (thanks Jimmuh)...
1981) "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang is #1 and becomes the theme song of the 1981 Super Bowl and is played for the 52 returning American hostages from Iran...
1981) Scott Hamilton, a 5 foot 3, 115 pound jumping jack, receives 2 perfect 6.0's winning the 1st of 4 straight titles in both national and world figure-skating as well as the gold medal at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics...
1986) 5' 7" Spud Webb of Atlanta wins the NBA Slam Dunk competition at the All-Star game...
1990) Del Shannon dies of a self-inflicted gun shot wound at the age of 50...
1992) Right Said Fred is #1 with "I'm Too Sexy"...
1993) General Motors sues NBC alleging that "Dateline NBC" rigged 2 car crashes showing some GM pickups were prone to fires (the suit is settled by NBC the following day)...
1998) NHL stars arrive for the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, removing restrictions against professionals being used in the Olympics (as they were by the NBA "Dream Team" 6 years before in the Summer games at Barcelona)...
2004) Beyonce wins 5 Grammy Awards, tying the record for female performers held by Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keyes and Norah Jones...(The Grammy's air tonight on CBS-TV)...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources are used...
Happy Birthday To...
1932) Former Boston Pops conductor (1978-1995) and composer John Williams...
1940) Ted Koppel...
1941) Nick Nolte...
1942) Comedian Robert Klein...
1953) Mary Steenburgen...
1968) Gary Coleman...
Commentary...
Rex Trailer who made his mark in Philadelphia before starting the children's show "Boomtown" in Boston in 1956 needs some cheering up following a serious fall he suffered. You can send get well cards and notes to Rex at the following address. They will be much appreciated by New England's favorite cowboy:
Rex Trailer, Wingate at Sudbury, 136 Boston Post Road, Sudbury, MA 01776
Today is the 39th day of 2006 with 326 days remaining in the year, 40 days until Spring and 8 days until pitchers and catchers report...
