1944 NFL draft

1944 NFL draft
1944 NFL draft
	Warwick Hotel (location of the draft), photographed in 2010
General information
Date	April 19, 1944
Location	Warwick Hotel; in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Overview
	330 total selections in 32 rounds
League	NFL
First selection	Angelo Bertelli, QB; Boston Yanks
Most selections (30)	each team made 30 picks
Fewest selections (30)	each team made 30 picks
Hall of Famers	4 QB Otto Graham; RB Steve Van Buren; QB Bob Waterfield; DE Ed Sprinkle;
	← 1943 1945 →

The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1]^[2] Perhaps as a tip of the hat to wartime sensibilities, the 1944 draft was officially called the "1943 Preferred Negotiations List" by the league.^[3]

Quick facts General information, Date ...

With the first overall pick of the draft, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Angelo Bertelli.

Although there were 32 rounds in the 1944 draft, each of the league's 11 teams selected 30 players, for a total of 330 players picked.^[4] The five worst-finishing teams picked alone in rounds 2 and 4, while the five best-finishing teams plus the expansion Yanks picked alone in rounds 31 and 32.

By agreement of league owners, the new Yanks franchise received the first pick of the first round and then dropped to 11th in the order of draft selection, making their next choice at 27.^[5] As a mechanism for reestablishing the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers as individual entities after their wartime merger-of-convenience as the so-called Phil-Pitt Steagles in 1943, these teams selected fourth and ninth alternately in the 1943 draft.^[6] This gave Pittsburgh picks 10, 15, 31, and 41 at the top of the draft and Philadelphia picks 5, 20, and 36.

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[5]

[6]

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
1	Boston Yanks	Angelo Bertelli^[7]	Quarterback	Notre Dame
2	Chicago Cardinals	Pat Harder	Fullback	Wisconsin
3	Brooklyn Tigers	Creighton Miller	Halfback	Notre Dame
4	Detroit Lions	Otto Graham	Back	Northwestern
5	Philadelphia Eagles	Steve Van Buren	Halfback	LSU
6	New York Giants	Billy Hillenbrand	Halfback	Indiana
7	Green Bay Packers	Merv Pregulman	Guard	Michigan
8	Washington Redskins	Mike Micka	Back	Colgate
9	Chicago Bears	Ray Evans	Halfback	Kansas
10	Pittsburgh Steelers	Johnny Podesto	Tailback	St. Mary's (CA)
11	Cleveland Rams	Tony Butkovich	Fullback	Purdue

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
12	Chicago Cardinals	Paul Mitchell	Tackle	Minnesota
13	Brooklyn Tigers	Jim Callahan	Back	Texas
14	Detroit Lions	Bob Cifers	Back	Tennessee
15	Pittsburgh Steelers	Bob Odell	End	Penn
16	New York Giants	Lamar Blount	Back	Mississippi State

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
17	Chicago Cardinals	Saxon Judd	End	Tulsa
18	Brooklyn Tigers	Ralph Park	Back	Texas
19	Detroit Lions	Ralph Heywood	End	USC
20	Philadelphia Eagles	Loren LaPrade	Guard	Stanford
21	New York Giants	Clyde Flowers	Tackle	TCU
22	Green Bay Packers	Tom Kuzma	Back	Michigan
23	Washington Redskins	Earl Audet	Tackle	USC
24	Chicago Bears	Rudy Smeja	End	Michigan
25	Pittsburgh Steelers	Bob Gantt	End	Duke
26	Cleveland Rams	Gil Bouley	Tackle	Boston College
27	Boston Yanks	Babe Dimancheff	Back	Purdue

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
28	Chicago Cardinals	Jack Tavener	Center	Indiana
29	Brooklyn Tigers	Rudy Sikich	Tackle	Minnesota
30	Detroit Lions	George Betteridge	Back	Utah
31	Pittsburgh Steelers	Art McCaffray	Tackle	Pacific
32	New York Giants	Herb Kane	Tackle	East Central (OK)

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
33	Chicago Cardinals	Bill Blackburn	Center	Rice
34	Brooklyn Tigers	Verne Ullom	End	Cincinnati
35	Detroit Lions	John Greene	Tackle	Michigan
36	Philadelphia Eagles	Joe Parker	End	Texas
37	New York Giants	Vic Maitland	Tackle	Hobart
38	Green Bay Packers	Bill McPartland	Tackle	St. Mary's (CA)
39	Washington Redskins	Ed Doherty	Quarterback	Boston College
40	Chicago Bears	Abe Croft	End	SMU
41	Pittsburgh Steelers	George Owen	Guard	Wake Forest
42	Cleveland Rams	Bob Waterfield	Quarterback	UCLA
43	Boston Yanks	Larry Rice	Center	Tulane

1944 NFL draft

Player selections

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Round 25

Round 26

Round 27

Round 28

Round 29

Round 30

Round 31

Round 32

Hall of Famers

Notable undrafted players

References

External links

Wikiwand - on

Rnd.	Pick No.	NFL team	Player	Pos.	College	Conf.
32	325	Green Bay Packers	Gonzales, FritoFrito Gonzales	B	SMU	SWC
32	326	Washington Redskins	Sheller, WillardWillard Sheller	B	Stanford	PCC
32	327	Chicago Bears	Endres, BobBob Endres	T	Colgate	Ind.
32	328	Philadelphia Eagles	Majewski, MyronMyron Majewski	T	American International	N/A
32	329	Cleveland Rams	Kudlacz, StanStan Kudlacz	C	Notre Dame	Ind.
32	330	Boston Yanks	Back, Walton RobertsWalton Roberts Back	B	Texas	SWC