Background
Draft Proposal
In 1935, Bert Bell proposed his idea to hold an annual player draft to level the playing field and to make sure franchises stayed financially viable. The league’s owners voted unanimously to adopt his proposal. The first draft in NFL history was later decided to be the following year.
At this time in sports, there were no scouts to look for actual skill in college players. The players were selected by the physique that they possessed. Being able to pick out the diamonds in the rough was hard for clubs because of their lack of knowledge. The teams that were able to find the players they needed had intel from teens or young adults who had attended college games the athletes played in.
Joe Stydahar recovers Sammy Baugh's fumble in the 1940's championship game
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