He was the first player ever to be drafted in the NFL, but he never played a professional game

The NFL draft is broadcast live on television every year as millions tune in and hundreds of thousands more attend in person to revel in the hoopla of it all.

The NFL draft is broadcast live on television every year as millions tune in and hundreds of thousands more attend in person to revel in the hoopla of it all. It’s a far cry from the event’s humble beginnings, when the player picked first didn’t even know it was happening and soon walked away from the game without ever earning a cent. There are no tackles or touchdowns, but the draft has become one of the biggest sports events of the year, because the fans know that a three-day event in April could impact the fortunes of their teams for years to come. Two-hundred-fifty-seven players will be drafted this week in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and anyone chosen in the first round – which begins at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday – will be set for life with guaranteed multi-million-dollar contracts. It was all very different in the first year of the draft back in 1936 when just 81 players were selected through nine rounds in the inaugural draft. There was little doubt that University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger would go first that year. At 6-foot tall and 195 pounds, the standout player of his class had just received the first ever Heisman Trophy and been named as the Chicago Tribune’s Big 10 player of the year. “He played offense, defense and special teams for Chicago,” explained Landon Bundy, the school’s director of sports information and promotions, to CNN. “He pretty much never came off the field and he played every single position there was on defense.” Bundy said that Berwanger was also the team’s kicker, so he’d often score a touchdown and then kick the extra point himself.