Jay Berwanger (The First-Ever NFL Draft Pick)

When Football Was Football

When Football Is Football is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Your Favorite Sports' Yesteryear.

EPISODE SUMMARY

One of the most important innovations in the history of the National Football League occurred in February of 1936 when the NFL initiated its very first draft of collegiate players. It was a revolutionary concept; each team, beginning with the one having the worst record to the best from the previous season, would be able to secure the sole rights to negotiate with a specific player that the team selected........

Read the entire episode blog post and check out some other cool info regarding this episode here.

WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

Each episode takes the listener back to the very early days of the National Football League. Author Joe Ziemba will share a forgotten or lost story from one of the NFL’s two oldest teams: The Bears and the Cardinals. Team championships, individual exploits, or long-buried items of interest from the earliest years of the NFL will be dusted off and resurrected for the listener. Not for the football faint-of-heart since these programs will document when the struggling Bears nearly went out of business or when Cardinals’ players earned $15 a game and were proud of it! It’s NFL history—with a twist!. See Joe's books below.

Cadets, Canons, and Legends: The Football History of Morgan Park Military Academy

When Football Was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL

Music for the episode - https://www.purple-planet.com/