Nov. 28, 1964 - The NFL won the first skirmish today as the annual draft of college football players was held in New York by the two rival professional football leagues.
The New York Giants, the team with the poorest won‐lost record in the NFL and therefore the one privileged to make the first selection, chose and signed Tucker Frederickson, a highly touted fullback from Auburn.
The first choice in the AFL was Larry Elkins, a split end from Baylor. The Houston Oilers took Elkins but have not signed him. The Baylor star was also a first-round choice of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL.
The New York Jets of the AFL had two choices in the first round. They took Joe Namath, Alabama’s star quarterback who was the second player named in the AFL draft, and Tom Nowatzke, Indiana fullback.
Namath, also chosen by St. Louis of the N.F.L., cannot be signed until Jan. 1, 1965, because his college team will play Texas in the Orange Bowl at Miami on New Year’s Day.
The Jets immediately lost Nowatzke, a 235‐pound runner who was signed by the Detroit Lions, the NFL team that picked him on the first round. The Jets did claim one player to have been signed yesterday. He is Vernon Biggs, a highly regarded defensive lineman from Jackson State College in Mississippi.
Today’s draft, one held by telephone between various team offices and headquarters here in hotels one block apart, was the first conducted simultaneously by the two leagues who are competitive rivals in the areas of television contracts and signing college players.
In the previous five years, the young AFL held its draft in advance of the 45‐year‐old NFL, which inaugurated this system of selection in 1935.
Because both leagues have new lucrative television contracts, bonuses paid to the players as incentives for signing were expected to set records. Five of the AFL teams had been given advances of $250,000 each by NBC, the firm whose $34 million, five‐year TV contract with the league begins next season.
The drafts proceeded very slowly. The NFL’s first round concluded at 5 p.m., eight hours after the Giants had picked Frederickson to open the proceedings at 9 a.m.
The delays were caused as representatives of both leagues stationed around the nation near key players, discussed terms with the athletes, and evaluated their chances to sign the men of their choice.
The AFL draft, which began at 8 a.m., moved with greater speed, and by 5 p.m. five rounds had been completed. A complete draft consists of 20 rounds of selections for each team. The AFL’s eight teams are allotted seven additional rounds to pick “futures,” meaning players with mother year of college football eligibility.
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