American Football Draft
The National Football League Draft takes place on an annual basis and is a very interesting aspect of American Football. The player selection meeting as it is also known, allows the 32 teams in the NFL to recruit players over seven rounds of drafting. The NFL Draft began in 1936 and took place in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia. A blackboard was used which had the names of ninety player written on and on this first occasion, players were traded over nine rounds. Jay Berwanger was the first ever draft pick but he was unable to agree a deal with the Chicago Bears and he ended up never playing professional American Football, deciding instead to preserve his amateur status.
From 1937 to 1946 is considered the early draft period, largely because scouting was not utilised during this time. In 1946, Dan Reeves hired Eddie Kotal to become a scout for the Los Angeles Rams. Kotal was the first scout to ever be used for the NFL draft and the period from 1946 to 1959 became known as the Scouting Era. Another historic event took place in this era when George Taliaferro became the very first African-American to be selected in the draft and actually play for an NFL side.
Betting online has been offered by a selection of sportsbooks for the NFL Draft, but prices on this event are not widely available, likely due to the volatile nature of the draft system. While there are often various rumours prior to the NFL Draft taking place, there are equally some huge shocks when it comes to which team some of the star players end up going to. Obviously, NFL is one of the most popular betting mediums in the world, so it is likely there will be more markets and betting opportunities available on the NFL Draft in the years ahead.
To be eligible to take part in the NFL Draft, players must have been out of high school for at least three years. While they are usually in college or have played college football, attendance is not a requirement for these draft players. The order in which teams are allowed to make their picks is determined by their win-loss records in the previous season, and whether or not they made the playoffs. The worse the team’s record, the better chance they will have of receiving the first NFL Draft pick.
A supplemental draft has also taken place since 1977 which allows players who failed to enter the regular draft to find a team. Often, players can miss the filing deadline through no fault of their own and this supplemental draft is a good thing for both NFL teams and players alike. That being said, in 2013 no players were selected during the supplemental draft. When this situation occurs, the players that are left unselected become eligible to sign for any NFL team as undrafted free agents.