National Football League draft
The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
With the first overall pick of the draft, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Angelo Bertelli .
Although there were 32 rounds in the 1944 draft, each of the league's 11 teams selected 30 players, for a total of 330 players picked.[ 4]
By agreement of league owners, the new Yanks franchise received the first pick of the first round and then dropped to 11th in the order of draft selection, making their next choice at 27.[ 5] Phil-Pitt Steagles in 1943, these teams selected fourth and ninth alternately in the 1943 draft.[ 6]
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 28 Chicago Cardinals Jack Tavener Center Indiana 29 Brooklyn Tigers Rudy Sikich Tackle Minnesota 30 Detroit Lions George Betteridge Back Utah 31 Pittsburgh Steelers Art McCaffray Tackle Pacific 32 New York Giants Herb Kane Tackle East Central (OK)
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 33 Chicago Cardinals Bill Blackburn Center Rice 34 Brooklyn Tigers Verne Ullom End Cincinnati 35 Detroit Lions John Greene Tackle Michigan 36 Philadelphia Eagles Joe Parker End Texas 37 New York Giants Vic Maitland Tackle Hobart 38 Green Bay Packers Bill McPartland Tackle St. Mary's (CA) 39 Washington Redskins Ed Doherty Quarterback Boston College 40 Chicago Bears Abe Croft End SMU 41 Pittsburgh Steelers George Owen Guard Wake Forest 42 Cleveland Rams Bob Waterfield Quarterback UCLA 43 Boston Yanks Larry Rice Center Tulane
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 55 Chicago Cardinals Rodger Smith Back Texas Tech 56 Brooklyn Tigers Bob Graiziger Guard Minnesota 57 Detroit Lions Paul Briggs Tackle Colorado 58 Philadelphia Eagles Vic Kulbitski Back Minnesota 59 New York Giants Herm Frickey Back Minnesota 60 Green Bay Packers Jack Tracy End Washington 61 Washington Redskins Hal Fischer Guard Texas 62 Chicago Bears Darwin Seeley Center Stanford 63 Pittsburgh Steelers Jesse Freitas Back Santa Clara 64 Cleveland Rams George Cheverko Back Fordham 65 Boston Yanks Mike Andrews End NC State
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 88 Chicago Cardinals Lou Saban Back Indiana 89 Brooklyn Tigers Aldo Cenci Back Penn State 90 Detroit Lions Herb Hein End Minnesota 91 Pittsburgh Steelers Val Jansante End Duquesne 92 New York Giants Ernie Beamer End Duke 93 Green Bay Packers Bob Koch Back Oregon 94 Washington Redskins Bob Sneddon Back St. Mary's (CA) 95 Chicago Bears Bill Starford Center Wake Forest 96 Philadelphia Eagles John Perko Guard Minnesota 97 Cleveland Rams Bob Shaw End Ohio State 98 Boston Yanks Angelo Sisti Tackle Boston College
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 99 Chicago Cardinals Fran Griffin Tackle Holy Cross 100 Brooklyn Tigers John Bicaninch Guard Minnesota 101 Detroit Lions Paul White Back Michigan 102 Philadelphia Eagles Elliott Ormsbee Back Bradley 103 New York Giants Carl Grate Guard Georgia 104 Green Bay Packers Virgil Johnson End Arkansas 105 Washington Redskins Bill Aldworth Tackle Minnesota 106 Chicago Bears Lin Houston Guard Ohio State 107 Pittsburgh Steelers Carl Buda Guard Tulsa 108 Cleveland Rams Joe Andrejco Back Fordham 109 Boston Yanks Gene Long Guard Kansas
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 110 Chicago Cardinals Leo Daniels Back Texas A&M 111 Brooklyn Tigers Jim Tyree End Oklahoma 112 Detroit Lions Jack Lescoulie Guard UCLA 113 Pittsburgh Steelers Sam Gray End Tulsa 114 New York Giants Tommy Mont Back Maryland 115 Green Bay Packers Roy Giusti Back St. Mary's (CA) 116 Washington Redskins Bill Joslyn Back Stanford 117 Chicago Bears J. P. Moore Back Vanderbilt 118 Philadelphia Eagles Earle Parsons Back USC 119 Cleveland Rams Pat Filley Guard Notre Dame 120 Boston Yanks Ed Fiorentino End Boston College
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 121 Chicago Cardinals Bobby Dobbs Back Tulsa 122 Brooklyn Tigers Jim Wright Center SMU 123 Detroit Lions Doug Rehor Back Dickinson 124 Philadelphia Eagles Bob Hanzlik End Wisconsin 125 New York Giants Ray Poole End Ole Miss 126 Green Bay Packers Bill Baughman Center Alabama 127 Washington Redskins Charley Walker Center Kentucky 128 Chicago Bears Bill Duffey End Georgetown 129 Pittsburgh Steelers Bob Longacre Back William & Mary 130 Cleveland Rams Bob Erickson Back Washington 131 Boston Yanks Mike Zeleznak Back Kansas State
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 132 Chicago Cardinals Van Hall Back TCU 133 Brooklyn Tigers John Genis Tackle Illinois 134 Detroit Lions Bill Pritula Center Michigan 135 Pittsburgh Steelers Les Zetty End Muhlenberg 136 New York Giants Bert Corley Center Mississippi State 137 Green Bay Packers Don Griffin Back Illinois 138 Washington Redskins Boyd Clement Center Oregon State 139 Chicago Bears Joe Hartley Tackle LSU 140 Philadelphia Eagles Jim Talley Center LSU 141 Cleveland Rams Mel Maceau Center Marquette 142 Boston Yanks John Maskas Tackle VPI
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 143 Chicago Cardinals Jack Carpenter Tackle Missouri 144 Brooklyn Tigers Spook Murphy Back Mississippi State 145 Detroit Lions Jim Molich End Fresno State 146 Philadelphia Eagles Dom Fusci Tackle South Carolina 147 New York Giants Ollie Poole End Ole Miss 148 Green Bay Packers Bert Gissler End Nebraska 149 Washington Redskins Jim Gaffney Back Tennessee 150 Chicago Bears Bill Milner Guard Duke 151 Pittsburgh Steelers Jim Myers Guard Tennessee 152 Cleveland Rams Bud Hubbell End Tennessee 153 Boston Yanks John Bond Back TCU
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 154 Chicago Cardinals Charley Csuri Tackle Ohio State 155 Brooklyn Tigers Doug Essick End USC 156 Detroit Lions Jules Yakapovich Back Colgate 157 Pittsburgh Steelers Joe Gottlieb Back Duquesne 158 New York Giants Ralph Ellsworth Back Texas 159 Green Bay Packers Lou Shelton Back Oregon State 160 Washington Redskins Ted Ossowski Tackle Oregon State 161 Chicago Bears Buckets Hirsch Back Northwestern 162 Philadelphia Eagles Johnny Green End Tulsa 163 Cleveland Rams John Aguirre Tackle USC 164 Boston Yanks Roger Antaya Guard Dartmouth
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 165 Chicago Cardinals Joe Magliolo Back Texas 166 Brooklyn Tigers Red Maley Back SMU 167 Detroit Lions Jack Helms Tackle Georgia Tech 168 Philadelphia Eagles Jackie Freeman Back William & Mary 169 New York Giants Ed Schneider Tackle Washburn 170 Green Bay Packers Charley Cusick Guard Colgate 171 Washington Redskins Tom Davis Back Duke 172 Chicago Bears Ed Ryckeley End Georgia Tech 173 Pittsburgh Steelers Hugh Davis Back Michigan State 174 Cleveland Rams Aubrey Clayton Back Auburn 175 Boston Yanks Marshall Shurnas End Missouri
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 176 Chicago Cardinals Walt Szot Tackle Bucknell 177 Brooklyn Tigers Don Willer Tackle USC 178 Detroit Lions Elmer Madarik Back Detroit 179 Pittsburgh Steelers Bill Sullivan End Villanova 180 New York Giants Marcel Gres Tackle Texas 181 Green Bay Packers Hugh Cox Back North Carolina 182 Washington Redskins John Batorski End Colgate 183 Chicago Bears Howdy Plasman Back Miami (FL) 184 Philadelphia Eagles Joe Kane Back Penn 185 Cleveland Rams Ziggy Zamlynski Back Villanova 186 Boston Yanks Reldon Bennett Tackle LSU
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 187 Chicago Cardinals Jack Adams End Presbyterian 188 Brooklyn Tigers Howard Callanan Back USC 189 Detroit Lions Bill Eubank End Mississippi State 190 Philadelphia Eagles Tony Schiro Guard Santa Clara 191 New York Giants Neil Brooks Back Washington 192 Green Bay Packers Kermit Davis End Mississippi State 193 Washington Redskins Clyde Ehrhardt Center Georgia 194 Chicago Bears Bear French Tackle Purdue 195 Pittsburgh Steelers Jimmy Woodside Center Temple 196 Cleveland Rams Bob McBride Guard Notre Dame 197 Boston Yanks Art Faircloth Back NC State
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 198 Chicago Cardinals Ray Kuffel End Marquette 199 Brooklyn Tigers George Doherty Tackle Louisiana Tech 200 Detroit Lions Ray Ahlstrom Back St. Mary's (CA) 201 Pittsburgh Steelers Bill Miller Back Penn 202 New York Giants Pete Kane Back Geneva 203 Green Bay Packers Bob Johnson Center Purdue 204 Washington Redskins Dave Brown End UCLA 205 Chicago Bears Paul Taylor Back USC 206 Philadelphia Eagles Norm Michael [ 8] Back Syracuse 207 Cleveland Rams Joe Yackanich Tackle Fordham 208 Boston Yanks Tony Bilotti Guard St. Mary's (CA)
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 209 Chicago Cardinals Jack West End Texas 210 Brooklyn Tigers Mike Mihalic Guard Mississippi State 211 Detroit Lions Alex Kapter Guard Northwestern 212 Philadelphia Eagles Eddie Kulakowski Tackle West Virginia 213 New York Giants Kit Kittrell Back Baylor 214 Green Bay Packers Jim Cox Tackle Stanford 215 Washington Redskins Bill Ivy Tackle Northwestern 216 Chicago Bears Hank Margarita Back Brown 217 Pittsburgh Steelers Bob Lawson End Holy Cross 218 Cleveland Rams John Creevey Back Notre Dame 219 Boston Yanks Bill Furman Tackle Washington & Lee
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 220 Chicago Cardinals Jack Esorcia Back Illinois State 221 Brooklyn Tigers Ted Cook End Alabama 222 Detroit Lions Vick Clark Back Texas Western 223 Pittsburgh Steelers Hank Caver Back Presbyterian 224 New York Giants Roy Renfro Guard Fresno State 225 Green Bay Packers Cliff Anderson End Minnesota 226 Washington Redskins Bruce Babcock Back Rochester 227 Chicago Bears Ed Davis Back Oklahoma 228 Philadelphia Eagles Al Postus Back Villanova 229 Cleveland Rams David Paul Jones Back Arkansas 230 Boston Yanks Clare Morford Guard Oklahoma
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 231 Chicago Cardinals Don Buffmire Back Northwestern 232 Brooklyn Tigers Bucky Gillenwater Tackle Texas 233 Detroit Lions Max Fischer Center Oklahoma 234 Philadelphia Eagles Milt Smith End UCLA 235 New York Giants John Dubzinski Guard Boston College 236 Green Bay Packers John Wesley Perry Back Duke 237 Washington Redskins Bill Reinhard Back California 238 Chicago Bears Dick Jamison Tackle USC 239 Pittsburgh Steelers Paul Carter Tackle Michigan State 240 Cleveland Rams Jim Pharr Center Auburn 241 Boston Yanks Dilton Richmond End LSU
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 242 Chicago Cardinals Bob Nanni Tackle Duke 243 Brooklyn Tigers Jack Baldwin Center Centenary 244 Detroit Lions Chuck Jacoby Back Indiana 245 Pittsburgh Steelers Dick Holben Tackle Muhlenberg 246 New York Giants Howard Beyer Center Michigan State 247 Green Bay Packers Pete DeMaria Guard Purdue 248 Washington Redskins Ed Bauer Guard South Carolina 249 Chicago Bears Jack Bortka Back Kansas State 250 Philadelphia Eagles Earl Klapstein Tackle Pacific 251 Cleveland Rams Joe Warlick Back Mississippi State 252 Boston Yanks Courtney Lawlor Back Richmond
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 253 Chicago Cardinals John McGinnis End Notre Dame 254 Brooklyn Tigers Dick Manning Back USC 255 Detroit Lions Bob McCarthy End St. Mary's (CA) 256 Philadelphia Eagles Bob Frisbee Back Stanford 257 New York Giants Ben Babula Back Fordham 258 Green Bay Packers Len Liss Tackle Marquette 259 Washington Redskins Smokey Martin Back Cornell 260 Chicago Bears Roy Ruskusky End St. Mary's (CA) 261 Pittsburgh Steelers Howard Tippee Back Iowa State 262 Cleveland Rams Bert Gianelli Guard Santa Clara 263 Boston Yanks Howard Debus Back Nebraska
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 264 Chicago Cardinals Warren Hodges Tackle Kansas 265 Brooklyn Tigers Ray Grierson End Illinois 266 Detroit Lions Stan Hendrickson End Colorado 267 Pittsburgh Steelers Charley Malmberg Tackle Rice 268 New York Giants Theophilus Andrew Fitanides Back New Hampshire 269 Green Bay Packers Ray Jordan Back North Carolina 270 Washington Redskins Lee Gustafson Back Oregon State 271 Chicago Bears Harry Franck Back Northwestern 272 Philadelphia Eagles Ed Eiden Back Scranton 273 Cleveland Rams Charley Kuhn Back Kentucky 274 Boston Yanks Bill Portwood End Kentucky
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 275 Chicago Cardinals Bill Earley Back Notre Dame 276 Brooklyn Tigers Joe Golding Back Oklahoma 277 Detroit Lions Fred Bouldin Back Missouri 278 Philadelphia Eagles Barney Burdick End Creighton 279 New York Giants Andy Bires End Alabama 280 Green Bay Packers Al Grubaugh Tackle Nebraska 281 Washington Redskins Nick Pappas Tackle Utah 282 Chicago Bears Jack McKewan Tackle Alabama 283 Pittsburgh Steelers Russ Ashbaugh Back Notre Dame 284 Cleveland Rams Jim Smith Tackle Colorado 285 Boston Yanks Harold Collins Guard Southwestern (TX)
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 286 Chicago Cardinals Bob Davis Guard Oregon 287 Brooklyn Tigers Bob Zimny Tackle Indiana 288 Detroit Lions Dick McElwee Back West Virginia 289 Pittsburgh Steelers Pat Petroski Guard Miami (FL) 290 New York Giants Tom Rock End Columbia 291 Green Bay Packers A. B. Howard End Mississippi State 292 Washington Redskins Lindsey Bowen End Rice 293 Chicago Bears Charlie Mitchell Back Tulsa 294 Philadelphia Eagles Nick Daukas Tackle Dartmouth 295 Cleveland Rams Ray Donelli Back Duquesne 296 Boston Yanks Aubrey Gill Center Texas
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 297 Chicago Cardinals Vince DiFrancesca Tackle Northwestern 298 Brooklyn Tigers Marty Frohm Tackle Mississippi State 299 Detroit Lions Bob Derleth Tackle Michigan 300 Philadelphia Eagles Pasquale Darone Guard Boston College 301 New York Giants Walt Cyhel Tackle Creighton 302 Green Bay Packers Paul Paladino Guard Arkansas 303 Washington Redskins Bill Gustafson Tackle Washington State 304 Chicago Bears Pat Boyle Guard Wisconsin 305 Pittsburgh Steelers Joe Tosti End Scranton 306 Cleveland Rams John Hughes End Mississippi State 307 Boston Yanks Chet Wasilewski Back Holy Cross
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 308 Chicago Cardinals Lloyd Ott Center NC State 309 Brooklyn Tigers Howard Blose Back Cornell 310 Detroit Lions George Dick End Kansas 311 Pittsburgh Steelers Len Seelinger Back Wisconsin 312 New York Giants Francis Nelson Back Baylor 313 Green Bay Packers Bob Butchofsky Back Texas A&M 314 Washington Redskins Bill Yablonski Center Holy Cross 315 Chicago Bears Bernie Pepper Tackle Missouri 316 Philadelphia Eagles Bill Clark Tackle Colorado College 317 Cleveland Rams Dick McPhee Back Georgia 318 Boston Yanks Gus Letchas Back Georgia
Pick # NFL team Player Position College 319 Green Bay Packers Russ Deal Guard Indiana 320 Washington Redskins Buster Hollingbery Center Washington State 321 Chicago Bears Karl Vogt Tackle Villanova 322 Philadelphia Eagles Pete Pasko End East Stroudsburg 323 Cleveland Rams Jim McLeod End LSU 324 Boston Yanks Ralph Calcagni Tackle Penn
Otto Graham , quarterback from Northwestern taken 1st round 4th overall by the Detroit Lions.Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.[ 9] Steve Van Buren , halfback from LSU taken 1st round 5th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles.Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.[ 9] Bob Waterfield , quarterback from UCLA taken 5th round 42nd overall by the Cleveland Rams.Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1965.[ 9] Ed Sprinkle , guard/defensive end from Navy taken undrafted by the Chicago Bears.Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2020.[ 10] Notable undrafted players [ edit ] ^ Salomone, Dan (October 2, 2014). "NFL Draft headed to Chicago in 2015" . Giants.com . New York Giants . Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015 . ^ "NFL Draft Locations" . www.footballgeography.com . October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2014 .^ George Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944. Chicago: National Football League, 1944; p. 77. ^ Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944, pp. 77–87, passim. ^ Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944, p. 87. ^ Strickler (ed.), Record and Rules Manual, 1944, pp. 80, 85. ^ Angelo Bertelli, 1943 Heisman Trophy winner "Heisman Trophy" . Archived from the original on October 7, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2008 . ^ Michael did not learn that he had been drafted until 1999, when he saw his name in a list of every drafted Syracuse player. Merron, Jeff (April 18, 2005). "The strangest NFL draft moments" . ESPN. Retrieved December 18, 2014 . ^ a b c List of 1960s Hall of Fame Inductee's at profootballhof.com "Pro Football Hall of Fame" . Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2008 . ^ Mayer, Larry (January 15, 2020). "Ex-Bears great Sprinkle elected to Hall of Fame" . chicagobears.com . Former Bears defensive end Ed Sprinkle has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020. ^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
