Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
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No matter what the category, the Packers are usually all but a cinch to have the best and deepest treasure trove of stories of any franchise in the National Football League. Draft stories are no exception and it's hard to imagine many other teams having a better high five of inspirational picks.
To be eligible here, a player had to be selected 200th or later in an NFL Draft since the first in 1936. While several rookie free agents also have offered interesting backstories, only draft picks were considered. The rankings were based on the quality of a player's career and weighted toward those who were drafted in later rounds and with later picks.
The 200 cutoff left out only one player who would seem to belong on the list, but didn't qualify: halfback Elijah Pitts of tiny Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. Drafted in the 13th round in 1961, Pitts was a true sleeper in the days when players were chosen that other NFL teams sitting in the hotel ballrooms where the selections were made never even heard of. Pitts was one of them, but he was only the 180th choice in that year's draft.
Another highly inspirational story was Ball State halfback Tim Brown, who was a 27th-round selection and the 313th overall choice in 1959. But Brown played in just one game for the Packers and was cut by first-year coach Vince Lombardi. At 198 pounds, Brown didn't fit Lombardi's preference for big halfbacks and then fumbled on back-to-back plays in practice following the opener against the Bears and was a goner. Lombardi cut him on Wednesday and told Brown on the way out the door that he was a "chronic fumbler." The next year, Philadelphia signed Brown, who died in early April at age 82, and he finished his career there as the Eagles' second all-time rusher behind Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren.
It wasn't until the eighth draft in 1943, when it was expanded from 20 to 30 rounds, that as many as 200 players were picked. Since the draft was reduced to seven rounds in 1993, only seventh-rounders, except in limited cases, qualified.