For the last 11 years, the NFL Draft has taken place in various NFL cities around the country. From 1965 to 2014, the Draft was held exclusively in NYC which is where the league headquarters is located. Prior to 1965 there was no pattern to where the draft was held; mostly it was in cities where there were NFL teams but it took place in Milwaukee once and unless you count Milwaukee as a suburb of Green Bay – – or vice versa – – that draft was “an orphan”. What brings that to mind today is a report on the planning for the 2027 NFL Draft to be held in the DC area; the report cited projections of more than 1 million fans from around the country in attendance.
The report also cited that this would be the second time the NFL Draft would take place in DC; the last time was in 1941; it was not nearly a big deal then. On reading that, I wondered if the league was moving the Draft around to prior venues or if it was prioritizing new venues.
- Chicago and Philly hosted 3 Drafts after 2015.
- The rest of the drafts were in “new territory” – – unless you count the 2025 Draft as taking place in Green Bay which is a suburb of Milwaukee or vice versa.
The venues for NFL Drafts have been set as far ahead as 2031:
- 2026 – – Pittsburgh
- 2027 – – DC
- 2028 – – Indy
- 2029 – – Atlanta
- 2030 – – Seattle
- 2031 – – Miami
Looking at that list, the only “repeat” Draft city is Pittsburgh which was the site of the 1948 NFL Draft. Having nothing better to do and with Google at the ready, I decided to look at that 1948 Draft where Pittsburgh was the host city. Here is the first round of that Draft:
- Harry Gilmer (QB) Alabama – – Washington
- Skip Minisi (RB) Penn – – Giants
- Bobby Layne (QB) Texas – – Chicago Bears
- Lowell Tew (FB) Alabama – – Washington
- Vaughn Mancha (C) Alabama – – Boston
- YA Tittle (QB) LSU – – Detroit
- Jug Girard (TE) Wisconsin – – Green Bay
- Clyde Scott (RB) Arkansas – – Philly
- Dan Edwards (TE) Georgia – – Pittsburgh
- Max Bumgardner (DE) Texas – – Chicago Bears
- Jim Spavital (FB) Oklahoma St. – – Chicago Cardinals
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
- Note that three QBs were drafted in the first round in 1948 and two of them made it to the Hall of Fame.
- Three players from Alabama and two from Texas went in Round 1.
The Chicago Cardinals are now the Arizona Cardinals. They moved to St. Louis in 1960 and played there until 1988 when they moved to the Southwest. The Boston Yanks went through so many changes that the team should be called “The Metamorphoses”. Check this out:
- Boston Yanks => NY Bulldogs
- NY Bulldogs => NY Yanks
- NY Yanks => Dallas Texans
- Dallas Texans => Baltimore Colts
- Baltimore Colts => Indy Colts
Moving on … Yesterday, I mentioned a gambling scandal in Turkey involving players and referees. Here are some more reports of what is going on over there. Here in the US, we are surprised when three of four players are accused of “shady behaviors” and associations with seedy characters. Folks in Turkey must scoff at that.
- A total of 1,024 players has been suspended by the Turkish Football Federation.
- 24 players on 14 of the 18 teams in the top tier of Turkish football are suspended.
- There are 571 match officials in Turkish football. 371 of them have betting accounts.
- One official had placed 18,277 bets in his account.
- Ten other officials had placed more than 10,000 bets in their accounts.
- 149 of the match officials have been suspended.
- Turkish authorities have issued “detention orders” for 21 people including 17 referees and even a team chairman.
Somewhere this morning, Tim Donaghy is doing a slow-clap …
Finally, this head-scratcher from George Carlin:
“Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………