Eagles history: Bert Bell’s frustrations lead to the birth of the first NFL Draft
Once upon a time, in the early 1930s to be exact, Stan Kostka was the Bryce Young/C.J. Stroud of his day. He was helping to lay the groundwork for the NFL Draft without even knowing that was what he was doing,
There was no annual selection meeting, so he decided to hold out for the highest possible offer an NFL team could give him. He even ran for Mayor of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota while he waited. Eventually, he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers for a record-setting $5,000 contract. Meanwhile, in our great nation’s first capital, Bert Bell was trying to build a winner.
Bell was the co-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and having issues with fielding a competitive team, As a result, the Birds weren’t selling any tickets. Players signed with the teams that paid the most money (or the teams that won most often), and Eagles fans had to watch the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and Washington dominate with football envy while Philly continued to struggle.
The Eagles get their wish and the NFL Draft is born. We have come a long way since then.
We probably don’t need to tell you that good old Bert and the Eagles couldn’t come up with the $5,000 to sign Stan Kostka, but this story has a happy ending. Necessity is the mother of invention, and our hero, fortunately, had an idea. Thank goodness he did.
Bell believed the only way for the NFL to sustain long-term success was to create a system that allowed every franchise equal opportunity to land players that were available.
At the league meeting in 1935, he proposed a selection process be created to help foster parity. His proposal was adopted unanimously. Pro football instituted the NFL Draft in February of 1936, and the rest, as we say is history.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia was the site of the selection meeting. 90 names were written on a blackboard. There were no scouting departments, mock drafts, or Big Boards. There was no ESPN, NFL Network, or Twitter. All we needed was nine rounds and a few good men.
After two days of work, the Eagles had officially landed its first draft class. Here’s a look at the players they landed.
- Jay Berwanger
- John McCauley
- Wes Muller
- Bill Wallace
- Harry Shuford
- Al Barabas
- Jac Weller
- Pepper Constable
- Paul Pauk
81 years later, Philly again hosted the draft, this time at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2017. It was the first selection meeting held in the City of Brotherly Love since 1961, but another example of just how far the event and this great game we love have come.
We’ve seen the birth of scouting, better technology, compensatory picks, and one of the best television products in sports. Each year, we spend months debating what the Eagles’ plan of attack ought to be. The fun will continue this offseason, but we couldn’t neglect the opportunity to tip the cap to our ‘man with the plan’, Bert Bell.
A member of both the Eagles Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame, he served in the U.S. Army as a First Sergeant and in World War I on the Western Front, but we thank him for a different type of service.
His contribution to our great game helped shape it into what it is now. His brainchild has stood the test of time, and though he isn’t always mentioned, he’s on our minds every April.
