Editing NFL draft (section)

===The first draft (1936)===
The [[1936 NFL draft|first NFL draft]] began at the [[Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia|Ritz-Carlton Hotel]] in [[Philadelphia]] on February 8, 1936.<ref name="Peterson, 1997, p. 119."/><ref name="Williams, 2006, pp. 41-42."/> Ninety names were written on a blackboard in the meeting room from which the teams would choose.<ref name="Lyons, 2010, p. 60.">Lyons, 2010, p. 60.</ref><ref name="Willis, 2010, p. 350.">Willis, 2010, p. 350.</ref> As no team had a scouting department, the list was created from either print media sources, visits to local colleges by team executives, or by recommendations to team executives.<ref name="Lyons, 2010, p. 60."/><ref name="Willis, 2010, p. 350."/><ref name="Davis, 2005, p. 131.">Davis, 2005, p. 131.</ref> The draft would last for nine rounds,<ref name="Williams, 2006, pp. 41-42."/><ref name="Willis, 2010, p. 350."/><ref name="Lyons, 2010, Lyons 5 to 9 rounds, p. 60">Lyons and Willis write the draft was originally set up to have only five rounds, but it was changed to nine rounds during the selection meeting. Lyons, 2010, p. 350.</ref> and it had no media coverage.<ref name="Williams, 2006, pp. 41-42."/> The first player ever selected in the draft was [[Jay Berwanger]]. Bell, prior to the draft, was not successfully able to negotiate a contract with Berwanger so Bell traded him to the [[Chicago Bears|Bears]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Chicago Bears Granted Option on Jay Berwanger |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XaVQAAAAIBAJ&pg=3397,1514709&hl=en |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal]] |page=D4 |date=February 10, 1936 |access-date=October 2, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Milwaukee Journal implies the Eagles never attempted to negotiate with Berwanger.</ref><ref name="Lyons, 2010, Bell's offer to Berwanger, p. 60.">Lyons writes Bell offer of $150 per game was declined by Berwanger. Lyons, 2010, p. 60.</ref><ref name="Willis, 2010, p. 351.">Willis, 2010, p. 351.</ref> [[George Halas]], owner of the Bears, was also unsuccessful in signing Berwanger.<ref name="Davis, 2005, Halas' offer to Berwanger, pp. 131-132.">Davis writes Berwanger requested a two-year no cut contract for $12,500 per year which George Halas declined to meet. Davis, 2005, pp. 131–132.</ref> Berwanger's decision to not play in the NFL was not unusual, as only twenty-four of the eighty-one players selected chose to play in the NFL that year.<ref name="Willis, 2010, Players change their minds., p. 351.">Willis writes four players chosen in the draft eventually changed their minds and entered into the NFL in 1937. Willis, 2010, p. 351.</ref> The draft was recessed on the first day and it was continued and finished on the next day.<ref name="Lyons, 2010, p. 59.">Lyons, 2010, p. 59.</ref>

This draft saw the emergence of [[Wellington Mara]] as a savant, as he had been subscribing to magazines and local and out-of-town papers to build up dossiers of college players across the country, which resulted in the Giants' drafting of [[Tuffy Leemans]].<ref name="Devito, 2006, p. 85.">Devito, 2006, p. 85.</ref> As a result of the institution of the draft, [[Tim Mara]], owner of the Giants, reduced [[Ken Strong]]'s salary offer to $3,200 from $6,000 a year for [[1936 NFL season|1936]] because Mara felt the draft would alter the salary structure of the NFL.<ref name="Coenen, 2005, pp. 96-97.">Coenen, 2005, pp. 96–97.</ref> Generally, the franchises' exclusivity in negotiating with draft picks produced the immediate effect of, depending on sources, stopping the escalating salaries of new players,<ref name="Williams, 2006, pp. 41-42."/><ref name="Baldwin, 2000, p. 192."/> or reducing their salaries.<ref name="Coenen, 2005. p. 90.">Coenen, 2005, p. 90.</ref><ref name="Devito, 2006, pp. 84.">"The players coming out of college were not happy, as salaries dropped by almost half." Devito, 2006, pp. 84.</ref>  Consequently, contemporary critics charged it was anti-labor.<ref name="Peterson, 1997, pp. 119–120.">Peterson, 1997, pp. 119–120.</ref>