Official NFL Release
HEISMAN TO FIRST OVERALL: Quarterback SAM BRADFORD, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2008, became just the ninth winner of the award to be selected first overall since the inception of the common NFL Draft in 1967. Cincinnati Bengals QB CARSON PALMER was the most recent such player after being selected with the top pick in 2003.
HEISMAN TROPHY WINNERS SELECTED FIRST OVERALL (SINCE 1967)
PLAYER |
YEAR DRAFTED |
YEAR OF HEISMAN |
TEAM |
SCHOOL |
O.J. Simpson |
1969 |
1968 |
Buffalo |
USC |
Jim Plunkett |
1971 |
1970 |
New England |
Stanford |
Earl Campbell |
1978 |
1977 |
Houston |
Texas |
Billy Sims |
1980 |
1978 |
Detroit |
Oklahoma |
George Rodgers |
1981 |
1980 |
New Orleans |
South Carolina |
Bo Jackson |
1986 |
1985 |
Tampa Bay |
Auburn |
Vinny Testaverde |
1987 |
1986 |
Tampa Bay |
Miami |
Carson Palmer |
2003 |
2002 |
Cincinnati |
USC |
Sam Bradford |
2010 |
2008 |
St. Louis |
Oklahoma |
In addition to Bradford, 2007 Heisman Trophy-winning QB TIM TEBOW was the No. 25 overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft, marking just the third time since 1990 that two Heisman Trophy winners were selected in the same draft.
HEISMAN TROPHY WINNERS SELECTED IN SAME DRAFT (SINCE 1990)
PLAYER |
DRAFT YEAR |
HEISMAN YEAR |
TEAM |
ROUND (PICK) |
SCHOOL |
Desmond Howard |
1992 |
1991 |
Washington |
Round 1, No. 4 |
Michigan |
Ty Detmer |
1992 |
1990 |
Green Bay |
Round 9, No. 230 |
BYU |
Reggie Bush |
2006 |
2005 |
New Orleans |
Round 1, No. 2 |
USC |
Matt Leinart |
2006 |
2004 |
Arizona |
Round 1, No. 10 |
USC |
Sam Bradford |
2010 |
2008 |
St. Louis |
Round 1, No. 1 |
Oklahoma |
Tim Tebow |
2010 |
2007 |
Denver |
Round 1, No. 25 |
Florida |
BOOMER SOONER!: Oklahoma became the first college in NFL Draft history to have three players selected among the first four picks: Bradford (No. 1 overall, St. Louis), defensive tackle GERALD MC COY (No. 3 overall, Tampa Bay) and tackleTRENT WILLIAMS (No. 4 overall, Washington).
In addition to Oklahoma, only four other schools have had three players selected in the top five in the same year in NFL Draft history: Southern California (1977), Michigan State (1967), Alabama (1948) and Notre Dame (1946).
1946 NOTRE DAME |
|
1948 ALABAMA |
||||
PLAYER |
TEAM |
DRAFTED |
|
PLAYER |
TEAM |
DRAFTED |
Boley Dancewicz |
Boston Yanks |
Round 1, No. 1 |
Harry Gilmer |
Washington |
Round 1, No. 1 |
|
Johnny Lujack |
Round 1, No. 4 |
Lowell Tew |
Washington |
Round 1, No. 4 |
||
George Connor |
N.Y. Giants |
Round 1, No. 5 |
Vaughn Mancha |
Boston Yanks |
Round 1, No. 5 |
|
1967 MICHIGAN STATE |
|
1977 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA |
||||
PLAYER |
TEAM |
DRAFTED |
|
PLAYER |
TEAM |
DRAFTED |
Bubba Smith |
Baltimore Colts |
Round 1, No. 1 |
Ricky Bell |
Tampa Bay |
Round 1, No. 1 |
|
Clint Jones |
Minnesota |
Round 1, No. 2 |
Marvin Powell |
N.Y. Jets |
Round 1, No. 4 |
|
George Webster |
Houston Oilers |
Round 1, No. 5 |
Gary Jeter |
N.Y. Giants |
Round 1, No. 5 |
Bradford, McCoy and Williams were in attendance at Radio City Music Hall to hear their names called, as Oklahoma also became the first school to have three players attend the draft since Penn State in 1995.
That year, running back KI-JANA CARTER, quarterback KERRY COLLINS and tight end KYLE BRADY were all on site for the selection meeting, which was held for the first time at New York's famed Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Carter was selected No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, while Collins became the first draft choice in the history of the Carolina Panthers franchise (No. 5 overall). Brady was taken with the ninth overall pick by the New York Jets.
1995 PENN STATE |
|
2010 OKLAHOMA |
||||
PLAYER |
TEAM |
DRAFTED |
|
PLAYER |
TEAM |
DRAFTED |
Ki-Jana Carter |
Cincinnati |
Round 1, No. 1 |
Sam Bradford |
St. Louis |
Round 1, No. 1 |
|
Kerry Collins |
Carolina |
Round 1, No. 5 |
Gerald McCoy |
Tampa Bay |
Round 1, No. 3 |
|
Kyle Brady |
N.Y. Jets |
Round 1, No. 9 |
Trent Williams |
Washington |
Round 1, No. 4 |
BERRY PICKING: 2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and two-time AP All-American Tennessee safety ERIC BERRY, the No. 5 overall pick of Kansas City, is just the fifth safety to be selected in the top five in the past 30 years. The most recent top-five selection at the safety position was SEAN TAYLOR in 2004.
SAFETIES SELECTED IN TOP FIVE (SINCE 1980)
YEAR |
PLAYER |
TEAM |
SCHOOL |
OVERALL SELECTION |
|
1981 |
Kenny Easley |
Seattle |
UCLA |
4 |
|
1988 |
Bennie Blades |
Detroit |
Miami (FL) |
3 |
|
1991 |
Eric Turner |
Cleveland |
UCLA |
2 |
|
2004 |
Sean Taylor |
Washington |
Miami (FL) |
5 |
|
2010 |
Eric Berry |
Kansas City |
Tennessee |
5 |
|
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TIM: Record-setting, Heisman Trophy-winning (2007), two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year (2007 and 2009) award-winning Florida quarterback TIM TEBOW became just the fourth Florida quarterback to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft in program history:
YEAR |
PLAYER |
TEAM |
OVERALL SELECTION |
|
1967 |
Steve Spurrier |
San Francisco |
3 |
|
1972 |
John Reaves |
Philadelphia |
14 |
|
2003 |
Rex Grossman |
Chicago |
22 |
|
2010 |
Tim Tebow |
Denver |
25 |
|
BIG XII TANDEM: Nebraska defensive tackle NDAMUKONG SUH (No. 2 overall, Detroit) and his Oklahoma counterpart Gerald McCoy (No. 3 overall, Tampa Bay) became just the fourth and fifth Big XII defensive linemen, respectively, to be selected in the top 10 since the inception of the conference.
Suh, who has already pledged to donate $2.6 million to Nebraska, was named AP Defensive Player of the Year in the Big XII Conference. McCoy was a two-time All-Big XII first-team selection on the defensive line.
BIG XII DEFENSIVE LINEMEN SELECTED IN THE TOP 10 (SINCE 1997*)
YEAR |
PLAYER |
COLLEGE |
TEAM |
OVERALL SELECTION |
|
1998 |
Grant Wistrom |
Nebraska |
St. Louis |
6 |
|
2001 |
Justin Smith |
Missouri |
Cincinnati |
4 |
|
2003 |
Kevin Williams |
Oklahoma State |
Minnesota |
9 |
|
2010 |
Ndamukong Suh |
Nebraska |
Detroit |
2 |
|
2010 |
Gerald McCoy |
Oklahoma |
Tampa Bay |
3 |
* Big XII conference was formed in 1996, making 1997 NFL Draft first since the conference's inception.
SOUTH FLORIDA RECORD: Defensive end JASON PIERRE-PAUL (No. 15 overall by the New York Giants) became the highest-drafted player in South Florida history. He is the second USF player to be selected in the first round, joining cornerback MIKE JENKINS (No. 25 overall by the Dallas Cowboys in 2008).
The four players in South Florida history to be selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft:
YEAR |
PLAYER |
TEAM |
DRAFTED |
2003 |
LB Kawika Mitchell |
Kansas City |
Round 2, No. 47 overall |
2008 |
DB Mike Jenkins |
Dallas |
Round 1, No. 25 overall |
2009 |
LB Tyrone McKenzie |
New England |
Round 3, No. 97 overall |
2010 |
DE Jason Pierre-Paul |
N.Y. Giants |
Round 1, No. 15 overall |
SOME FIRSTS - AND RARITIES - IN YESTERDAY'S FIRST ROUND
-
THERE WERE two defensive tackles taken in the top 5 - Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy. This marks the first draft since 1992 that two DTs were taken in the top 5, when STEVE EMTMAN (No. 1 overall, Indianapolis) and SEAN GILBERT (No. 3 overall, L.A. Rams) were selected.
-
FOR THE FIRST TIME in school history, two players from Rutgers were selected in Round 1 of an NFL Draft. TackleANTHONY DAVIS (No. 11 overall by San Francisco) and defensive back DEVIN MC COURTY No. 28 overall by New England) were both first-round picks.
-
GUARD MIKE IUPATI (No. 17 overall by San Francisco) is the second Idaho player to be selected in the first round, joining RAY MC DONALD (No. 13 overall by Washington in 1967).
- BOISE STATE defensive back KYLE WILSON became the first defensive player in school history to be chosen in Round 1. Denver tackle RYAN CLADY (No. 12 overall in 2008) is the only other Boise State player to be tabbed in the first round.