The Two Dumbest NFL Draft Picks Ever
The Washington Redskins made the NFL’s worst-ever draft pick in 1946 and followed it in 1947 with the second-worst draft pick. While reasonable people can argue whether the 1946 pick was worse than the 1947 pick, everyone should agree that one of them was #1 and the other was #2, literally.
At the time, George Preston Marshall owned the Redskins, which began as the Boston Braves in 1932 before moving to the nation’s capital in 1937 and changing names. Besides being racist, Marshall was a notorious skinflint who cut behind-the-scenes expenses such as travel and staff salaries, earning a reputation as the “last of the small-time spenders.”
The first NFL draft came in 1936, when teams did little or no scouting. Most relied on recommendations from friends in the college coaching community, or acquaintances with little or no qualifications as player evaluators. More than one player got drafted based on comments made in Street & Smith’s and similar publications. The Redskins carried on that tradition for another decade and more.
Their choice of Cal Rossi in the 1946 draft was the worst pick ever. He graduated from Santa Barbara High in 1943 and began his college career in a Navy V-12 program at USC, though he did not play football there. He entered UCLA in the fall of 1944, starting at halfback as a freshman. The following season, on a team stocked with WWII veterans whose college careers had been interrupted, Rossi shared duties with several other backs, leading the 5-4 team in rushing with 679 yards and earning first-team All-PCC honors.
In the 1946 NFL draft held in January, the Redskins picked Rossi in the first round, ninth overall.
It was a surprising pick, since Rossi had just completed his sophomore season and, by NFL rules, was ineligible for the draft. Only players whose original college class would graduate in the spring could be drafted. So, nothing against Rossi, but it was not a smart move by the Redskins.
During the 1946 season, Rossi’s rushing total trailed teammate Gene Rowland’s 540 yards, but the Bruins went undefeated during the regular season, and Rossi was named second-team All-PCC for a team that lost to Illinois in the 1947 Rose Bowl.
The NFL held its 1947 draft in December 1946. Although most teams initially kept their draft choices secret to avoid broadcasting their evaluations to the rival AAFC, the Redskins happily announced their selections. Having screwed up the 1946 draft, the Redskins brain trust decided to go for two, using their first-round pick on Rossi once again.
Who can blame the Redskins for picking the talented Mr. Rossi? Everyone, since Rossi told people in advance that he would return to UCLA for the 1947 season and had no interest in playing pro ball.
Rossi played for UCLA has senior season, led the 5-4 Bruins in rushing, graduated with the highest per carry career average in program history, and started in the 1948 East-West Shrine game.
Rossi went undrafted by the NFL and AAFC following his senior season. (Washington retained his NFL rights from the 1947 draft.) True to his word, he took the first of his three jobs teaching and coaching in LA-area schools before spending most of his career in administrative roles with the California Teachers Association.
College football and the NFL have changed mightily since the 1940s, including the option for players to declare for the draft early. The changes in eligibility and the systemization of the scouting and drafting process make it unlikely we will again see a player drafted two years in a row in the first round by the same team and never play a down in the NFL. But you never know, strange things can happen. Someday, the Vikings might win the Super Bowl.
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