George Taliaferro: Army Draftee, and NFL's First Black Draftee and Starting QB

The first NFL draft occurred on February 8, 1936. The draft kept teams with shallower pockets from competing with the deeper-pocketed teams for amateur players. Players either signed with the team that drafted them or could not play in the NFL. The 1936 draft's #1 pick and Heisman winner, Jay Berwanger, chose not to sign a contract, and neither did most draftees since only 24 of the 81 selected players appeared in an NFL game.

There also weren't any Black players selected in the 1936 draft due to...