2004 NFL DRAFT DAY NOTES

30 YEARS AGO, STEELERS PICK SINGULAR HALL OF FAME CLASS

IT WAS THE ONLY draft class in history to produce four Pro Football Hall of Fame players. And they were all chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Thirty years ago in the 1974 NFL Draft, the Steelers selected LB JACK LAMBERT, WRs JOHN STALLWORTH and LYNN SWANN and C MIKE WEBSTER. All four players would go on to the Hall of Fame, making 1974 the only draft class in history to produce four HOFers.

It was also the only time in history that a team picked more than two Hall of Famers in a single year.

“That class was the best,” says Steelers Director of Football Operations KEVIN COLBERT. “That class was the standard.”

ELI MANNING NOTES

THE SELECTION TODAY of Mississippi quarterback ELI MANNING as the No. 1 overall choice marks the sixth time in the past seven years that a quarterback has been chosen with the first pick in the draft – the most such quarterbacks in any seven-year span in the history of the draft.

WITH HIS SELECTION, Manning becomes the first player in history named “Eli” to be chosen in the first round.

MANNING TODAY ALSO BECAME:

The sixth son in history to follow his father (ARCHIE) in being drafted in the first round. The last was his brother PEYTON in 1998 (by Indianapolis). Only two of those sons – the Manning brothers – were No. 1 overall choices.
The 11th sibling to follow his brother in being drafted in the first round, following, most recently, DE JEROME MC DOUGLE in 2003 (No. 15, Philadelphia) after T STOCKAR MC DOUGLE in 2000 (No. 20, Detroit).
The first University of Mississippi player in history to be chosen No. 1 overall, and the highest Rebel draft choice since RB DEUCE MC ALLISTER was taken No. 23 overall by San Diego in 2001.
The 25th quarterback in history to be chosen No. 1 overall. The first was ANGELO BERTELLI of Notre Dame by Boston in 1944, and the 24th was USC’s CARSON PALMER last year by Cincinnati.
The 14th SEC player selected No. 1 overall. The first and last were from Tennessee -- back GEORGE CAFEGO by the Chicago Cardinals in 1940, and PEYTON MANNING by Indianapolis in 1999.

OTHER ELI MANNING TRIVIA:

Twenty-seven of the records be set at Ole Miss were held at one time by his father.
Since he arrived at Mississippi in 1999, season ticket sales increased by 60 percent, from approximately 26,000 in 1998 to more than 42,000 in 2003.
The Manning Family Heisman Trophy balloting rundown: Eli finished third in voting this year (behind Oklahoma’s JASON WHITE and Pittsburgh’s LARRY FITZGERALD), as did his father in 1970 (behind Stanford’s JIM PLUNKETT and Notre Dame’s JOE THEISMANN). Peyton finished second in the voting in 1997 behind Michigan’s CHARLES WOODSON.

WHO WAS THE BEST MANNING UNDERGRAD?

Even though ELI MANNING has yet to throw a professional pass, he can hold his own in the Manning household when it comes to college exploits.

He once told father ARCHIE that his stats at Ole Miss were better than Pop’s at Mississippi. “But we ran the ball more in those days,” answered Archie.

How the Mannings compare in their college exploits:

THOSE WERE THE DAYS

MANNING	COLLEGE	COMP.	ATT.	YARDS	PCT.	YDS./GAME	TD	INT	RATING
Archie	Miss. (’68-70)	402	761	4,753	52.8	169.8	31	38	107.5
Peyton	Tenn. (’94-97)	863	1,381	11,201	62.4	254.0	89	30	147.1
Eli	Miss. (’00-03)	807	1,332	9,860	60.6	234.8	79	34	137.2

10 LITTLE-KNOWN ITEMS ABOUT ELI MANNING

1. Mother OLIVIA was Homecoming Queen at Ole Miss.

2. Even though he was a freshman redshirt, had 2,000 fans line up for his autograph at “Meet The Rebels Day” in 1999 – far more than any other player. “It was overwhelming,” said Mississippi head coach DAVID CUTCLIFFE.

3. Father ARCHIE says he is more laid-back than PEYTON: “Eli isn’t quite as intense as Peyton or quite as forceful. He goes about things in a different way.”

4. Although Peyton’s college numbers were slightly better than his, Eli thinks he outdoes his older brother in one category: “I’m better looking.”

5. Was so relaxed before a big Thursday night game in high school, he called his parents to ask them to tape a “Seinfeld” episode for him.

6. Family nicknamed him “Easy” because he was so cool about everything.

7. Before he arrived at Mississippi, banners were hung at the school proclaiming, “Eli’s Coming,” after the Three Dog Night song. The group was even brought to Oxford to perform at a spring game.

8. The second-floor view of his college apartment in Oxford looks out over the town square. Off a wrought-iron balcony, he can see the landmark white Lafayette County Courthouse, not far from the office where WILLIAM FAULKNER once wrote.

9. He often amazed his father by not knowing the name of the team he faced while playing for New Orleans’ Isidore Newman High School.

10. Wore a pillow under his shirt sleeve in the seventh and eighth grades when he caught balls fired by high school QB Peyton when the brothers played in the backyard. “I was his ball boy,” says Eli. “He was throwing rockets. I couldn’t catch them with my hands. I had to catch them off my arm.”

ROBERT GALLERY

THE SELECTION TODAY BY OAKLAND of Iowa tackle ROBERT GALLERY marks the second year in a row (TE DALLAS CLARK by Indianapolis, No. 24) that a Hawkeye player was chosen in the first round – the second time in school history that has happened.

The first was in 1958-59, when DT ALEX KARRAS was taken by Detroit with the 10th pick. That choice was followed in 1959 by Green Bay selecting QB RANDY DUNCAN with the No. 1 overall pick.

HAWKEYE OL POWERHOUSE: When it comes to Iowa, the pick most times is an offensive lineman, with ROBERT GALLERY today by Oakland being only the latest example.

Including Gallery, six of the last 10 first-round selections out of Iowa since the first combined draft in 1967 have been offensive linemen. The rundown:

IOWA ONLINE

YEAR	PLAYER	POS.	DRAFTED BY
1972	Craig Clemons	DB	Chicago, No. 12
*1976*	*Rod Walters*	G	*Kansas City, No. 14*
*1982*	*Ron Hallstrom*	G	*Green Bay, No. 22*
*1984*	*John Alt*	T	*Kansas City, No. 21*
1986	Chuck Long	QB	Detroit, No. 12
	Ronnie Harmon	RB	Buffalo, No. 16
	*Mike Haight*	T	*NY Jets, No. 22*
1997	Tom Knight	DB	Arizona, No. 9
	*Ross Verba*	T	*Green Bay, No. 30*
*2003*	*Robert Gallery*	T	*Oakland, No. 2*

-- NFL DRAFT ’04 --

MANNING KEEPS NO. 10: New York Giants P JEFF FEAGLES has agreed to give up his uniform No. 10 so new Giants QB ELI MANNING can wear his longtime number. Feagles will now wear No. 17.

-- NFL DRAFT ’04 --

MIAMI A HURRICANE IN ’04 DRAFT: The University of Miami set several standards in today’s draft. The Hurricanes:

Set the NFL Draft record for most first-round picks with six – S SEAN TAYLOR (No. 5, Washington), TE KELLEN WINSLOW (No. 6, Cleveland), LB JONATHAN VILMA (No. 12, NY Jets), LB B.J. WILLIAMS (No. 17, Denver), T VERNON CAREY (No. 19, Miami) and DE VINCE WOOLFOLK (No. 21, New England). Miami had tied Southern California for the previous record in the category with five players.
Became the 21st team in history to have consecutive top 10 selections – S SEAN TAYLOR, No. 5 (Washington) and TE KELLEN WINSLOW, No. 6 (Cleveland).
Had at least three players chosen in the first round for the fourth consecutive year – the lone team with such a streak in the past 10 years.
Extended their record since 1987 of the most first-round picks. The Hurricanes now have 40 such selections.

“They ought to be proud of it,” says Cincinnati Bengals head coach MARVIN LEWIS. “The Miami guys have a lot of history and a great heritage. They come to the NFL and take pride in exceeding.”

-- NFL DRAFT ’04 --

RIVERS: BOWL RECORD?: North Carolina State quarterback PHILIP RIVERS, who was selected with the fourth pick of the first round by the New York Giants (and whose rights were subsequently traded to San Diego), appeared in five college bowl games (four with NC State and in the Senior Bowl) – and was named MVP in all five contests.

NFL.com draft analyst GIL BRANDT says that this is the first time he has heard of a player winning an MVP award in that many games.

-- NFL DRAFT ’04 --

WIDE RECEIVER CLASS OF ’04: A record was set today in first-round wide receivers chosen.

Seven WRs were picked in the round – the most ever in the round in history, topping the six that were selected in 1988 and 2001.

The record-setting wide receiver class of 2004:

WIDE RECEIVER	TEAM	PICK	COLLEGE
Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona	3	Pittsburgh
Roy Williams	Detroit	7	Texas
Reggie Williams	Jacksonville	9	Washington
Lee Evans	Buffalo	13	Wisconsin
Michael Clayton	Tampa Bay	15	Louisiana State
Michael Jenkins	Atlanta	29	Ohio State
Rashaun Woods	San Francisco	31	Oklahoma State

-- NFL DRAFT ’04 --

TROJANS THE TOPS: With the selection of USC DE KENECHI UDEZE with the 20th pick of the draft by Minnesota, Southern California vaulted to the top of colleges with the most first-round picks in history.

The top five totals in the category:

COLLEGE	FIRST-ROUND PICKS
Southern California	61
Notre Dame	60
Ohio State	59
Miami	56
Florida	39
Michigan	39

TEAMS GO HEAVY ON OFFENSE: The most offensive players in 15 years.

That was the total in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Nineteen offensive players were chosen, the most in any one year since 1990. The rundown:

OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE PLAYERS SELECTED IN FIRST ROUND IN PAST 15 YEARS

YEAR	OFFENSE	DEFENSE
*2004*	19	13
2003	14	18
2002	16	16
2001	15	16
2000	17	14
1999	16	15
1998	14	16
1997	14	16
1996	17	13
1995	18	14
1994	13	16
1993	15	14
1992	13	15
1991	13	14
1990	11	14

TWO SECOND-ROUND FIRSTS: Igor and Ricardo made history in Round 2.

When San Diego chose Oregon DT IGOR OSHANSKY with the third pick of the second round, it marked the first draft choice in NFL history of a player from the former Soviet Union. Oshansky was born in the Ukraine.

Pittsburgh’s pick of CB RICARDO COLCLOUGH with the sixth selection of the round marked the first time in history that Colclough’s college – Tusculum, a Division II school in Greenville, Tennessee – had a player chosen in the NFL Draft.