The NFL Draft is now a highly polished spectacle viewed by millions of fans across the globe.
Teams execs spend months locked in meeting rooms evaluating thousands of prospects to try and avoid any surprises over three days that can shape the future of a franchise.
YouTube @BaylorNorm Taylor was a quick and physical runner[/caption]But the show you see today is a relatively recent phenomenon.
First televised in 1980, the draft eventually moved out of a smoky hotel room onto the stage it has become famous for.
It changed to a three-day format in 2010 and left former home New York in 2015 to become a travelling road show that lands in Green Bay this year.
Long before all that, it was a grueling 32-round affair where teams were so desperate to fill out rosters that a few picks ended up going awry.
That is what happened to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994.
In the 20th round, the team decided Syracuse fullback Norm Michael was just the man to represent the gritty city.
The only problem? Nobody managed to tell Michael the good news.
In fact, he only realized how close he came to becoming a pro football player 55 years later in 1999 when he read a newspaper and came across a list of every Syracuse player ever drafted, including his own name.
“That was the first I heard of it,” Michael told NFL.com.
“My son sent them a letter after we found out. I think he wanted to see if the Eagles owed me a signing bonus. Think of the interest I could have had. Fifty-seven years’ worth.”
The draft, and game itself, have moved on a lot since thenYouTube @Baylor NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is ready to welcome another class to the NFLMichael was considered a ‘bruising’ player at the time thanks to 6ft 2in, 192-pound frame.
As a freshman he managed a 58-yard run to the 4 against Colgate and ran it in a couple of plays later.
Unfortunately, he broke his leg on the next possession — a recurring theme.
In three years with the Orange he also suffered two fractured wrists and a broken nose.
“A first-class fullback so long as his bones maintain the particular spirit of unity,” wrote a scouting report at the time via Yahoo Sports.
“A Rocky River, Ohio boy who is touted as one of the fastest backs ever to play for Syracuse,” added another via the Democrat and Chronicle.
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If he could have stayed fit, Michael may have been a solid pick for the Eagles.
But by the time they selected him, he had already left college and enlisted with the army after his junior year — soon before the Normandy landings.
“I still haven’t heard from the Eagles,” Michael joked 55 years later. “I guess I may have missed my window of opportunity.”
After the war, Michael returned to Syracuse and worked in sales before becoming a business owner in Rochester, New York.
He passed away in September 2011 aged 90.
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Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I was drafted by Eagles in 1944 but only found out 55 years later when reading a newspaper )
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