In 1935, Bert Bell, co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles and future NFL commissioner (1946-1959), proposed a plan whereby the league teams would draft college prospects in reverse order of their finish. The club owners approved his idea and on February 8, 1936, held the first NFL draft at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.

Here are the final standings from the 1935 NFL season, which determined the order of selection in the draft.

Eastern Division	W	L	T	Pct.	Western Division	W	L	T	Pct.
New York Giants	9	3	0	.750	Detroit Lions	7	3	2	.700
Brooklyn Dodgers	5	6	1	.455	Green Bay Packers	8	4	0	.667
Pittsburgh Pirates	4	8	0	.333	Chicago Bears	6	4	2	.600
Boston Redskins	2	8	1	.200	Chicago Cardinals	6	4	2	.600
Philadelphia Eagles	2	9	0	.182

Championship Game: Detroit 26, New York 7

The draft consisted of nine rounds. Here are the first round choices, in order of selection.

#	Team	Player	Pos.	College
1	Philadelphia	Jay Berwanger	B	Chicago
2	Boston	Riley Smith	B	Alabama
3	Pittsburgh	Bill Shakespeare	B	Notre Dame
4	Brooklyn	Dick Crayne	B	Iowa
5	Chicago Cardinals	Jim Lawrence	B	TCU
6	Chicago Bears	Joe Stydahar	T	West Virginia
7	Green Bay	Russ Letlow	G	San Francisco
8	Detroit	Sid Wagner	G	Michigan State
9	New York	Art Lewis	T	Ohio

The first pick, Jay Berwanger, had just won the inaugural Heisman Trophy at the University of Chicago, then a member of the Big Ten. Berwanger never played a game of pro football because the Bears, who acquired his signing rights, wouldn't pay the $25,000 he demanded for two years.

The only first-rounder who later made the Pro Football Hall of Fame was Joe Stydahar. Other future Hall of Famers drafted that year were:

Complete draft list by teams

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