1944 NFL draft

The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Perhaps as a tip of the hat to wartime sensibilities, the 1944 draft was officially called the "1943 Preferred Negotiations List" by the league.
With the first overall pick of the draft, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Angelo Bertelli.
Although there were 32 rounds in the 1944 draft, each of the league's 11 teams selected 30 players, for a total of 330 players picked. The five worst-finishing teams picked alone in rounds 2 and 4, while the five best-finishing teams plus the expansion Yanks picked alone in rounds 31 and 32.
By agreement of league owners, the new Yanks franchise received the first pick of the first round and then dropped to 11th in the order of draft selection, making their next choice at 27. As a mechanism for reestablishing the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers as individual entities after their wartime merger-of-convenience as the so-called Phil-Pitt Steagles in 1943, these teams selected fourth and ninth alternately in the 1943 draft. This gave Pittsburgh picks 10, 15, 31, and 41 at the top of the draft and Philadelphia picks 5, 20, and 36.

Player selections

Round 1

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
1	Boston Yanks	Angelo Bertelli	Quarterback	Notre Dame
2	Chicago Cardinals	Pat Harder	Fullback	Wisconsin
3	Brooklyn Tigers	Creighton Miller	Halfback	Notre Dame
4	Detroit Lions	Otto Graham	Back	Northwestern
5	Philadelphia Eagles	Steve Van Buren	Halfback	LSU
6	New York Giants	Billy Hillenbrand	Halfback	Indiana
7	Green Bay Packers	Merv Pregulman	Guard	Michigan
8	Washington Redskins	Mike Micka	Back	Colgate
9	Chicago Bears	Ray Evans	Halfback	Kansas
10	Pittsburgh Steelers	Johnny Podesto	Tailback	St. Mary's
11	Cleveland Rams	Tony Butkovich	Fullback	Purdue

Round 2

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
12	Chicago Cardinals	Paul Mitchell	Tackle	Minnesota
13	Brooklyn Tigers	Jim Callahan	Back	Texas
14	Detroit Lions	Bob Cifers	Back	Tennessee
15	Pittsburgh Steelers	Bob Odell	End	Penn
16	New York Giants	Lamar Blount	Back	Mississippi State

Round 3

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
17	Chicago Cardinals	Saxon Judd	End	Tulsa
18	Brooklyn Tigers	Ralph Park	Back	Texas
19	Detroit Lions	Ralph Heywood	End	USC
20	Philadelphia Eagles	Loren LaPrade	Guard	Stanford
21	New York Giants	Clyde Flowers	Tackle	TCU
22	Green Bay Packers	Tom Kuzma	Back	Michigan
23	Washington Redskins	Earl Audet	Tackle	USC
24	Chicago Bears	Rudy Smeja	End	Michigan
25	Pittsburgh Steelers	Bob Gantt	End	Duke
26	Cleveland Rams	Gil Bouley	Tackle	Boston College
27	Boston Yanks	Babe Dimancheff	Back	Purdue

Round 4

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
28	Chicago Cardinals	Jack Tavener	Center	Indiana
29	Brooklyn Tigers	Rudy Sikich	Tackle	Minnesota
30	Detroit Lions	George Betteridge	Back	Utah
31	Pittsburgh Steelers	Art McCaffray	Tackle	Pacific
32	New York Giants	Herb Kane	Tackle	East Central

Round 5

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
33	Chicago Cardinals	Bill Blackburn	Center	Rice
34	Brooklyn Tigers	Verne Ullom	End	Cincinnati
35	Detroit Lions	John Greene	Tackle	Michigan
36	Philadelphia Eagles	Joe Parker	End	Texas
37	New York Giants	Vic Maitland	Tackle	Hobart
38	Green Bay Packers	Bill McPartland	Tackle	St. Mary's
39	Washington Redskins	Ed Doherty	Quarterback	Boston College
40	Chicago Bears	Abe Croft	End	SMU
41	Pittsburgh Steelers	George Owen	Guard	Wake Forest
42	Cleveland Rams	Bob Waterfield	Quarterback	UCLA
43	Boston Yanks	Larry Rice	Center	Tulane

Round 6

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
44	Chicago Cardinals	Bill Garnaas	Back	Minnesota
45	Brooklyn Tigers	Bruce McDonald	End	Illinois State
46	Detroit Lions	Ed Alliquie	Tackle	Santa Clara
47	Pittsburgh Steelers	Dan Savage	Back	Brown
48	New York Giants	Jack Okland	Tackle	Utah State
49	Green Bay Packers	Mickey McCardle	Back	USC
50	Washington Redskins	Jackie Fellows	Back	Fresno State
51	Chicago Bears	C. B. Stanley	Tackle	Tulsa
52	Philadelphia Eagles	Hillary Horne	Tackle	Mississippi State
53	Cleveland Rams	Al Akins	Back	Washington
54	Boston Yanks	Butch Parker	Tackle	Loyola

Round 7

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
55	Chicago Cardinals	Rodger Smith	Back	Texas Tech
56	Brooklyn Tigers	Bob Graiziger	Guard	Minnesota
57	Detroit Lions	Paul Briggs	Tackle	Colorado
58	Philadelphia Eagles	Vic Kulbitski	Back	Minnesota
59	New York Giants	Herm Frickey	Back	Minnesota
60	Green Bay Packers	Jack Tracy	End	Washington
61	Washington Redskins	Hal Fischer	Guard	Texas
62	Chicago Bears	Darwin Seeley	Center	Stanford
63	Pittsburgh Steelers	Jesse Freitas	Back	Santa Clara
64	Cleveland Rams	George Cheverko	Back	Fordham
65	Boston Yanks	Mike Andrews	End	NC State

Round 8

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
66	Chicago Cardinals	Red Cochran	Back	Wake Forest
67	Brooklyn Tigers	Jack Sachse	Center	Texas
68	Detroit Lions	Rod Giske	Guard	Washington State
69	Pittsburgh Steelers	George Titus	Center	Holy Cross
70	New York Giants	Roy Clay	Back	Colorado A&M
71	Green Bay Packers	Alex Agase	Guard	Illinois
72	Washington Redskins	Cliff White	Tackle	Murray State
73	Chicago Bears	Buck Fawcett	Back	Stanford
74	Philadelphia Eagles	George Phillips	Back	UCLA
75	Cleveland Rams	Stan Stasica	Back	South Carolina
76	Boston Yanks	Bob Musick	Back	USC

Round 9

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
77	Chicago Cardinals	Frank Scanlan	Back	Loyola
78	Brooklyn Tigers	Mitchell Olenski	Tackle	Alabama
79	Detroit Lions	Matthew Bolger	End	Notre Dame
80	Philadelphia Eagles	Paul Sarringhaus	Back	Ohio State
81	New York Giants	John Sanchez	Tackle	San Francisco
82	Green Bay Packers	Don Whitmire	Tackle	Navy
83	Washington Redskins	Ted Ogdahl	Back	Willamette
84	Chicago Bears	Jack Morton	End	Missouri
85	Pittsburgh Steelers	Ed Stofko	Back	St. Francis
86	Cleveland Rams	Fred Boensch	Tackle	Stanford
87	Boston Yanks	Tex Warrington	Center	Auburn