1966 American Football League draft
The 1966 American Football League draft was held on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The AFL added the Miami Dolphins as an expansion team in 1966 to bring its total to nine franchises for its seventh season. The Dolphins were awarded the first overall pick in the draft, who used it to select running back Jim Grabowski. The only Hall of Famer to come out of this draft was kicker Jan Stenerud, who was picked by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the Red Shirt portion of the draft.
This was the last competitive draft of the American Football League before the AFL–NFL merger agreement, which was announced in June 1966. The next draft of college players in 1967 was a common draft, held in mid-March.
The 1966 NFL draft was held the same day, November 27, 1965.
Player selections (AFL)
Round 1
- As an expansion team, Miami picked first in every round and was awarded an extra pick at the beginning of the draft.
- New York deferred its first round selection, taking the 13th pick instead of the 9th.
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds and traded its sixth round pick. Its first round pick was made after the 7th round, 63rd overall. They made their second, third, and fifth round picks in the middle of the 7th round, so the first round pick was actually the fourth pick Oakland made.
Round 2
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds and traded its sixth round pick. Its second round pick was made during the 7th round, 57th overall. This was the first pick Oakland made in the draft.
Round 3
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds and traded its sixth round pick. Its third round pick was made during the 7th round, 58th overall. This was the second pick Oakland made in the draft.
Round 4
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds and traded its sixth round pick. Its fourth round pick was made during the 8th round, 71st overall. This was the fifth pick Oakland made in the draft.
Round 5
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds and traded its sixth round pick. Its fifth round pick was made during the 7th round, 59th overall. This was the third pick Oakland made in the draft.
Round 6
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds and traded its sixth round pick.
Round 7
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds. Picks 57, 58, & 59 were deferred Oakland picks and are shown in rounds two, three, and five respectively.
Round 8
- Oakland deferred its selections until after the first six rounds. Pick 70 would have been Oakland's pick in the 8th round but was skipped. Pick 71 was a deferred Oakland pick and is shown in round four.
Round 9