There were no television cameras watching, no plethora of websites providing instant analysis, as the 1985 NFL draft stretched late into the night.
A young scout back then, Pat Kirwan was sitting at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers table, taking calls from team headquarters and relaying picks to the podium, when the telephone rang with a strange voice on the line.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, April 26, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 50 words Type of Material: Correction
NFL: An article on the NFL draft in Tuesday's Sports section quoted former scout Pat Kirwan saying that running back Jim Finn, the last player taken in the 1999 draft, "played in the NFL for nine years." Finn played for seven seasons and was on injured reserve for one more.
It was the Buffalo Bills.
"Are you sitting next to our table?" the caller asked. "Is our guy there?"
The Bills' representative had dozed off. With the clock ticking down, Kirwan had to jostle him awake and start filling out Buffalo's card.
"That was before all the hype," Kirwan said. "Before the draft got a life of its own."
More than two decades later, as the league's 32 teams assemble in New York this weekend, no one can afford to fall asleep at the switch. Front-office types will pore over computer databases and financial spreadsheets, accounting for Wonderlic test results and each tenth of a second in each 40-yard dash. Fans and the media will scrutinize every pick.
In other words, draft day has come a long way.
"The change has been unbelievable," said Rich McKay, president of the Atlanta Falcons. "No question it used to be a more laid-back atmosphere."
In the early years, the NFL had no draft -- players simply went to the highest bidders. With rich teams hoarding talent, Philadelphia Eagles owner and future commissioner Bert Bell suggested a change.
The league held its first draft at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia in 1936. The No. 1 pick, Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger, decided that pro football did not pay enough and never played a down. Riley Smith, taken second by the Boston Redskins, became the first drafted player in the NFL.
Scouting could be haphazard in those days. In 1946, the Washington Redskins made UCLA back Cal Rossi their first pick, unaware that he was a junior.
They selected Rossi again in 1947 but had neglected to check with him -- he had no intentions of playing pro ball.
Teams needed to get more serious in the 1950s and '60s as the Canadian Football League, and then the upstart American Football League, began cherry-picking talent.
The NFL scheduled early drafts in November and December to get a jump on the competition. Later, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, teams gathered for secret drafts and "kidnapped" college prospects, hiding them in hotel rooms until they were selected.
