The 1966

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The expansion Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds. The first overall selection was Tommy Nobis, a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The league also provided the Falcons with an expansion draft six weeks later. This was the last draft in which the NFL and the AFL selected their players separate of one another. As a result, most players drafted by teams from both leagues chose to play for the more established NFL, but not all. Similar to 1965, the AFL draft was held on the same day. After the merger agreement in June 1966, a common draft was held in March 1967.

Player selections

Round one

* ^HOF Member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

Round eight

Round nine

Round ten

Round eleven

Round twelve

Round thirteen

Round fourteen

Round fifteen

Round sixteen

Round seventeen

Round eighteen

Round nineteen

Round twenty

Hall of Famers

* Tom Mack, guard from University of Michigan taken 1st round 2nd overall by the Los Angeles Rams. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1999.List of 1990s Hall of Fame Inductee's at profootballhof.com * Emmitt Thomas, wide receiver/quarterback from Bishop College, signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs, who converted him to cornerback. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2008.List of 2000s Hall of Fame Inductee's at profootballhof.com

Notable undrafted players

References

External links

NFL.com – 1966 Draft

Pro Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:1966 Nfl Draft National Football League Draft Draft

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...