The 1972 NFL draft was the 37th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft was held on February 1 and 2 at the Essex House in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Patulski would become viewed as a

draft bust A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team selec ...

, after the Bills released him in 1976 — coincidentally replacing Patuski with second overall choice Sherman White of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. NFL historians have frequently described 1972 as one of the league's worst draft classes ever, especially regarding the failure of the majority of 1st round draftees, which has become viewed worse than other notably weak drafts like

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. Only seven of 26 first rounders made the Pro Bowl in their career, and the whole 1972 draft produced just two Hall of Fame members, one of whom, wide receiver Cliff Branch, was inducted posthumously. This was the fewest of any draft class since the 1959 draft, which had only Dick LeBeau enshrined in Canton.

Player selections

Round one

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

Hall of Famers

* Franco Harris, running back from Penn State, taken 1st round 13th overall by Pittsburgh Steelers :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1990. * Cliff Branch, wide receiver from Colorado, taken 4th round 98th overall by Oakland Raiders :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2022 (posthumous).

Notable undrafted players

Notes

References

External links

NFL.com – 1972 Draft
*
Pro Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 Nfl Draft NFL draft

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

Draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

American football in New York City 1970s in Manhattan Sporting events in New York City Sports in Manhattan