The

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

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 an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

making the first two selections. The Buccaneers were awarded the first overall pick of the draft after winning a draw over the Seahawks, and used that pick to select defensive tackle Lee Roy Selmon. The expansion teams were also given a pair of extra picks at the end of each of rounds 2-5. The 1976 draft was the final NFL draft to last seventeen rounds; it was reduced to twelve rounds in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

, and it was the first draft to officially have the infamous unofficial award, " Mr. Irrelevant", for the final player selected. Like 1974, the 1976 draft is generally regarded as one of the worst

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

draft classes of all time. No quarterback from the 1976 draft class ever reached the Pro Bowl, an All-Pro team or a Super Bowl, and according to the estimate of ''Eldorado'' this quarterback class was the second-worst after 1996. Only first round pick

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor ...

, who led the New York Jets to their first postseason appearances since

Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name " ...

in 1981 and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

, was ever a regular starter. Five teams lost picks as a penalty for illegally signing former World Football League players: the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

lost sixth-round picks, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

lost their seventh-round pick, and the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets lost their tenth-round selections. The college draft was originally scheduled for February 3–4, but was postponed when the owners of the Seahawks and Buccaneers filed a lawsuit against the players' union with worries that the organization would try to prevent the expansion draft. The court case delayed both the expansion draft and the annual college draft.

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

* Steve Largent, wide receiver from Tulsa, taken 4th round 117th overall by Houston Oilers :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1995.List of 1990s Hall of Fame Inductee's at profootballhof.com * Lee Roy Selmon, defensive end from Oklahoma, taken 1st round 1st overall by Tampa Bay Buccaneers :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1995. * Mike Haynes, cornerback from Arizona State, taken 1st round 5th overall by New England Patriots :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1997. *

Jackie Slater Jackie Ray Slater (born May 27, 1954), nicknamed "Big Bad Jackie", is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career with the Rams fra ...

, offensive tackle from Jackson State, taken 3rd round 86th overall by Los Angeles Rams :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2001.List of 2000s Hall of Fame Inductee's at profootballhof.com * Harry Carson, linebacker from South Carolina State, taken 4th round 105th overall by New York Giants :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2006.

Notable undrafted players

References

External links

NFL.com – 1976 Draft

Pro Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:1976 Nfl Draft National Football League 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 ...

Draft