The 2024 NFL Draft is set to kick off this week, with all 32 teams in the league ready to strengthen their squads with the best talent from college football. Caleb Williams is widely tipped to be the first pick for the Chicago Bears and there seems to be little opposition to this move despite some rumours during the last playing season.
However, there have been instances where players were not pleased with the team that picked them and some even refused to sign. Eli Manning’s situation in the 2004 NFL Draft is one of the most notable examples of this, with the future two-time Super Bowl champion and MVP managing to switch from the then-San Diego Chargers to the New York Giants after being their first overall selection.
Eli Manning – San Diego Chargers.
Manning had made it clear well before his first overall selection by the Chargers in 2004 that San Diego was not the place for him to play. His family tried to keep things professional and offered little detailed explanation as to why.
The Chargers went ahead with Manning as their first overall pick but later traded him to the Giants, where he won two Super Bowls and was named the MVP in both games. Manning spent 16 seasons with the Giants and broke nearly every passing record in franchise history, reports the Express US.
Ernie Davis – Washington Redskins (now Commanders).
The star half-back had an impressive college career, securing 877 rushing yards in 1960, followed by 823 yards in his Heisman Trophy-winning season the following year. The player was picked by Washington in the 1962 NFL Draft, but he decided not to sign due to the then-owner George Preston Marshall’s tardiness in promoting racial integration in football.
This team was the last NFL franchise to add black players to the team roster. “I won’t play for that S.O.B,” Davis reportedly announced after being drafted, leading to his transfer to the Cleveland Browns.
Widely expected to be one of the greatest members of the franchise, his promising career was cut short by leukemia in 1962 and he died before making his debut.
John Elway – Baltimore Colts.
He scored the number one spot in the 1983 NFL Draft. However, this hot prospect from Stanford University wasn’t interested in playing for the Baltimore Colts.
Eschewing Baltimore’s attempts to hire him, Elway actually threatened to abandon football altogether and switch to Major League Baseball. The then-Colts struggled to persuade him to join before trading him to the Denver Broncos.
The legendary quarterback later went on to win two Super Bowls.
Bo Jackson – Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A similar episode occurred in 1986 when Bo Jackson refused to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – three years after Elway exhibited a similar stance towards Baltimore. Rather than playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs, Jackson opted to spend a year as a baseball player with the Kansas City Royals.
Tampa Bay renounced their pick before the 1987 NFL Draft and Jackson was picked up by the then-Los Angeles Raiders. Jackson bounced between football and baseball but was ultimately forced to retire from the NFL because avascular necrosis ate away at the cartilage surrounding his left hip.
Jim Kelly – Buffalo Bills.
Quarterback Jim Kelly simply didn’t want to be drafted anywhere cold, singling out the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and the Buffalo Bills. In 1983, the Bills apparently didn’t get the memo, as they picked Kelly at No. 14, who then refused to sign and headed to the United States Football League.
The USFL then collapsed and Kelly went on to sign with the Bills and became a franchise legend. Kelly is regarded as the Bill’s best-ever quarterback, with only Josh Allen a name up for serious debate.
A true comeback story.
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