Page 2 - Bert Bell News Today

88 years ago, just nine men sat in a single hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton on South Broad Street for the very first NFL draft.

For a large number of young fans, for almost every year they have watched the draft, it has been 7 rounds. But it hasn't always been 7 rounds, the number of rounds in the draft has changed a ton in the 1900s.

The draft - thanks to the soaring popularity of the NFL over the years, has become a sports calendar fixture and pop culture reference in commercials and movies. But it wasn't always that way.

PHILADELPHIA -- NFL teams will select 257 college prospects during the draft, which gets underway on Thursday. Thousands of fans will be in attendance in Detroit. Millions more will watch at home.

Roman Gabriel, who played 11 of his 16 years in pro football with the Rams, was the first Filipino American to play in the NFL.

Unlike 1974, the Steelers are unlikely to use multiple draft picks on WRs

An estimated 10,000 fans from Baltimore were at Yankee Stadium for the Colts-Giants NFL championship game in 1958 ... including Jim Henneman, who looks back on the "Greatest Game Ever Played" 65 years later.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Harrisburg natives Mark Jeszenka and Gary Carpenter have been devout Philadelphia Eagles fans since the Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1983 and both have created shrines to the Eagles in their homes. “Going back to probably ‘99, 2000 when it started with just a 19-inch old school TV and a recliner,” […]

An estimated 10,000 fans from Baltimore were at Yankee Stadium for the Colts-Giants NFL championship game in 1958 ... including Jim Henneman, who looks back on the "Greatest Game Ever Played" 65 years later.

Plus, oldest living ex-Packer and a Satchel Paige story