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1977 NFL draft

National Football League draft

Field	Value
name	1977 NFL draft
image	Roosevelt Hotel.jpg
caption	Roosevelt Hotel (location of the draft), photographed in 2008
date	May 3–4, 1977
location	Roosevelt Hotel
in New York City, NY
league	NFL
mr_irrelevant	Jim Kelleher, RB
[Minnesota Vikings](1977-minnesota-vikings-season)
first	Ricky Bell, RB
[Tampa Bay Buccaneers](1977-tampa-bay-buccaneers-season)
fewnum	6
fewest	[Washington Redskins](1977-washington-redskins-season)
mostnum	18
most	[Cincinnati Bengals](1977-cincinnati-bengals-season)
[Pittsburgh Steelers](1977-pittsburgh-steelers-season)
overall	335
rounds	12
hofnum	{{ Collapsible list
title	3
1	RB Tony Dorsett
2	DT Joe Klecko
3	S Tony Dungy
prev	[1976](1976-nfl-draft)
next	[1978](1978-nfl-draft)

in New York City, NY Minnesota Vikings Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pittsburgh Steelers The 1977 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also held its first supplemental draft, which took place after the regular draft and before the regular season.

This was the first draft in the common draft era (since 1967) with twelve rounds, five rounds fewer than the previous decade. The draft had twelve rounds until reduced to eight in 1993 and seven the following year, where it has remains.

The draft began with commissioner Pete Rozelle dedicating a moment of silence to California quarterback Joe Roth, one of the most electric passers in college football. Eligible for this draft, he died in February from skin cancer at the age of 21.

With the first overall pick of the draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected USC running back Ricky Bell. Next was Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett of national champion Pittsburgh, taken by the Dallas Cowboys.

Player selections

	= Pro Bowler			Hall of Fame]]r

‡	Hall of Fame]]r

Round 1–10

Round 11

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
280	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Sammy Strock	Tight End	University of Alabama
281	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	John Bafia	Quarterback	Boston College
282	Buffalo Bills	Nate Jackson	Running back	Tennessee State
283	Philadelphia Eagles	Rocco Moore	Tackle	Western Michigan
284	New York Giants	Bill Helms	Tight end	San Diego State
285	New Orleans Saints	John Blain	Tackle	San Jose State
286	Philadelphia Eagles	Mike Cordova	Quarterback	Stanford
287	Atlanta Falcons	Dave Farmer	Running back	USC
288	Kansas City Chiefs	Maurice Mitchell	Wide receiver	Northern Michigan
289	Houston Oilers	Al Romano	Linebacker	Pittsburgh
290	Green Bay Packers	Terry Randolph	Defensive back	American International
291	Miami Dolphins	John Alexander	Defensive end	Rutgers
292	Cincinnati Bengals	Joel Parrish	Guard	Georgia
293	Detroit Lions	Tony Daykin	Linebacker	Georgia Tech
294	Chicago Bears	Connie Zelencik	Center	Purdue
295	San Francisco 49ers	Brian Billick	Tight end	Brigham Young
296	Cleveland Browns	Charles Nash	Wide receiver	Arizona
297	Denver Broncos	Phil Heck	Linebacker	California
298	Pittsburgh Steelers	Lou West	Defensive back	Cincinnati
299	Cincinnati Bengals	Carl Allen	Defensive back	Southern Mississippi
300	Washington Redskins	Don Harris	Defensive back	Rutgers
301	St. Louis Cardinals	Greg Lee	Defensive back	Western Illinois
302	Los Angeles Rams	Carson Long	Kicker	Pittsburgh
303	New England Patriots	Ray Costict	Linebacker	Mississippi State
304	Baltimore Colts	Brian Ruff	Linebacker	The Citadel
305	Dallas Cowboys	Don Wardlow	Tight end	Washington
306	Minnesota Vikings	Keith Hartwig	Wide receiver	Arizona
307	New York Jets	Dave Butterfield	Defensive back	Nebraska

Round 12

Pick #	NFL team	Player	Position	College
308	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Chip Sheffield	Wide receiver	Lenoir-Rhyne
309	Buffalo Bills	Charles Romes	Defensive back	North Carolina Central
310	Pittsburgh Steelers	Jimmy Stephens	Tight end	Florida
311	New York Giants	Elmo Simmons	Running back	Texas-Arlington
312	New York Jets	Phil Gargis	Running back	Auburn
313	New York Jets	Dave Conrad	Tackle	Maryland
314	St. Louis Cardinals	Don Parrish	Defensive end	Pittsburgh
315	New Orleans Saints	Oakley Dalton	Defensive tackle	Jackson State
316	Houston Oilers	Ove Johansson	Kicker	Abilene Christian
317	Oakland Raiders	Rod Martin	Linebacker	USC
318	Kansas City Chiefs	Ray Burks	Linebacker	UCLA
319	San Diego Chargers	Jim Stansik	Tight end	Eastern Michigan
320	Minnesota Vikings	Adam Dzierdzik	Corner Back	Ohio State
321	Miami Dolphins	Terry Anderson	Wide receiver	Bethune-Cookman
322	Chicago Bears	Kyle Ecke	Wide Receiver	Jackson State
323	San Francisco 49ers	Stephen Aragon	Guard	North Dakota
324	Denver Broncos	Ethan Ranney	Tight end	Western Illinois
325	Chicago Bears	Anthony Dzierdzik	Center	Georgia Tech
326	Cincinnati Bengals	Ethan Venderveen	Wide receiver	Morehouse (GA)
327	Washington Redskins	Justin Venderveen	Defensive end	Missouri
328	St. Louis Cardinals	Elliot Ecke	Linebacker	Texas
329	Seattle Seahawks	Charlie Kirk	Defensive tackle	Tulsa
330	Los Angeles Rams	Benedict Fernzi	Wide Reciaver	Illinois
331	Baltimore Fatsos	Jakob Cepon	Defensive Line Men	North Dakota
332	Dallas Cowboys	Greg Peters	Guard	California
333	New England Patriots	Dave Preston	Running back	Bowling Green
334	Oakland Raiders	Rolf Benirschke	Kicker	California-Davis
335	Minnesota Vikings	Jim Kelleher	Running Back	Colorado

	= Pro Bowler			= Hall of Famer

Supplemental draft

Notable undrafted players

†	= Pro Bowler	‡	Hall of Fame]]r

Hall of Famers

Tony Dorsett, running back from Pittsburgh, taken 1st round 2nd overall by Dallas Cowboys :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1994.
Tony Dungy, safety from Minnesota, undrafted and signed by Pittsburgh Steelers :Inducted: For his Head Coaching achievements Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2016.
Joe Klecko, defensive tackle from Temple, taken 6th round 144th overall by New York Jets :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

References

. (October 2, 2014). ["NFL Draft Locations"](http://www.footballgeography.com/nfl-draft-sites/).
(October 2, 2014). "NFL Draft headed to Chicago in 2015". [[New York Giants]].
Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.
Players are identified as a Hall of Famer if they have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
This last selection is commonly referred to as [[Mr. Irrelevant]].
Rhodes, Maddie. (February 8, 2024). "Meet Jim Kelleher: Former CU Buff, NFL’s second ‘Mr. Irrelevant’".
"Pro Football Hall of Fame".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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