Who were the “big” picks the first draft you remember paying attention to?

[Sonny Werblin]

14 hours ago, slimjasi said:

Did you want Marino?  You were upset at all the Jets passed on him? 

This reminds me of something from many many years ago.

Being raised in NYC college football was not really something that caught my attention until one friday after thanksgiving I watched Pitt and Tony Dorsett defeat Penn State in Happy Valley (1976 maybe?). The Pitt/PSU tilt was followed by Nebraska/Oklahoma. I remember the Sooners scored in the 4th Qtr to take the lead and win, but I was hooked on the Huskers who came off as the good guys against the Sooners. Anyway, from that point forward I was a huge fan of both Pitt and Nebraska. I was crestfallen that the jets didn’t draft Marino who is only a couple of years older than me. But I empathized with the Jets position - being concerned about rumors of drug use. Anyway, to the point of my long convoluted story. I was taking a review class for a graduate school entrance exam and I learned the girl seated next to me went to Pitt. I started to ask if she ever met Marino and before I finished she went on a 15 minute tirade about her being forced to share her notes with Marino, how he never attended any classes and was drunk or on something whenever she saw him on campus. So, i guess the Jet’s concerns were warranted?

ps I was also pretty upset that the Jets didn’t draft IM Hipp (Nebraska tailback) a few years after the Marino draft.