Okay, here’s my blog post about the 1984 NFL draft, written in a casual, personal style:
So, I’ve been digging into some old NFL drafts lately, and man, the 1984 one is a real trip. I started by just wanting to see where some of the big names went, but I ended up going down a total rabbit hole.
First, I checked out the overall order. I mean, number one pick, right? Gotta see that. It was Irving Fryar, a wide receiver, going to the Patriots. I vaguely remembered the name, so I looked him up – solid career, a few Pro Bowls, but not exactly a legend.
Then I started scrolling through the later rounds, which is where things got interesting. You’ve got guys who became Hall of Famers, and then you’ve got… well, a lot of guys you’ve never heard of. It’s kinda wild to think about how much of a gamble the whole thing is.
The Quarterbacks…Or Lack Thereof
I noticed something pretty weird pretty quickly: this draft wasn’t exactly overflowing with superstar quarterbacks. I mean, Boomer Esiason went in the second round, which is pretty good, but he’s not exactly a household name for everyone these days. I spent a good hour just trying to find out if there were any other QBs from that year who even made a blip on the radar.
- Boomer Esiason: Ok, so second round, Bengals. Decent career, I’ll give him that.
- …crickets… Seriously, where are the other QBs?
I decided to make a comparison list of that Draft with other drafts.
So I took some notes about 1983 and, the future, 1985 draft.
Deep Dive on the Defensive Guys
I figured, okay, if the QBs are a bust, maybe there are some defensive monsters I should know about. And yeah, there were a few! I stumbled across names like Wilber Marshall, a linebacker who went to the Bears. Also, I found that, the legendary, Reggie White went to the supplemental draft!
I ended up spending most of my afternoon just reading old articles and watching grainy highlight reels (thanks, internet!). It’s amazing how much the game has changed, but also how some things – like a good linebacker’s instincts – are timeless.
The whole process really made me appreciate how much work goes into building a team, and how much luck is involved, too. You can scout all you want, but you never really know how a player will pan out until they’re on the field. The 1984 draft is a perfect example of that – some hits, some misses, and a whole lot of “what ifs.”
