The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

teams selected amateur

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Marquis in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season. With the first overall pick of the draft, the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcon ...

selected linebacker Aundray Bruce. Notably, the first player selected at the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

position did not come until the third round (68th overall) with Tom Tupa (by the Phoenix Cardinals), who was also selected because of his ability as a punter. This is the last draft in which the first quarterback was selected this late. In fact, only one draft since –

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

– has gone without a quarterback being drafted in the first round.

Player selections

Round one

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

Round eight

Round nine

Round ten

Round eleven

Round twelve

Hall of Famers

Michael Irvin Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 2007, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of F ...

, wide receiver from Miami, taken 1st round 11th overall by Dallas Cowboys :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2007List of 2000s Hall of Fame Inductees at profootballhof.com * Randall McDaniel, offensive guard from Arizona State, taken 1st round 19th overall by Minnesota Vikings :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2009 *

Thurman Thomas Thurman Lee Thomas (born May 16, 1966) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He was selected by the Bills in the second round of th ...

, running back from Oklahoma State, taken 2nd round 40th overall by Buffalo Bills :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2007 * Dermontti Dawson, center from Kentucky, taken 2nd round 44th overall by Pittsburgh Steelers :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2012 * Tim Brown, wide receiver from Notre Dame, taken 1st round 6th overall by Los Angeles Raiders :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2015

Notable undrafted players

References

External links

NFL.com – 1988 Draft

Pro Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 Nfl Draft National Football League Draft

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

Draft