The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the
Essex House 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.
With the
first overall pick of the draft, the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
selected defensive end
Walt Patulski
Walter George Patulski (born February 3, 1950) is a former American football defensive end at the University of Notre Dame and the National Football League.
High school
Patulski was a star athlete at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, New ...
.
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
Round thirteen
Round fourteen
Round fifteen
Round sixteen
Round seventeen
Hall of Famers
*
Franco Harris
Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection ...
, running back from Penn State, taken 1st round 13th overall by Pittsburgh Steelers
:Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 1990.
*
Cliff Branch
Clifford Branch Jr. (August 1, 1948 – August 3, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders during his entire 14-year National Football League (NFL) career. He won three NF ...
, wide receiver from Colorado, taken 4th round 98th overall by Oakland Raiders
:Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame class of 2022 (posthumous).
Notable undrafted players
References
External links
NFL.com – 1972 DraftPro Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 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
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
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 ...