Expansion Draft
Originally, the NFL did not have an expansion draft, and instead, expansion teams were given whatever players were available; the rules at the time gave these teams two players from each existing franchise and the remainder from the local area to make up a 55-player roster. When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were added to the NFL in 1976, their roster ended up being composed mostly of aging veterans and inexperienced rookies, and as a result, Tampa Bay had the first winless season in modern NFL history en route to losing their first 26 games (the longest losing streak in NFL history). After significant public criticism, the NFL created an expansion draft to avoid a repeat of this very poor start for future expansion teams.
Read more about this topic: National Football League Controversies
Famous quotes containing the words expansion and/or draft:
“We are caught up Mr. Perry on a great wave whether we will or no, a great wave of expansion and progress. All these mechanical inventions—telephones, electricity, steel bridges, horseless vehicles—they are all leading somewhere. It’s up to us to be on the inside in the forefront of progress.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“News is the first rough draft of history.”
—Philip L. Graham (1915–1963)