The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football 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. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.
Notably, the first player selected at the quarterback position did not come until the third round (76th overall), which is the last draft in which this has occurred. In fact, only one draft since – 1996 – has gone without a quarterback being drafted in the first round.
The 1942 National Football League draft was held on December 22, 1941, at the Palmer House Hotel
in Chicago, Illinois.
The 1938 National Football League draft was held on December 12, 1937, at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago, Illinois. The draft consisted of 12 rounds and 110 player selections. It began with the Cleveland Rams, taking Corbett Davis.
The 1966 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965.
The expansion Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds. The first overall selection was Tommy Nobis, a linebacker from Texas. The league also provided the Falcons with an expansion draft six weeks later.
This was the last draft in which the NFL and the AFL selected their players separate of one another. As a result, most players drafted by teams from both leagues chose to play for the more established NFL, but not all. Similar to 1965, the AFL draft was held on the same day. After the merger agreement in June 1966, a common draft was held in March 1967.