The 2024 NFL Draft starts on April 25 in Detroit with the 32 first-round picks. In the 88 NFL drafts, teams have chosen 128 prospects who played at Alabama high schools and colleges in the first round, and another 29 who were not first-rounders but were selected in the first 32 picks. AL.com is counting down to the draft by highlighting the players with Alabama football roots who have been chosen in the first 32 picks.

The New Orleans Saints selected Montgomery’s Lee Gross from Auburn with the 32nd pick in the 1975 NFL Draft. Gross is unique in Alabama’s state draft history as the only player who has been chosen at No. 32.

Made on Jan. 28, 1975, the pick was the sixth selection of the second round, and the Saints chose the Auburn center one spot before the San Diego Chargers picked Louisiana Tech defensive end Fred Dean, who’s now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

New Orleans had played eight NFL seasons when it made Gross its third pick in the 1975 draft. The Saints had never won more than five games in a season, and their first winning season wouldn’t arrive until 1987.

Gross had earned All-SEC recognition in 1974, when Auburn posted a 10-2 mark and defeated Texas 27-3 in the Gator Bowl.

Gross had position versatility. He had been on the All-SEC second team in 1973 as a guard before moving over to center to take the place of All-SEC selection Steve Taylor. Gross had been an All-State tackle for Lee-Montgomery (now named Percy Julian) in 1970, when the Generals posted a 13-0 record and defeated Minor 23-7 in the AHSAA Class 4A championship game. And Gross had the skill to handle the duties of the player now known as the long snapper, which he did in the NFL.

In August 1975, New Orleans traded its starting center of the previous four seasons, John Didion, to the Chicago Bears. But it wasn’t Gross who got the spot. His transition to the NFL was slowed by his recovery from knee surgery (which also prevented him from playing in the Chicago Charities College All-Star Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers), and Gross didn’t make his first appearance for the Saints until the fifth game of his rookie season.

A free-agent rookie from Alabama, Sylvester Croom started at center in the Saints’ 1975 season-opener – a 41-3 loss to the Washington Redskins – in his only NFL appearance.

Obtained after being waived by the New York Giants, John Hill made the transition from tackle to center in the 1975 season with New Orleans, starting a run of 10 years at the position on his way to a place in the Saints Hall of Fame.

Gross played in 32 games in three seasons with New Orleans – the Saints’ first three years in the Louisiana Superdome — and completed a career adversely affected by knee injuries with 16 games for the Baltimore Colts in 1979.

Gross is one of only three Auburn players who have been drafted by the Saints. New Orleans chose Tigers running back James Owens at No. 262 in 1973 and defensive end Frank Warren at No. 57 in 1981.

One of Gross’ sons, Gabe Gross, also was a professional athlete, with a seven-season career in Major League Baseball.

As the defending NFL champions, the Kansas City Chiefs hold the 32nd selection in this year’s draft.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.