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.

One of the six prospects chosen at No. 12 in an NFL Draft who played at Alabama high schools and colleges is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But that player has been known for almost 60 years as Broadway Joe, not Gateway Arch Joe.

Alabama quarterback Joe Namath was the 12th pick of the 1965 NFL Draft, which started with the New York Giants taking Auburn running back Tucker Frederickson. It featured back-to-back Pro Football Hall of Fame draft picks by the Chicago Bears, who selected Illinois linebacker Dick Butkus and Kansas running back Gayle Sayers at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

After the Detroit Lions chose Indiana fullback Tom Nowatzke at No. 11, the St. Louis Cardinals made Namath the second quarterback taken in 1965. The Dallas Cowboys had chosen California QB Craig Morton at No. 5.

Namath never played for the Cardinals. Instead, he signed a three-year, $427,000 contract with the New York Jets of the AFL. The contract was the richest in pro football history at the time and put a feather in the cap of the NFL’s rival league, which had begun play in 1960.

Namath turned out to be not only an all-star player for the Jets – the 1965 AFL Rookie of the Year and the 1968 AFL Player of the Year, among other accolades – but also a pivotal figure in pro-football history.

Namath guaranteed the Jets would upend the NFL champion Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III after the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders had been routinely turned aside by the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in the first two world-championship games.

Namath was right, and he received the MVP Award for New York’s 16-7 victory on Jan. 12, 1969.

The other prospects from Alabama high schools and colleges who were No. 12 picks include:

· Back Dave Middleton (Ensley, Auburn): 1955 by the Detroit Lions. An SEC sprint champion, Middleton completed a seven-season NFL career with 183 receptions for 2,966 yards and 17 touchdowns after converting to wide receiver (and carrying the football 59 times as a rookie). He caught a 32-yard touchdown pass in the Lions’ 59-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 29, 1957, when Detroit captured its most recent NFL championship.

· Center Jackie Burkett (Auburn): 1959 by the Baltimore Colts. Drafted on Dec. 1, 1958, Burkett didn’t play his first NFL game until Sept. 17, 1961. Burkett was drafted as a future pick (a designation that no longer exists), so he played a season at Auburn after being chosen by Baltimore. Then missed his rookie NFL season with a shoulder injury. Burkett was drafted again in 1967, when the New Orleans Saints made him the fourth pick in that year’s NFL expansion draft. Burkett played in 121 games across 12 NFL seasons.

· Defensive end Trace Armstrong (John Carroll Catholic): 1989 by the Chicago Bears. Chosen from Florida, Armstrong played in 211 NFL regular-season and 14 playoff games across 15 seasons. His 106 sacks rank 31st in NFL history. Armstrong was a Pro Bowl selection in 2000, when he recorded a career-high 16.5 sacks and led the NFL with seven forced fumbles.

· Wide receiver Henry Ruggs III (Lee-Montgomery, Alabama): 2020 by the Las Vegas Raiders. Ruggs had 50 receptions for 921 yards and four touchdowns in 20 NFL games when his career suddenly stopped because of a fatal automobile accident. Ruggs was sentenced to 36 to 120 months in prison after pleading guilty to driving under the influence on alcohol resulting in death.

· Wide receiver Jameson Williams (Alabama): 2022 by the Detroit Lions. Williams’ career got off to a delayed start because of a torn ACL sustained in the CFP national-championship game for the 2021 season. He has 25 receptions for 395 yards and three touchdowns in 18 regular-season games and six receptions for 79 yards and one touchdown in three playoff contests. He also has 65 yards on 12 regular-season rushing attempts and a 42-yard postseason touchdown run.

The Denver Broncos hold the 12th 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.