Alabama’s NFL Draft: Third round has Tide’s only Hornet
During the NFL’s 87 drafts, the league’s teams have acquired Alabama players with third-round selections 32 times, including twice in 2022.
In last year’s draft, the Houston Texans took linebacker Christian Harris at No. 75 and the Washington Commanders chose running back Brian Robinson Jr. at No. 98. Both became starters as rookies.
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When the third round in the 88th NFL Draft arrives on April 28 in Kansas City, Missouri, defensive lineman Byron Young and safety Jordan Battle appear the most likely candidates from Alabama to enter the NFL at that time.
Fifty players from Alabama have been selected with the No. 64 through No. 102 picks, which form the third round in this year’s draft.
That set of revised third-rounders includes World War II heroes, Canadian defectors, the model for the NFL Man of the Year Award and Alabama’s only member of the Chicago Hornets.
Two of the players became Pro Bowlers – Jess Richardson and Evan Mathis, both for the Philadelphia Eagles, though drafted 52 years apart.
Then there’s what happened to Robinson, who survived being shot twice two weeks before the season and returned to lead Washington in rushing as a rookie.
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The Alabama players who have been picked with the 64th through 102nd selections of an NFL Draft include:
No. 65 pick: Benny Perrin, defensive back, St. Louis Cardinals, 1982.
The former Decatur High School quarterback started 47 of the 48 games that he played for St. Louis at safety and intercepted nine passes in his first three seasons. But a knee injury that shortened his 1985 campaign caused his early retirement during the next year’s training camp. Perrin committed suicide in 2017, and examination revealed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
No. 67 pick: Corky Tharp, defensive back, Los Angeles Rams, 1955.
Released by the Rams before his rookie season, Tharp played in Canada and ran for 798 yards in seven games for the Toronto Argonauts in 1955. After a year in the U.S. Navy, the former Ramsey High School star played in a preseason game with the New York Giants in 1957 before returning to Toronto for three more seasons. In 1960, Tharp played safety for the New York Titans in the AFL’s first season and intercepted two passes.
No. 69 picks: Bobby Luna, defensive back, San Francisco 49ers, 1955; Bill Rice, end, St. Louis Cardinals, 1962; Steve Wright, tackle, Green Bay Packers, 1964; Saleem Rasheed, linebacker, San Francisco 49ers, 2002.
Luna did double duty in his two NFL seasons at safety and punter. He punted 63 times in each season and averaged 40.6 yards in one and 40.7 yards in the other even though there was a three-year gap between them. After starting every game and intercepting two passes for San Francisco as a rookie, Luna served a two-year hitch in the U.S. Army, then was an assistant coach at Alabama for one season before returning to the NFL in 1959. He started 11 games and intercepted three passes for the Pittsburgh Steelers in his final NFL season.
The sculptor who created the trophy that the NFL presents annually as the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award used Wright as his model. Wright was a starter at right tackle for Green Bay’s 1965 NFL title team, then got championship rings from the first two Super Bowls.
No. 70 picks: Tony Leon, guard, Washington Redskins, 1943; Johnny August, back, Los Angeles Rams, 1945; Jim Cain, defensive end, Chicago Cardinals, 1949.
Cain was a starter for the Detroit Lions’ 1953 championship team, returning to the NFL after playing two seasons north of the border for the Calgary Stampeders.
No. 71 pick: Kevin Turner, fullback, New England Patriots Patriots, 1992.
In eight NFL seasons with New England and the Philadelphia Eagles, Turner proved a reliable target out of the backfield with 236 receptions in 106 NFL games. Turner lost his life to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2016, a disease that was attributed to chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
No. 72 pick: Jeremiah Castille, defensive back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1983.
Castille’s six NFL seasons are best remembered for “The Fumble.” In the 1987 AFC Championship Game, Castille stripped the football from Cleveland Browns running back Earnest Byner at the Denver 1-yard line with the Broncos holding a 38-31 lead with 1:12 to play. Castille intercepted a pass in Denver’s subsequent Super Bowl appearance, but the Broncos lost to Washington 42-10.
No. 73 picks: Lew Bostick, guard, Cleveland Rams, 1939; Herb Hannah, tackle, New York Giants, 1951; Bobby Jackson, defensive back, Green Bay Packers, 1959; Kenyan Drake, running back, Miami Dolphins, 2016.
Jackson played quarterback at Alabama, but he was a safety during his two NFL seasons, which included the 1960 campaign with the league champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Hannah started all 12 of New York’s 1951 games at right offensive tackle as a 30-year-old rookie after five years in the U.S. Navy, then attending Alabama. Hannah retired after his single season, but his sons had longer NFL careers. A Pro Football Hall of Famer, John Hannah played left guard for the New England Patriots for 13 years. During his 12 NFL seasons, Charley Hannah began as a defensive end, moved to offensive tackle, then played left guard for the Los Angeles Raiders for his final six seasons.
In seven NFL seasons with four teams, Drake has run for 3,866 yards and 33 touchdowns on 867 carries, caught 216 passes for 1,624 yards and eight touchdowns and averaged 23.5 yards and scored one TD on 41 kickoff returns.
No. 74 pick: Glen Coffee, running back, San Francisco 49ers, 2009.
After running for 226 yards and one touchdown on 83 carries for San Francisco as a rookie, Coffee left football to join the U.S. Army.
No. 75 pick: Ricky Moore, running back, San Francisco 49ers, 1985; Christian Harris, linebacker, Houston Texans.
In his three seasons as an NFL fullback, Moore had more receiving yards than rushing yards – 27 receptions for 220 yards and 40 rushing attempts for 126 yards and one touchdown. Moore played one season apiece with the Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers and Phoenix Cardinals.
No. 77 pick: Antoine Caldwell, guard, Houston Texans, 2009.
The consensus All-American center in 2008, Caldwell played mainly right guard in his four seasons with Houston, during which he made 19 starts.
No. 78 picks: Mitch Olenski, tackle, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1944; Tim Williams, outside linebacker, Baltimore Ravens, 2017.
Olenski never played for Brooklyn but was in the U.S. Army in 1944 and 1945. He started his pro career with the Miami Seahawks of the All-American Football Conference in 1946 and finished it with the Detroit Lions in 1947.
No. 79 picks: Noah Langdale, tackle, Green Bay Packers, 1942; Evan Mathis, guard, Carolina Panthers, 2005; ArDarius Stewart, wide receiver, New York Jets, 2017.
Langdale was the first of 23 Alabama players who have been drafted by the Packers. He never played in the NFL, but coached at Alabama in 1942, joined the U.S. Navy during World War II, went to law school at Harvard and spent 31 years as the president of Georgia State.
Mathis was a first-team All-Pro selection for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013, a Pro Bowler in 2013 and 2014 and a Super Bowl winner with the Denver Broncos in 2015.
No. 81 pick: Kenny Smith, defensive tackle, New Orleans Saints, 2001.
After three seasons with New Orleans, Smith had a five-year gap in his career before returning to the field with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009. In between, he was on injured reserve with the Saints, Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots for one season apiece. King’s son J’Mar Smith is playing quarterback for the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL again this season.
No. 82 pick: Louis Thompson, defensive tackle, New York Giants, 1967.
Thompson had a 36-year high school coaching career that included 253 victories. He coached mainly in Tennessee, with his longest stint at Lincoln County, but he started with six seasons at Dadeville in Alabama.
No. 83 picks: Sid Youngelman, defensive tackle, San Francisco 49ers, 1954; Terrell Lewis, outside linebacker, Los Angeles Rams, 2020.
Youngelman came from Brooklyn to play basketball at Alabama. But after missing a practice and having a run-in with coach Floyd Burdette, he was kicked off the team. Rather than send Youngelman home, athletic director Hank Crisp steered him to the football team. After five seasons in the NFL, Youngelman played in the first four seasons of the AFL.
No. 84 picks: Ray Richeson, guard, Philadelphia Eagles, 1948; Shannon Brown, defensive tackle, Atlanta Falcons, 1996.
Richeson is the only Alabama alumnus to play for the Chicago Hornets. His only pro season was also the Hornets’ only season. A member of the All-American Football Conference, the Chicago team had been called the Rockets in its first three seasons before becoming the Hornets for the 1949 campaign. After his single pro season, Richeson was the coach at Livingston State (now West Alabama) from 1953 through 1956.
Brown tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during his first training camp and never played in an NFL regular-season game. He became a high school football coach and led teams at Greensboro, Bob Jones and Ardmore.
No. 85 pick: Brodie Croyle, quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs, 2006.
In five seasons with Kansas City, Croyle started 10 games, and the Chiefs lost all of them. He completed 181-of-319 passes for 1,669 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions during his NFL career, which was beset by injuries.
No. 87 picks: Jerry Watford, guard, Chicago Cardinals, 1953; Damien Harris, running back, New England Patriots, 2019; Anfernee Jennings, outside linebacker, New England Patriots, 2020.
New England used the 87th pick in consecutive drafts on Crimson Tide players. Harris ran for 2,094 yards and 20 touchdowns on 449 carries and caught 40 passes for 281 yards in 38 regular-season games with the Patriots. He left in free agency this offseason for the Buffalo Bills. Jennings, who missed the 2021 season with an injury, still plays for New England.
No. 90 pick: Ed Hickerson, guard, Washington Redskins, 1941.
Hickerson ended up in the U.S. Navy instead of the NFL. In 1942, he played on the Georgia Pre-Flight Skycrackers, who defeated Alabama 35-19 at Legion Field on Nov. 28. The team also defeated Auburn 41-14 in Columbus, Georgia, on Nov. 7.
No. 91 pick: Wayne Trimble, defensive back, San Francisco 49ers, 1967.
Trimble’s NFL career consisted of one game for San Francisco in 1967. He sustained a knee injury working out before his rookie season. Released at the end of the season, he joined the St. Louis Cardinals but suffered another knee injury.
No. 92 pick: Jess Richardson, defensive tackle, Philadelphia Eagles, 1953.
A Pro Bowler in 1959 and a starter for Philadelphia’s NFL championship team in 1960, Richardson was one of the last position players to perform without a face mask. He finished 12 seasons in the NFL and AFL with all his teeth but is said to have broken his nose at least 10 times.
No. 93 picks: Cary Cox, center, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1940; Ronnie Harrison, safety, Jacksonville Jaguars, 2018.
Cox never played in the NFL. Instead, he was in the U.S. Army and saw action in World War II.
No. 94 picks: Larry Lauer, center, New York Yanks, 1951; Derrick Lassic, running back, Dallas Cowboys, 1993.
With Emmitt Smith holding out in a contract dispute, Lassic started the first two games of his NFL career and ran for a career-high 75 yards in his debut. Lassic got a Super Bowl ring with Dallas as a rookie. But a preseason injury kept him off the field in 1994. After going to the Carolina Panthers in the 1995 expansion draft, more injuries prevented Lassic from playing again.
No. 95 picks: Bill Shipp, tackle, New York Giants, 1954; Rashad Johnson, defensive back, Arizona Cardinals, 2009.
After his rookie season in New York, Shipp played the next 12 seasons in Canada and was a CFL Eastern Conference All-Star three times.
Johnson spent eight seasons in the NFL and returned three of his 15 interceptions for touchdowns. In a 2013 game against the New Orleans Saints, Johnson had the tip of his left middle finger severed, an injury he discovered after taking off his glove.
No. 96 pick: Bob Hood, end, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1949.
Hood played for the Hamilton Wildcats of the Inter-Provincial Rugby Football Union, a forerunner of the Canadian Football League, in 1949.
No. 98 pick: Mike Johnson, guard, Atlanta Falcons, 2010; Brian Robinson Jr., running back, Washington Commanders, 2022.
In three injury-filled seasons with Atlanta, Johnson played in 16 regular-season games, but he caught a touchdown pass in one of them. On Nov. 11, 2012, Johnson scored on a 1-yard toss from Matt Ryan for the opening points in a 31-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Robinson was shot in the knee and hip during a robbery attempt two weeks before the start of his rookie season. After missing the first four games, Robinson returned to lead Washington with 797 rushing yards.
No. 99 pick: Nico Johnson, linebacker, Kansas City Chiefs, 2013.
The former Andalusia High School star played for three teams in three seasons – six games with the Chiefs in 2013, 11 games with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2014 and one game with the New York Giants in 2015.
No. 100 pick: Michael Myers, defensive tackle, Dallas Cowboys, 1998.
Myers played in 138 games for four teams in a 10-year NFL career. He was a regular in the starting lineup for the Cowboys in 2001 and the Denver Broncos in 2005 and 2006.
No. 101 pick: Ed Culpepper, Green Bay Packers, defensive tackle, 1955.
During Culpepper’s six NFL seasons, he played for the Cardinals in 1960, their first year in St. Louis after moving from Chicago, then played for the first Minnesota Vikings team in 1961 after being the seventh player picked in the expansion draft.
No. 102 pick: Sam Shade, defensive back, Cincinnati Bengals, 1995.
Shade played 117 games and intercepted 10 passes at safety in eight NFL seasons. Shade is now the head coach at Miles College.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.