EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the seventh article in a series examining the history of all 11 Texans selections. HoustonTexans.com is looking back through the NFL's past at some of the more notable players picked in the spots where the Texans are drafting in 2022. Today, we're checking out the 80th overall pick, which is in the third round. We've also profiled the following:
107th overall pick (4th Round-Cleveland through Detroit)
108th overall pick (4th Round)
183rd overall pick (6th Round)
205th overall pick (6th Round-Green Bay)
The 80th pick in the NFL Draft has produced a pair of Hall of Famers, a slew of players who had lengthy careers and a colorful linebacker who wound up winning four Super Bowl rings.
Of Houston's 11 selections in this year's Draft, its fifth is in the third round at 80th overall. That pick came to town when the Texans dealt cornerback Bradley Roby to the Saints last year.
Before we examine some of the more notable names selected in that spot, it's important to dive into some numbers related to the 80th overall pick.
Since 1936, there have been 94 players selected at 80. 73 of them wound up playing in at least one regular season game. 24 men would start at least 32 regular season games in their careers. Nine went on to start 100 or more games.
The first 80th overall pick to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was Green Bay center Jim Ringo. The Packers took the Syracuse lineman in the seventh round of the 1953 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Ringo started five games. The next year, he started 11-of-12 contests. Beginning in 1955, and going through his last NFL season of 1967, Ringo started every single contest for 13 years. His final four were spent in Philadelphia. Ringo won a pair of rings with the Packers in 1961 and 1962, and was selected to 10 Pro Bowls. He was an All-Pro six times. In 1981, Ringo was enshrined in Canton.
The other Hall of Famer was Art Shell. The Oakland Raiders selected the left tackle from Maryland State (now known as Maryland-Eastern Shore) in 1968, and he started just one game his first two NFL seasons. But beginning in 1970, Shell started every contest through the 1978 campaign. When his 15-year NFL career ended at the conclusion of the 1982 season, Shell helped Oakland to a pair of a Super Bowl titles and was selected to eight Pro Bowls. In 1989 he became the Raiders head coach, and took them to the playoffs three times in the next six seasons.
In 1959 the Los Angeles Rams used a seventh round pick on defensive back Eddie Meador from Arkansas Tech. For the next dozen seasons as a corner and then safety, he started 160 games, picked off 46 passes and was selected to seven Pro Bowls. Meador was a first-team All-Pro selection in 1968 and 1969. He's the franchise's all-time leader in picks, fumble recoveries (18) and blocked kicks (4).
Bob Kuechenberg was the Eagles' fourth-round pick in 1969. The Notre Dame offensive lineman never played a regular season down for Philadelphia, and in 1970 he began an illustrious career with the Dolphins. From that season, through his final year of 1983, Kuechenberg started 176 games, was selected to six Pro Bowls, and played in four Super Bowls. He won rings in 1972 and 1973.
Nobody picked 80th overall played in more games than Bill Romanowski. The Boston College linebacker was a third-rounder for the 49ers in 1988. He was a key part of back-to-back Super Bowl championship squads his first two years in the league. In 1994 and 1995 he was an Eagle, and in 1996 he headed west to Denver where he spent the next six years. He won a pair of rings with the Broncos, and concluded his 16-year NFL career with two autumns in Oakland. When the dust settled, he'd picked off 18 passes, recovered 18 fumbles, started 222 times and logged over 1,100 tackles.
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