List of Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft picks

The Pittsburgh Steelers, a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, joined the National Football League (NFL) as Pittsburgh Pirates an expansion team in 1933. [cite web |url= http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1931-1940#1933|title= NFL history 1933|accessdate=2008-04-27 |author= NFL.com|date= |work= |publisher=NFL.com] The team changed their name to the Steelers prior to the 1940 season, to represent the city's heritage of producing steel.cite web |url= http://news.steelers.com/MediaContent/2007/08/22/05/Steelers_History_80311.pdf|title= Steelers' History|accessdate=2008-04-27 |author= |date= |work= |publisher=Pittsburgh Steelers] The Steelers first participated in the 1936 NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting, more commonly known as the NFL Draft.cite news|last=Branch |first=John |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20000409/ai_n9969057 |title=The 2000 Liars Club/ Draft makes Broncos coach cloak intentions |publisher=findarticles.com |work=Colorado Springs Gazette |date= 2000-04-09| accessdate=2008-06-05] Every year during April, each NFL franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through the NFL Draft. Teams are ranked in reverse order based on the previous season's record, with the worst record picking first, the second-worst picking second and so on. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always picks 32nd, and the Super Bowl loser always picks 31st. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades. [cite web|url=http://football.about.com/od/miscinformation/a/detdraftorder.htm| last = Alder | first = James | title = "NFL Draft Basics:Determining Order of Selection" | work = About.com | accessdate=2008-05-26]

The Steelers' first selection as an NFL team was William Shakespeare, a halfback from University of Notre Dame.cite web|url=http://news.steelers.com/MediaContent/2007/08/22/04/All-Time_Draft_Picks_80306.pdf|title=Steelers' All Time Draft History|publisher=Pittsburgh Steelers|accessdate=2008-06-11] The Steelers have selected number one overall four times, drafting Byron White in 1938, Bill Dudley in 1942, Gary Glick in 1956 and Terry Bradshaw in 1970, second overall one time, and third overall four times. Six eventual Hall of Famers were selected by the Steelers: Bill Dudley, Len Dawson, Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and Lynn Swann. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/teams.html | title=Hall of Famers by Franchise | accessdate=2008-05-28] The team's most recent first–round selection was Rashard Mendenhall, a running back from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Key

Player selections

Notes

*note label|Note1|a|aThe Steelers traded their 1939 pick (2nd overall) to the Chicago Bears. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1939.jsp| title=1939 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note2|b|bThe Steelers traded their 1941 pick (3rd overall) to the Chicago Bears (3rd overall) [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1941.jsp| title=1941 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note3|c|cThis was a lottery bonus pick. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1956.jsp| title=1956 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note4|d|dThe Steelers traded their 1958 pick (8th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1958.jsp| title=1958 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note5|e|eThe Steelers traded their 1959 pick (8th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1959.jsp| title=1959 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note6|f|fThe Steelers traded their 1961 pick (6th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1961.jsp| title=1961 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note7|g|gThe Steelers traded their 1963 pick (11th overall) to the Chicago Bears. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1963.jsp| title=1963 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note8|h|hThe Steelers traded their 1965 pick (3rd overall) to the Chicago Bears. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1965.jsp| title=1965 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note9|i|iThe Steelers traded their 1967 pick (9th overall) to the Green Bay Packers. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1967.jsp| title=1967 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note10|j|jThe Steelers acquired the 1989 pick (24th overall) from the Minnesota Vikings. [cite web | work=Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1989.jsp| title=1989 First–round draft picks | accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note11|k|kThe Steelers traded their 1990 pick (17th overall) to the Dallas Cowboys for Dallas' 1990 pick (21st overall, obtained from Minnesota Vikings) and a third-round pick (82nd overall, obtained from San Francisco 49ers).
*note label|Note12|l|lThe Steelers traded their 2001 pick (16th overall) to the New York Jets for their first–round pick (19th overall), their fourth-round pick (111th overall) and their sixth-round pick (181st overall). [cite news| title = 2001 NFL Draft - Weekend Trades| work = cnnsi.com| publisher = CNN|url= http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/2001/draft/news/2001/04/21/nfl_trades_saturday/| accessdate = 2007-05-05 ]
*note label|Note13|m|mThe Steelers traded their first–round pick (27th overall), third round pick (92nd overall) and sixth round pick (200th overall) to obtain the 2003 pick (16th overall). [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfldraft/story?id=1545036|title=2003 NFL Draft trades|publisher=ESPN|accessdate=2008-07-04]
*note label|Note14|n|nThe Steelers obtained the 2006 pick from New York Giants by trading their first–round pick (32nd overall), their third round pick (96th overall) and their fourth round pick (129th overall). [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft06/news/story?id=2424139|title=2006 NFL Draft Trader|publisher=ESPN|accessdate=2008-07-04]

References

;General
*cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?teamId=3900&type=team|title=NFL Draft History: Full Draft - by Team|publisher=NFL.com|accessdate=2008-06-05
*cite web|url=http://news.steelers.com/MediaContent/2007/08/22/04/All-Time_Draft_Picks_80306.pdf|title=Steelers' All Time Draft History|publisher=Pittsburgh Steelers|accessdate=2008-06-11

;Specific