List of East Carolina Pirates in the NFL Draft

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Every April, each National Football League (NFL) franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through a collegiate draft officially known as "the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" but more commonly known as the NFL Draft. Teams select players in inverse order based on the team's previous record; the team with the worst record picks first, the team with the second-worst record picks second, and so on. Selections are made during seven different rounds, and teams reverse order every round. Thus, a team with the last selection in the first round will have the first selection in the second round.

The two exceptions to the record-based order are the teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always has the last pick of the first round, and the team that lost the Super Bowl always has the second-last pick in the first round. Teams have the option of trading their picks to other teams in exchange for different picks, players, money, or a combination thereof. 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=2008-05-05] Of the players selected in each draft and throughout its history, East Carolina has had 57 players picked.cite web| title = ECU’s Chris Johnson selected in the first round| work = College| publisher = PirateIllustrated.com | date = 2008-04-27| url = http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=rivals-215924&prov=rivals&type=lgns| accessdate = 2008-05-08]

The Pirates have never had the first overall selection; their highest draft position was twenty-fourth overall in 1992, when Robert Jones, a linebacker, was selected by the Dallas Cowboys. Chris Johnson, East Carolina's most recent NFL Draft selection, was also taken with the 24th overall pick in 2008. The Pirates have had four players drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and the Minnesota Vikings during the school's history. East Carolina most productive year was 1984, when the school had eight players selected in the draft.

Four former Pirates: Zack Valentine (XIV), Earnest Byner (XXVI), Robert Jones (XXX), (XXVIII) and (XXVII), and Guy Whimper (XLII), have won Super Bowls with their respective teams. [cite web| last = Cherubini| first = Ron | title = A Peek Behind the Steel Curtain| work = Pirate Time Machine| publisher = Bonesville.net| date = 2002| url = http://www.bonesville.net/articles/roncherubini/PirateTimeMachine/2002/081002_Zack_Valentine_Sidebar_Steel_Curtain.htm| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| title = Earnest Byner| work = Coaching Staff| publisher = Washington Redskins| date = 2008| url = http://www.redskins.com/team/cprofile.jsp?id=52| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web | title = Robert Jones| work = Hall of Fame| publisher = East Carolina Official Athletic Site| date = 2008| url = http://ecupirates.cstv.com/hallfame/robert-jones.html| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| last = Book| first = Sue | title = Havelock to honor Giants' Guy Whimper with key to the city| work = Local| publisher = New Bern Sun Journal| date = 2008-03-21| url = http://www.newbernsj.com/news/havelock_38865___article.html/whimper_giants.html| accessdate = 2008-05-08] Four Pirates also have been elected to the Pro Bowl: Tony Collins (1983), Earnest Byner (1990) and (1991), Jeff Blake (1995) and Rod Coleman (2005). [cite web| title = Tony Collins| work = Players| publisher = Pro-Football-Reference.com| date = 2008| url = http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CollTo01.htm| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| title = Earnest Byner | work = Players| publisher = Pro-Football-Reference.com| date = 2008| url = http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/ByneEa00.htm| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| title = Jeff Blake| work = Players| publisher = Pro-Football-Reference.com| date = 2008| url = http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BlakJe00.htm| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| title = Rod Coleman| work = Players| publisher = Pro-Football-Reference.com| date = 2008| url = http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/ColeRo99.htm| accessdate = 2008-05-08] Four Pirates drafted into the NFL are still playing in the league: David Garrard, Guy Whimper, Aundrae Allison, and Chris Johnson. [cite web| title = David Garrard | work = Jacksonville Jaguars - Players| publisher = NFL.com| date = 2008| url = David Garrard | accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| title = Guy Whimper| work = New York Giants - Players| publisher = NFL.com| date = 2008| url = http://www.nfl.com/players/guywhimper/profile?id=WHI006874| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| title = Aundrae Allison| work = Minnesota Vikings - Players| publisher = NFL.com| date = 2008| url = http://www.nfl.com/players/aundraeallison/profile?id=ALL709826| accessdate = 2008-05-08] [cite web| title = Chris Johnson| work = Tennessee Titans - Players| publisher = NFL.com| date = 2008| url = http://www.nfl.com/players/chrisjohnson/profile?id=JOH127799| accessdate = 2008-05-08]

Key

Player selection

References