The long history of the draft-order coin flip has ended

With a revision to the bylaws passed in March, the NFL owners have effectively ended the longstanding practice of tossing a coin to break any ties in the draft order.

Coin flips to determine draft position likely date back to the very first NFL draft in 1936, following a season in which the Chicago Bears and Cardinals tied for the 5th-worst record at 6-4-2. The Cardinals won this presumed flip and drafted 5th in the first round. As became the norm in future years, the teams involved in the coin toss swapped draft positions in even-numbered rounds.

The first coin flip that could be documented took place in the 1939 draft, when the Cardinals won the right to the first overall pick over the equally woeful Pittsburgh Pirates.¹

The most luckless team in a draft coin toss may have been the 1945 Brooklyn Tigers, who finished the 1944 season with a winless 0-10 record. However, the temporarily merged Cardinals–Steelers team, a necessity caused by the manpower shortages due to World War II, also finished 0-10. When both resumed as full franchises in 1945, each was considered for draft purposes to have gone winless in 1944. In the three-way coin flip,² the Cardinals won, the Steelers finished second, and the unfortunate Tigers third. The Tigers draft choice, Joe Renfroe, never played a down in the NFL, opting instead to become an assistant coach at Gulf Coast Military Academy (Gulfport, Mississippi). The Brooklyn Tigers also would not play another down in the NFL, as they temporarily merged with the Boston Yanks for the 1945 season, then jumped to the new All-America Football Conference (as the New York Yankees).

Draft position ties happened occasionally in the 1940s and ’50s NFL, but their frequency would expand as the league did. When the NFL added franchises in 1960s and then agreed to a common draft with the American Football League in 1967 as part of the eventual 1970 merger, the number of teams in the draft more than doubled. The breaking point came in the 1975 draft, when a record 6-way tie was broken by an undisclosed multiple-coin-flip procedure, and 18 of the 26 teams had their ultimate position determined by a coin flip. Starting with the 1976 draft, coin flips were only used to break interconference ties that existed after considering playoff performance and strength of schedule. Division and conference tiebreakers that were used to determine playoff positioning were adapted to eliminate most of the coin flips.

Overall number-1 tossup

The overall number one was subject to a random selection four times in the common draft era — twice when the NFL added two expansion teams at once, and twice when teams tied for the worst record in the league.

The Steelers, languishing in the sub-basement of the NFL standings for their first four decades, won the first overall pick in the 1970 Draft at a Super Bowl IV press conference when Bears treasurer/George Halas son-in-law Ed McCaskey misguessed “heads”. The Steelers used the pick on a quarterback out of Louisiana Tech by the name of Terry Bradshaw; the disappointed Bears would trade the second-overall choice to the Packers for three veterans, none of whom lasted with the Bears beyond 1970.

The other coin flip involving the two worst teams was less dramatic. The 1974 Colts had finished 2-12 despite having quarterback-of-the-future Bert Jones; the 1974 Giants did the same while sending their 1975 first-rounder to the Cowboys in a disastrous trade for Craig Morton. The Colts won the flip; four days later, they traded it to the Falcons, who would take California QB Steve Bartkowski. The Cowboys selected future Hall of Famer Randy White one pick later.

The next year, the Buccaneers and Seahawks entered the league. Instead of the normal coin toss for draft position, Tampa Bay owner Hugh Culverhouse and Seattle owner Herman Sarkowsky picked envelopes out of a helmet; Culverhouse selected the one marked “college draft”, giving the Buccaneers the first overall pick in the normal draft. Sarkowsky’s “pro draft” gave the Seahawks the first overall pick in the veteran allocation draft in which the Buccaneers and Seahawks drafted unwanted players off of the other 26 teams’ rosters. With the first overall pick in the college draft, the Buccaneers took future Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon.³

The Panthers and Jaguars would start play in the 1995 season, but their order in that draft was determined during the 1994 draft. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue flipped a special coin minted with the two team logos. The Panthers’ logo was revealed on Tagliabue’s wrist, giving them the overall number one in the 1995 draft and leaving the Jaguars the consolation prize of the first pick in the 1995 veterans allocation draft. After pondering their choice for a year, on Draft Day 1995 the Panthers traded down with the Bengals. The Bengals then selected Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter, who would tear his ACL in his first preseason game and never fully recover.

Draft position coin flips, common draft era (1967-present)

Since 2010, these coin flips have once again become public events, broadcast live from the NFL Combine and with special coins minted for the occasion.

The 2019 Draft is the final time that a coin flip is near the top of the tiebreaking procedures; it will now be buried in a long list in the divisional, conference, and now interconference tiebreakers. It ends in a whimper, as there were no such coin flips in its last draft.

The table below shows how the teams involved in a coin toss were ordered in the first-round and the player chosen, with trades shown in superscript.

First overall pick awarded to expansion team. Hall of Fame inductee.

Year	Pick	Tied team	Player	Pos	Method
2018	9	SF	Mike McGlinchey	OT	Minted coin (photo) (video)
2018	10	OAK ^→ARI	Josh Rosen	QB	Minted coin (photo) (video)
2017	14	MIN ^→PHI	Derek Barnett	DE	Minted coin, MIN had already traded pick to PHI for Sam Bradford
2017	15	IND	Malik Hooker	S
2014	16	DAL	Zack Martin	G	Minted coin (video)
2014	17	BAL	C.J. Mosley	LB	Minted coin (video)
2012	8	MIA	Ryan Tannehill	QB	Minted coin
2012	9	CAR	Luke Kuechly	LB	Minted coin
2012	11	KC	Dontari Poe	DT	Minted coin
2012	12	SEA ^→PHI	Fletcher Cox	DT	Minted coin
2010	10	JAX	Tyson Alualu	DT	Minted coin
2010	11	CHI ^→SF	Anthony Davis	T	Minted coin
2010	16	TEN	Derrick Morgan	DE	Minted coin
2010	17	CAR ^→SF	Mike Iupati	G	Minted coin
2010	19	ATL	Sean Weatherspoon	LB	Minted coin
2010	20	HOU	Kareem Jackson	DB	Minted coin
2008	3	ATL	Matt Ryan	QB	Super Bowl XLII coin, ATL called toss vs OAK and OAK-KC tie resolved by divisional tiebreakers; 2nd flip would have been needed had OAK won
	4	OAK	Darren McFadden	RB
	5	KC	Glenn Dorsey	DT
2007	3	CLE	Joe Thomas	T	Gift coin from MacDill AFB, TB called toss
2007	4	TB	Gaines Adams	DT	Gift coin from MacDill AFB, TB called toss
2006	6	SF	Vernon Davis	TE	SF called toss
2006	7	OAK	Michael Huff	DB	SF called toss
2004	7	CLE ^→DET	Roy Williams	WR
2004	8	ATL	DeAngelo Hall	DB
2003	10	BAL	Terrell Suggs	LB	2 coin flips: BAL called first toss and won the right to call the second toss
2003	11	SEA	Marcus Trufant	DB
2002	14	TEN ^→NYG	Jeremy Shockey	TE	NYG traded with TEN, effectively reversing the coin flip result
2002	15	NYG ^→TEN	Albert Haynesworth	DT
2002	16	CLE	William Green	RB
2002	17	ATL ^→OAK	Phillip Buchanon	DB
2000	14	GB	Bubba Franks	TE
2000	15	BAL ^→DEN	Deltha O’Neal	DB
1997	9	ARI	Tom Knight	DB	Quarter from reporter (kept by Bill Bidwill), ARI called toss
1997	10	OAK ^→NO	Chris Naeole	G
1996	8	CAR	Tim Biakabutuka	RB
1996	9	HOU Oilers ^→OAK	Rickey Dudley	TE
1995	1	CAR ^→CIN	Ki-Jana Carter	RB	Minted coin, toss conducted at previous year’s draft (photo); JAX picked first in allocation draft
1995	2	JAX	Tony Boselli	T
1995	7	TB ^→PHI	Mike Mamula	DE
1995	8	SEA	Joey Galloway	WR
1991	4	DEN	Mike Croel	LB
1991	5	LA Rams	Todd Lyght	DB
1991	8	GB ^→PHI	Antone Davis	T
1991	9	SD	Stanley Richard	DB
1982	7	MIN	Darrin Nelson	RB
1982	8	HOU Oilers	Mike Munchak	G
1976	1	TB	Lee Roy Selmon	DE	Drew envelopes from helmet: “college draft” and “pro draft”
1976	2	SEA	Steve Niehaus	DT	Drew envelopes from helmet: “college draft” and “pro draft”
1975	1	BAL Colts ^→ATL	Steve Bartkowski	QB	Commissioner Pete Rozelle flipped a silver dollar with BAL and DAL; NYG traded draft choice in 1974 to acquire QB Craig Morton. BAL traded after determined to be 1st overall
1975	2	NYG ^→DAL	Randy White	DT
1975	4	CHI	Walter Payton	RB
1975	5	CLE	Mack Mitchell	DE
1975	6	KC ^{→HOU Oilers}	Robert Brazile	LB
	7	NO	Larry Burton	WR
	8	SD	Gary Johnson	DT
1975	9	GB ^{→LA Rams}	Mike Fanning	DT
1975	10	SF	Jimmy Webb⁴	DT
1975	11	PHI ^{→LA Rams}	Dennis Harrah	G	A 6-team tie is the record for the most teams placed by coin flips
	12	NYJ ^→NO	Kurt Schumacher	G
	13	DET	Lynn Boden	G
	14	CIN	Glen Cameron	LB
	15	HOU Oilers	Don Hardeman	RB
	16	NE	Russ Francis	TE
1975	20	LA Rams	Doug France	T
	21	STL Cards	Tim Gray	DB
	22	WAS ^→SD	Mike Williams	DB
1974	2	SD	Bo Matthews	RB
1974	3	NYG	John Hicks	G
1974	5	BAL Colts	John Dutton	DT
1974	6	NYJ	Carl Barzilauskas	DT
1974	8	NO ^→DET	Ed O’Neil	LB
	9	NE ^→SF	Wilbur Jackson	RB
	10	SF	Bill Sandifer	DT
1974	14	DEN	Randy Gradishar	LB
	15	CLE ^→SD	Don Goode	LB
	16	KC	Woody Green	RB
1974	17	ATL ^→MIN	Fred McNeill	LB
1974	18	BUF	Reuben Gant	TE
1974	20	WAS ^→CHI	Dave Gallagher	DE
	21	PIT	Lynn Swann	WR
	22	DAL	Charley Young	RB
	23	CIN	Bill Kollar	DE
1973	2	NO ^{→BAL Colts}	Bert Jones	QB
1973	3	PHI	Jerry Sisemore	T
1973	5	STL Cards	Dave Butz	DT
	6	SD ^→PHI	Charle Young	TE
	7	BUF	Paul Seymour	TE
	8	CHI	Wally Chambers	DT
1973	9	DEN	Otis Armstrong	RB
1973	10	BAL Colts	Joe Ehrmann	DT
1973	12	MIN	Chuck Foreman	RB
	13	NYJ	Burgess Owens	DB
	14	ATL ^{→HOU Oilers}	George Amundson	RB
1973	15	CIN	Isaac Curtis	WR
	16	NYG ^→CLE	Steve Holden	WR
	17	KC ^→DET	Earnest Price	DE
1973	18	SF	Mike Holmes	DB
1973	19	DET ^→NE	Darryl Stingley	WR
1973	20	DAL	Billy Joe Dupree	TE
	21	GB	Barry Smith	WR
	22	CLE	Pete Adams	G
1972	2	CIN	Sherman White	DE
1972	3	NYG ^→CHI	Lionel Antoine	T
1972	4	STL Cards	Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad)	WR
	5	DEN	Riley Odoms	TE
	6	HOU Oilers	Greg Sampson	T
1972	7	GB	Willie Buchanon	DB
1972	8	NO	Royce Smith	G
1972	9	NYJ	Jerome Barkum	TE
	10	NE ^→MIN	Jeff Siemon	LB
	11	SD ^→GB	Jerry Tagge	QB
	12	CHI	Craig Clemons	DB
	13	PIT	Franco Harris	RB
1972	15	ATL	Clarence Ellis	DB
1972	16	DET	Herb Orvis	DT
1972	18	CLE	Thomas Darden	DB
1972	19	SF	Terry Beasley	WR
1972	20	WAS ^→NYJ	Mike Taylor	LB
1972	21	OAK	Mike Siani	WR
1971	3	HOU Oilers	Dan Pastorini	QB
	4	BUF	J.D. Hill	WR
	5	PHI	Richard Harris	DE
1971	10	WAS ^{→LA Rams}	Isiah Robertson	LB
	11	CHI	Joe Moore	RB
	12	GB ^→DEN	Marv Montgomery	T
1971	21	DET	Bob Bell	DT
1971	22	MIA ^{→BAL Colts}	Don McCauley	RB
1970	1	PIT	Terry Bradshaw	QB	1921 silver dollar at Super Bowl press conference, CHI called toss (other 1970 Draft ties conducted earlier in private), CHI traded its pick ten days later
1970	2	CHI ^→GB	Mike McCoy	DT
1970	4	BOS Patriots	Phil Olsen	DT
1970	5	BUF	Al “AC Dammit” Cowlings	DE
1970	6	PHI	Steve Zabel	LB
	7	CIN	Mike Reid	DT
	8	STL Cards	Larry Stegent	RB
1970	12	ATL	John Small	DT
1970	13	NYG	Jim Files	LB
1970	15	SD	Walker Gillette	WR
1970	16	GB	Rich McGeorge	TE
1969	2	ATL	George Kunz	T
1969	3	PHI	Leroy Keyes	DB
1969	9	DEN ^→SD	Marty Domres	QB
1969	10	WAS ^{→LA Rams}	Jim Seymour	WR
1969	13	CHI ^→NYG	Fred Dryer	DE	NYG traded with CHI, effectively reversing the positions established by the flip
	14	NYG ^→CHI	Rufus Mayes	T
	15	HOU Oilers	Ron Pritchard	LB
1969	22	OAK	Art Thoms	DT
	23	KC	Jim Marsalis	DB
	24	DAL	Calvin Hill	RB
1968	4	DEN ^→SD	Russ Washington	T
1968	5	NO ^→GB	Fred Carr	LB
1968	8	MIA	Larry Csonka	RB
1968	9	BUF	Haven Moses	WR
1968	13	STL Cards	MacArthur Lane	RB
1968	14	PHI	Tim Rossovich	LB
1968	17	NYJ	Lee White	RB
1968	18	SD	Jim Hill	DB
1968	19	KC	Mo Moorman	G
	20	DAL	Dennis Homan	WR
	21	CLE	Marvin Upshaw	DE
1968	23	BAL Colts	John Williams	T
1968	24	LA Rams ^→DET	Earl McCullouch	WR
1967	3	ATL ^→SF	Steve Spurrier	QB
	4	MIA	Bob Griese	QB
	5	HOU Oilers	George Webster	LB
1967	7	DET	Mel Farr	RB
1967	8	MIN	Gene Washington	WR
1967	11	SF	Cas Banaszek	T
	12	NYJ	Paul Seiler	C
	13	WAS	Ray McDonald	RB
1967	16	STL Cards	Dave Williams	WR
1967	17	OAK	Gene Upshaw	G
1967	18	CLE	Bob Matheson	LB	Detwiler, who injured his knee in training camp, is the most recent 1st round pick to never play a regular season game in the NFL
	19	PHI	Harry Jones	RB
	20	BAL Colts	Jim Detwiler	HB

Footnotes

1
In what was the first-ever trade involving a future draft pick, the Pirates had during the 1938 season sent their upcoming first-round selection to the Bears for veteran end Eggs Manske; the Bears took future Hall of Famer Sid Luckman with the second-overall pick.
2
How exactly the 3-way coin toss took place is unknown. Unbiased methods would include having three simultaneous flips, with the coin landing with the opposite result of the other two winning, as was done for the 1988 Texas high school playoffs; spinning a three-sided top; or flipping a Toblerone bar.
3
Exactly who the Seahawks took first in the allocation draft is unknown, which may have been a deliberate decision by the league.
4
In a lost marketing opportunity, Webb did not attend Wichita State.

2 thoughts on “The long history of the draft-order coin flip has ended”

oneblankspace says:

June 10, 2019 at 1:13 pm

In 1991 the Rams were still in LA.

1. Ben Austro says:
  
  July 3, 2019 at 10:39 am
  
  Thanks, fixed it