Date(s) April 8–9, 1976 Fewest selections (11) Washington Redskins | Most selections (25) Seattle Seahawks | |
Location Roosevelt Hotel
in New York City, NY First selection Lee Roy Selmon, DE
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mr. Irrelevant Kelvin Kirk, WR
Pittsburgh Steelers | ||
The 1976 National Football League draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York.
The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks making the first two selections. The expansion teams were also given a pair of extra picks at the end of each of rounds 2–5.
Five teams lost picks as a penalty for illegally signing former World Football League players: the New York Giants and Chicago Bears lost sixth-round picks, the Washington Redskins lost their seventh-round pick, and the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets lost their tenth-round selections.
The 1976 draft was the final NFL draft to last seventeen rounds; it was reduced to twelve rounds in 1977, and it was the first draft to officially have the infamous unofficial award, Mr. Irrelevant, for the final player selected.