Date(s) April 24–25, 2004 Most selections (13) Tennessee Titans | TV coverage (US) ESPN, ESPN2 | |
Location Theater at MSG
in New York City First selection Eli Manning, QB
San Diego Chargers Mr. Irrelevant Andre Sommersell, LB
Oakland Raiders | ||
The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. No teams chose to claim any players in the supplemental draft that year.
The draft was shown on ESPN both days and eventually moved to ESPN2 both days. The draft began with the San Diego Chargers selecting Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning with the first overall selection. Manning was later traded to the New York Giants for their first selection, fourth overall pick Philip Rivers of NC State. There were 32 compensatory selections distributed among 16 teams, with the Eagles, Rams, and Jets each receiving 4 compensatory picks. The draft set several records, including the most wide receivers selected in the first round, with seven. Another record set by the draft was the most trades in the first round, with twenty-eight trades. The University of Miami set an NFL record for the most first rounders drafted with 6. Ohio State set an NFL draft record having 14 total players selected through all rounds. As of 2012, this draft also has two other records attached to it: it became the draft with the shortest time between having multiple quarterbacks being drafted and starting for Super Bowl winners (Ben Roethlisberger for the 2005 Steelers, and Manning for the 2007 Giants) and it has become the first draft ever to have produced two QBs who each won multiple Super Bowls (with Roethlisberger winning his second in 2008 and Eli his second in 2011). The 255 players chosen in the draft were composed of: