When Northwestern meets the NFL

By NBN Sports

9:11 p.m. April 28 2016

The 81st NFL Draft began in Chicago on Thursday and will continue all weekend.

Northwestern’s Dan Vitale and Dean Lowry are likely to be selected, and other Wildcats like Nick VanHoose and Miles Shuler are doing everything they can to make sure their names are called. NU is no stranger to the NFL Draft, as 194 Wildcats have been selected since the first draft in 1936. With the excitement of the draft brewing in the air, we decided to pick a few of our favorite Wildcat NFL draftees.

Paul Tangora - Rob Schaefer

Round: 4

Pick: 29

Team: 1936 Boston Redskins

A 1936 Northwestern press photo of Paul Tangora.

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of this guy ... Yeah, me neither.

But maybe we’re in the wrong here, because way back in 1936, Tangora became the first Wildcat to ever be selected in the NFL Draft. Tangora enrolled at NU in 1935, where he was selected as a first-team All-American player at the guard position. In his time at Northwestern, Tangora earned the nickname “Wildcat Hero” for his role in dramatically snapping a 34-year losing drought against Notre Dame.

Tangora was selected with the second pick in the fourth round (29th overall) of the 1936 NFL Draft by the Boston Redskins, but never played an NFL snap. He instead opted to utilize his criminology major to become a government agent and in 1955, Tangora was appointed the Safety Commissioner in Champaign, Illinois. So Northwestern.

Otto Graham - Will Fischer

Round: 1

Pick: 4

Team: 1944 Detroit Lions

It seems like just yesterday when Otto Graham was selected as the fourth pick of the 1944 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.

Graham originally attended Northwestern on a basketball scholarship, but was asked to join the football team during his sophomore year after coach Pappy Waldorf saw him play intramural football (dreams do come true!). In 1943, Graham set a Big Ten passing record at quarterback, finished third in Heisman Trophy voting, won the conference’s MVP award, and led NU to an 8-2 record and the No. 9 rank in the country. Although he was drafted by the Lions, he never signed a contract and instead enlisted in the military, serving during World War II.

Towards the end of the war, Paul Brown, the owner of the Cleveland Browns (who were in the All-America Football Conference at the time), offered Graham a lucrative contract to play football after the war ended. Graham happily signed, and led the Browns to a 114-20-4 record over the next nine years, winning seven championships. He shattered most of the passing records in his domination of the league, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1965, and is still regarded as one of the best players of his era.

Corey Wootton - Tim Hackett

Round: 4

Pick: 109

Team: 2010 Chicago Bears

So your team needs a big, able-bodied defensive lineman who can get after the quarterback at a low price.

Might I suggest former Wildcat Corey Wootton? Originally from Rutherford, New Jersey, Wootton turned in a very solid college career at Northwestern from 2005 to 2009. At the end of the 2006 season, he was named a freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America. His 10 total sacks in his junior year were fourth-most in the conference, and his performance earned him a first team All-Big Ten selection and the title of Northwestern’s team MVP. Wootton parlayed that success into a fourth round draft selection in 2010 by the Chicago Bears. His claim to professional fame came later that year when he recorded a sack on Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, which would eventually end the Hall of Famer’s career.

Two years later, he tallied seven sacks in 16 games for Chicago. After one inconsistent season with the Vikings in 2014, Wootton signed with the Lions in the offseason, but his chances of making the team were ended when he tore his pectoral in the Lions’ final preseason game. Now, he’s searching for a job. It would be pretty neat if he completed his tour of the NFC North by signing with the Packers next, Wootton it? Sorry. I’ll show myself out.

Mike Kafka - Max Goodman

Round: 4

Pick: 122

Team: 2010 Philadelphia Eagles

Die-hard fans of the “Cardiac Cats” all remember the 2009 football season, a year in which the Wildcats finished with an 8-5 record and reached the Outback Bowl – where they lost an overtime heartbreaker to the Auburn Tigers.

For those of you who don’t recall, NU was carried all season by the right arm of star quarterback Mike Kafka, who finished his Northwestern career with 4,265 passing yards and 19 TDs in 27 total games played. A productive senior campaign earned Kafka a trip to the 2010 NFL Draft in New York City, where the Chicago native was selected in the fourth round (122nd overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles.

For Kafka, however, the transition from the NCAA to the NFL was a tough one; since his rookie year in 2010, the NU alum has served as a perennial third-string QB, seeing minimal playing time for the Eagles and Tampa Bay Bucaneers, completing 11 of his 16 professional pass attempts and tallying only 107 total passing yards (along with two interceptions). After a six-season NFL career, Kafka decided to hang it up following the 2015 season and has since rejoined the Wildcats as an offensive graduate assistant, with a focus on wide receivers. Just like they always say: once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.