The Loop
What your favorite player looked like on NFL Draft night
Jamie Squire
It's easy to forget, but the stars of the NFL Draft are usually, beneath the stunting suits and goofy draft caps, little more than kids. Some of them even look like they could use a Proactiv endorsement. To celebrate the spotty complexions, youthful exuberance and return of the NFL's most irrationally optimistic weekend, we dug into the vaults to find the swaggiest (and sometimes sweatiest) old photos we could find. No matter who your favorite player is, something tells us you won't believe what they looked like on their first day on the job.
Eric Dickerson - 1983
Bettmann
John Elway - 1984
Bettmann
Richard "Refrigerator" Perry - 1985
Jonathan Daniel
Troy Aikman - 1989
Bettmann
Brett Favre - 1991
Perry McIntyre
Drew Bledsoe - 1993
Focus On Sport
Marshall Faulk - 1994
Focus On Sport
Trent Dilfer - 1994
Focus On Sport
Keyshawn Johnson - 1996
New York Daily News Archive
Orlando Pace - 1997
Al Bello
Peyton Manning - 1998
Ezra Shaw
LaDanian Tomlinson - 2000
New York Daily News Archive
Chris Samuels and LaVar Arrington - 2000
M. David Leeds
Eli Manning - 2004
Chris Trotman
Eli Manning Part Deux - 2004
Chris Trotman
Ben Roethlisberger - 2004
Tom Berg
Alex Smith - 2005
Sporting News Archive
Matt Leinart - 2006
Chris Trotman
Brady Quinn - 2007
Rich Schultz
Jamarcus Russell and Adrian Peterson - 2007
Chris McGrath
Joe Flacco - 2008
Jeff Fusco
Sam Bradford - 2010
Jeff Zelevansky
Beast Mode - 2012
MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images
Odell Beckham Jr. - 2014
Icon Sports Wire
Ezekiel Elliott - 2016
Kena Krutsinger
Jamal Adams - 2017
Lisa Lake