Televised Football Garnered Loyal

Shane Mularkey serves as director for operations of Airstream Ventures, a sporting events management company in Jacksonville, Florida. A graduate of the exercise and sports science program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Shane Mularkey played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels from 2009 to 2011.

Football is one of the most loved major sports in the United States and Canada. According to statistical data, as of July 2020, football is the most favorite sport to watch in the United States before the COVID pandemic. Forty-six percent of the fans surveyed stated they watch live NFL games regularly before the arenas were closed in compliance with health protocols.

The first NFL draft happened on February 8, 1936, at Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadephia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Eagles selected Jay Berwanger with the first overall pick, making him the first player to be drafted by any NFL team. Berwanger played college football with the University of Chicago at the halfback position. Since playing pro football was not that lucrative during that time, Berwanger did not play a single NFL game but pursued a career as a rubber foam salesman.

Since the Super Bowl era began in 1967, there has been only one year in which a quarterback was not selected in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. In the third round of the 1988 draft, Tom Tupa was selected by the Phoenix Cardinals with the 68th overall pick, while Christopher Mark Chandler was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the 76th overall pick.

The first nationally televised football game was played between Waynesburg College and Fordham University on September 30, 1939. The game was broadcasted by NBC on W2XBS. Between 500 and 5,000 viewers were estimated to watch the game on TV, while 9,000 fans watched the game live. Fordham won 34-7. The first televised pro football game was played between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 22, 1939. Brooklyn won 23-14.