Every year since 1967, Michigan State has had a player taken in the NFL Draft.
That was the first draft after the NFL-AFL merger and is considered the modern era of the league’s annual selection of college players.
And the Spartans are in rare company when it comes to hearing the names of at least one of their players in consecutive years. Only four other programs have achieved the same feat — Michigan, Florida, Nebraska and Southern Cal. In fact, the Spartans have had a player taken in every year of the NFL Draft since 1941, a 77-year run that is bested only by Michigan and USC, which have had a player taken for 79 consecutive years.