The Philadelphia Eagles may not have had a selection in the opening round of the 1959 NFL Draft, but they were still able to choose a player with first-round talent in Rice offensive tackle J.D. Smith.
“I was excited about it,” said Smith, who was selected in the second round at No. 15 overall. “I was hoping of course you’d get more money for playing football, but the only other place you could go at that time when I was drafted was to Canada. And it just so happened that Canada offered me the same thing that (Eagles general manager) Vince McNally offered, so I chose to go to the Eagles, of course.