Alabama’s NFL Draft: Mighty Mouse and the outsiders
Last year’s NFL Draft concluded when the New York Jets chose Alabama safety Jaylen Key with the 257th selection. This year’s NFL Draft also will end with the 257th selection.
But in previous NFL drafts, 39 players have been picked from Alabama with choices at higher numbers than 257.
Six of those players defied their draft positions and played in the NFL, including cornerback Mark McMillian.
Chosen 272nd in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, McMillian appeared in 127 regular-season games and seven playoff contests during his eight years in the NFL.
“Mighty Mouse,” as McMillian was known because he stood 5-foot-7, intercepted 23 passes, which he returned for 404 yards and three touchdowns. McMillian also had two interceptions in seven playoff games.
No Alabama player drafted later than McMillian has played in as many games as he did, and only three Crimson Tide alumni, regardless of draft status, have had more interceptions.
The other Alabama alumni who entered the league as picks that don’t exist in the 2025 draft but played in NFL regular-season games include:
- Chosen 270th in 1990 by the Washington Redskins, guard Thomas Rayam played in 20 NFL regular-season games.
- Chosen 284th in 1978 by the Green Bay Packers, nose tackle Terry Jones played in 85 NFL regular-season games.
- Chosen 298th in 1951 by the Pittsburgh Steelers, halfback Tom Calvin played in 30 NFL regular-season games.
- Chosen 309th in 1983 by the New York Giants, linebacker Robbie Jones played in 60 NFL regular-season games.
- Chosen 322nd by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1945, halfback Kenny Reese played in four NFL regular-season games.
The Alabama players who have been picked with the 258th selection or later of an NFL Draft include:
No. 258 pick: Jack Green, guard, Chicago Bears, 1945.
Green resumed his college career after returning from his military service in World War II and played in 1945 for Alabama after being drafted by the Bears. The Crimson Tide went undefeated in 1945, outscoring its opponents 430-80 and winning the Rose Bowl 34-14 over Southern Cal.
No. 260 pick: Mike Hall, linebacker, New York Jets, 1969.
Hall played for the Alabama Hawks of the Continental Football League in 1969.
No. 266 pick: David Bailey, wide receiver, Green Bay Packers, 1972.
Bailey caught 35 passes for 550 yards and two touchdowns for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1974 and was on the WFL’s Birmingham Vulcans in 1975.
No. 270 pick: Thomas Rayam, guard, Washington Redskins, 1990.
Rayam persevered to reach the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played in 20 games across the 1992 and 1993 seasons, with 13 starts at right guard. He then played eight years in the Canadian Football League, starting with the Birmingham Barracudas in 1995.
No. 272 pick: Mark McMillian, defensive back, Philadelphia Eagles, 1992.
Despite standing 5-foot-7 and being drafted in the 10th round, the cornerback had an eight-year career, during which he intercepted 23 passes, which is fourth on the Alabama NFL list. McMillian led the NFL in interception-return yards with 274 for the Chiefs in 1997, when he ran three of his eight picks back for touchdowns, including a 62-yard return in a 35-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers and an 87-yard return in a 29-7 victory over the San Diego Chargers. McMillian also had a 41-yard fumble return for a touchdown in a 31-29 loss to Carolina in his final game with the San Francisco 49ers in 1999. He finished that season with nine games for the Washington Redskins to complete his career with 127 NFL regular-season appearances.
No. 273 pick: Cecil “Hootie” Ingram, back, Philadelphia Eagles, 1955.
When Ingram didn’t make Philadelphia’s team, he got into coaching, eventually becoming the head coach at Clemson. He served as Alabama’s athletic director from 1989 through 1995.
No. 274 pick: Al Sabo, back, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1943; Travis Hunt, tackle, San Francisco 49ers, 1953.
An Albertville High School standout, Hunt is a member of the Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame.
No. 276 pick: Byron Holdbrooks, defensive tackle, San Francisco 49ers, 1991.
Holdbrooks was an All-State offensive lineman for Haleyville High School in 1985.
No. 279 picks: Andy Bires, end, New York Giants, 1944; Fay Mills, tackle, Washington Redskins, 1949.
Bires went into the U.S. Army Air Corps instead of the NFL.
No. 282 pick: Jack McKewan, tackle, Chicago Bears, 1944.
McKewan was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He was drafted in between.
No. 284 pick: Terry Jones, nose tackle, Green Bay Packers, 1978.
Jones is the Alabama player taken deepest in the draft who became a regular starter in the NFL. After three seasons as a reserve, he spent three years as a starter for Green Bay. Jones played in 85 NFL regular-season games, with 49 starts – all for the Packers. He later became a strength-and-conditioning coach for the Crimson Tide. His son, Terry Jones Jr., was the 155th selection in the 2002 NFL Draft.
No. 290 pick: Leroy Cook, defensive end, Dallas Cowboys, 1976.
Alabama’s first two-time consensus All-American, Cook suffered a knee injury in his final college regular-season game. After rehabbing in 1976, Cook didn’t make the Dallas roster in 1977 and never played in the NFL.
No. 291 pick: Jack Smalley, tackle, Green Bay Packers, 1954.
Smalley was an All-State tackle for Tuscaloosa High School’s undefeated team in 1949.
No. 296 pick: Efrum Thomas, defensive back, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1991.
Thomas returned two interceptions for touchdowns for the Orlando Thunder of the World League of American Football in 1992.
No. 298 pick: Tom Calvin, halfback, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1951.
After coaching Baldwin County High School to a 7-2-1 record in 1951, Calvin played in 30 games, with five starts, for Pittsburgh from 1952 through 1955. He ran for 136 yards on 32 carries and caught seven passes for 51 yards. In 1956, he started a 21-year run as the football coach at Sylacauga High School, then coached 11 more seasons at Austin High School. Calvin compiled a 201-130-11 record and is a member of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.
No. 302 pick: Ralph Carrigan, center, Chicago Cardinals, 1954.
Carrigan did not sign with the Cardinals until 1956 with a military hitch between Alabama and the NFL. The Chicago press guide for the 1956 season refers to Carrigan as “a local lad who prepped at Oak Park (Ill.) High School,” but he didn’t stick with the team.
No. 306 pick: Bobby Wilson, back, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1952.
After two seasons in the U.S. Army, Wilson went into coaching. In 12 seasons at Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, Wilson guided the Poets to a 92-24-6 record. In Wilson’s final three seasons, Sidney Lanier won the AHSAA Class 4A championship annually and lost only one game across the 1966, 1967 and 1968 seasons. Wilson is a member of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.
No. 309 picks: Jim Krapf, guard, Oakland Raiders, 1973; Robbie Jones, linebacker, New York Giants, 1983.
Krapf played for the CFL’s British Columbia Lions in 1973.
Jones played in 60 regular-season games across four years with the Giants. The former Demopolis High School standout was the special-teams captain in 1986, when New York defeated the Denver Broncos 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI.
No. 312 pick: Charley Compton, tackle, Cleveland Rams, 1945.
Compton started his Alabama career in 1942, but after being drafted by Cleveland, he returned to play for the Crimson Tide in 1946 and 1947. In between, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his gallantry in World War II. The Charlie Compton Award is presented annually to a member of the Alabama football team who has demonstrated outstanding Christian leadership. After football, Compton attended seminary and became a missionary.
No. 313 picks: Major Ogilvie, running back, San Francisco 49ers, 1981; Mike Shula, quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1987.
A prep star at Mountain Brook, Ogilvie is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Shula broke the Alabama single-season record for touchdown passes, but he never played in an NFL regular-season game. After one season with the Bucs, he joined the Tampa Bay coaching staff of Ray Perkins, who’d coached him at Alabama. Shula returned to coach the Crimson Tide from 2003 through 2006.
No. 318 pick: Alvie “Boots” Ellett, tackle, Philadelphia Eagles, 1956.
The U.S. Army got Ellett in its draft, too.
No. 320 pick: Bobby Johns, defensive back, Kansas City Chiefs, 1968.
Johns’ coaching career included a four-year stint as the head coach at West Alabama.
No. 322 pick: Kenny Reese, halfback, Philadelphia Eagles, 1945
Reese is the highest-numbered draft pick from Alabama who has appeared in an NFL regular-season game. He got on the field with the Detroit Lions two years after he was drafted the Eagles. In four games, Reese netted 1 yard on three carries.
No. 328 picks: Red Noonan, back, Boston Yanks, 1950; Harold “Red” Lutz, end, Cardinals, 1952.
A former Murphy High School standout, Noonan became an Alabama state senator and spent 18 years as a probate judge in Baldwin County.
Lutz was a high school head coach from 1957 through 1981, compiling a 149-88-8 record in 12 seasons at Fairfield, 10 seasons at Tuscaloosa and three seasons at Central Tuscaloosa.
No. 329 pick: John Staples, guard, New York Giants, 1945.
Staples was drafted after his military service, for which he earned a bronze star, but he returned to play at Alabama after World War II.
No. 340 picks: Wes Thompson, tackle, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1956; Joe Dale Harris, wide receiver, Cincinnati Bengals, 1976.
Thompson was the head coach at Central Florence by 1957 and also led the teams at Decatur, West Morgan and Deshler.
A three-sport standout at Monroe Academy, Harris became a high school football and basketball coach.
No. 348 pick: Clell Hobson, back, Cleveland Browns, 1953.
While Hobson never played in the NFL, his son Butch Hobson, who also played football at Alabama, played eight seasons of Major League Baseball and later managed the Boston Red Sox in three seasons.
No. 358 picks: Jim Buckler, guard, Chicago Bears, 1956; Dave Sington, tackle, New York Giants, 1959.
Buckler’s father, Bill Buckler, was among the first three Alabama alumni to play in the NFL, debuting in 1926 – 10 years before the first NFL Draft. Bill Buckler played six seasons as a guard with the Bears, the team that drafted his son.
Sington coached both the Huntsville Rockets and the Alabama Hawks in semi-pro football leagues.
No. 386 pick: Robin Parkhouse, linebacker, Baltimore Colts, 1972.
Parkhouse played for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1974 before a knee injury ended his career.
No. 392 pick: Buddy Brown, guard, New York Giants, 1974.
Brown signed with the WFL’s Birmingham Americans instead of New York and earned All-WFL recognition as a guard on the league’s championship team. He played from 1975 through 1978 for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
No. 411 pick: Steve Higginbotham, defensive back, Washington Redskins, 1972.
After Washington picked Higginbotham, the 1972 draft still had 31 picks to go – and six of those selections played in the NFL, including linebackers Stan White and Ted Washington, who started more than 100 regular-season games apiece.
No. 412 pick: Bill Davis, linebacker, Raiders, 1969.
After Oakland picked Davis in the 17th round, the 1969 draft still had 30 picks to go.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.