Top pick Gary Glick β Draft process for Rams legend was very different than today
4/25/2018 1:19:00β―PM | Football
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Glick remains only DB taken with No. 1 overall pick in draft history
By John Hirn CSU Athletic Historian
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It has been 62 years since CSU legend Gary Glick was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers as the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Times have changed a lot since the LaPorte High School graduate, who was a second-team All-American at Colorado A&M in 1955 signed with Art Rooney's Steelers.
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Glick played multiple positions at CSU and was drafted as a defensive back by the Steelers. To this day, Glick is the only DB to be taken with the No. 1 overall selection.
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In a 2008 interview with Glick he spoke about his days in the NFL and when he signed with the Steelers.
"The draft was in November, just after the college season ended, so that teams could get a look at their new players in the individual bowl games they played in the next month," Glick explained. Those games, such as the East-West Shrine Game or Chicago All-Stars game were not meant to give a preview before the draft as they are today, and there was no combine to size up the players ahead of the draft either.
Glick is a
Colorado A&M legend
Glick went on to say, "I was the bonus pick in the draft making me overall the first person selected. I thought for sure the 49ers were going to take me because the Steelers only called me one time, but my former [A&M] coach, Mark Duncan, was coaching in San Francisco and wanted me to play for him." Glick went on to say, "I was paid a $2,000 signing bonus, just enough to buy a new car."
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Glick's signing bonus of $2,000 equates to $18,550 in 2018 money when accounting for inflation, just enough to buy a small new car today. By comparison, 2017 #1 draft pick Myles Garrett received a $20.25 Million signing bonus with the Cleveland Browns. If Gary Glick had been paid that kind of signing bonus in 1955, when accounting for inflation, it would have been roughly $2.2 Million then.
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According to the November 28, 1955 Denver Post, Glick was actually expected to be chosen by the Green Bay Packers or the Chicago Cardinals. Green Bay later chose Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Forrest Gregg in the second round of the 1956 draft.
Glick with the Washington Redskins
As legend has it, Art Rooney, owner of the Steelers, could be very frugal. Glick spoke about his ability to kick field goals at Colorado A&M and how that landed him the position with the Steelers.
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"There was no room on the roster for kickers in those days, so the coach (Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Walt Kiesling) asked the team who could kick," Glick said. "I spoke up and said I did in college and at the College All-Star Game. So he had me do some kicking in practice and the next day I had a brand new pair of kicking shoes in my locker. When I got my first paycheck from the Steelers there was a deduction for $42.50 -- new shoes."Β
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Gary Glick spent three seasons with the Steelers before moving on to the Washington Redskins after the second game of the 1959 season. He played two seasons with the Redskins and the 1961 season with the Baltimore Colts where he became good friends with quarterback Johnny Unitas. Glick was an assistant coach for the Denver Broncos in 1962 and came back to play his last year of professional football for the 1963 AFL Champion San Diego Chargers.
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During his professional playing days, Gary Glick remained close to his alma mater and came back to play in a long gone tradition of spring football on the CSU campus. In the late 1950s the football program held an annual fund-raiser scrimmage to support the Lyle Stucker Memorial Scholarship fund featuring the varsity vs. alumni. This would pit the regular varsity football team against former athletes who had not been too far away from the school since graduation.
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A program from the May 18, 1957 game reads like a who's who of alumni and varsity, many were still in their NFL careers. The alumni team had pro athletes such as Jack Christiansen (Detroit Lions) Don Burroughs (LA Rams), Alex Burl (Chicago Cardinals), Dale Dodrill (Pittsburg Steelers), Jim David (Detroit Lions) and Gary Glick. Legendary Aggie Fum McGraw was on the coaching staff of the varsity and did not play due to his injured knee that ended his career with the Lions. Two of Gary's brothers, Ivan and Leon also played on the varsity team with little brother Fred Glick, (later an all-pro with the Houston Oilers) a junior on the varsity team.
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Gary Glick in his 2008 interview said, "Mom told us to take it easy on Freddy since he was still in college. Fred played as hard as he could and came after me, knocked off my shoe and helmet, so that was enough of taking it easy on our little brother." It is almost unimaginable that pro athletes would play a scrimmage against college players today.
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After his playing days Glick went on to coach for the Norfolk Neptunes of the Continental League and in Canada with Montreal. Glick also worked as a scout for the Colts and Patriots in the early 1970s. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the CSU Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 and Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. Glick remained active in his later years winning Senior Softball World Championships in 1995 and 2006.
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Gary Glick passed away on February 11, 2015 at the age of 84. His CSU career is one of legends and his pro career is one that harkens back to a time when the NFL was a very different league.
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