1977

The stories are all over NFL beat reporting on this date in 1977 is that the Seahawks are considering multiple trade offers for the No. 2 choice in the college draft, which begins Tuesday, May 3. That Southern Cal running back Ricky Bell is going No. 1 overall to the Buccaneers and his old Trojans coach, John McKay, is merely a sidebar.

The target of the possible Seattle suitors, probably, is Tony Dorsett,. That he is the Heisman Trophy-winning running back likely leaves him out of the plan in Seattle, as the Seahawks reportedly want to continue to build their new team around defense. They passed on Cal's Chuck Muncie last year to take Notre Dame defensive tackle Steve Niehaus in their first-ever draft, and even the Pitt superstar does not appear to have disuaded Jack Patera, the head coach and a former defensive assistant with the Vikings, from his plan. Anyway, the disinterest is apparently mutual, as Dorsett’s agent says the Seahawks are too cheap and Seattle is too small for his big star. 

The Seahawks’ general manager, John Thompson, has said that it would take a good first-round choice, a good young player or two or additional choices to acquire the rights to drafting second overall tomorrow. 

That appears to have left out the Giants and Jets, who apparently were both interested but haven't spare active talent to entice Seattle. The widespread belief is that both Dorsett and the Jets hope he's still available in their No. 4 slot.

Also apparently on the outside looking in are the Steelers, whose rumored offer to land the hometown stud was defensive tackle Ernie Holmes, who’ll be 29 at the start of NFL77, plus Pittsburgh’s own first choice, No. 21. That apparently isn't enough for Seattle.

And it appears another of the interested but unlikely Dorsett teams is the defending Super Bowl-champion Raiders, despite a tremendous rumored offer of Gene Upshaw (32), Jack Tatum (28), Neal Colzie (23) and a first-round choice. Alas, the blockbuster never was on the table, Thompson told New York Times columnist Dave Anderson.

Thompson has said he ultimately received about a half-dozen concrete offers, about two or three of which actually interested him. And the day before the draft, we appear to be down to the Cowboys as the focus of speculation. with linebacker Randy White (24), defensive lineman Ed “Too Tall” Jones (26) and/or offensive lineman Burton Lawless (23) figuring prominently in talk of projected trades.

26 Apr 1977, Tue The Buffalo News (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com

01 May 1977, Sun The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) Newspapers.com

But, seriously, who cares? How could anyone get any too interested in a football human-resources event during an active baseball season? The Mets are at the Dodgers tonight.