26 players who never suited up for the teams that drafted them

John Elway, Bill Russell, Eli Manning, Dominique Wilkins are among the players never to suit up for the teams that drafted them.

Ernie Davis

 Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Washington took Ernie Davis, a Syracuse running phenom and 1961 Heisman Trophy winner, with the first overall pick, in the 1962 draft. Davis refused to play for the organization. The team traded him to the Browns for another African American halfback, Bobby Mitchell. Together with Jim Brown, Ernie Davis had the potential to form the most lethal backfield in football history. Sadly, he fell ill. Davis began experiencing nosebleeds, sluggishness and swollen glands. Doctors diagnosed him with an incurable case of leukemia. He succumbed to the disease in 1963.

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