By Loveth 
It’s been over 40 years since the New Orleans Saints last picked an Auburn player in the NFL Draft—and that player, defensive lineman Frank Warren, turned out to be a great one. Drafted in 1981, he played 13 solid seasons with the Saints, racking up 56 sacks and becoming one of the team’s all-time greats.
But ever since then? Crickets. Not a single Auburn Tiger has been picked by New Orleans. Meanwhile, every other NFL team has grabbed at least one.
In fact, Auburn’s had 171 players drafted since Warren, making this the longest ongoing draft drought between an SEC school and an NFL team. There are a couple of other long gaps—like the New York Jets not picking a Texas Longhorn since 1980—but those don’t involve SEC schools, at least until Texas joined the conference last year.
The most extreme case is Vanderbilt and the Detroit Lions. Detroit last picked a Vandy player way back in 1959! That’s before the Super Bowl even existed. Since then, 80 Commodores have been drafted—just not by Detroit.
Here are some other interesting droughts:
Alabama: Kansas City hasn’t picked a Tide player since 2013.
Arkansas: Tampa Bay last picked a Razorback in 1979.
Florida: Tennessee Titans haven’t drafted a Gator since 2007.
Georgia: Dallas hasn’t touched a Bulldog since 2011.
Kentucky: Miami hasn’t picked a Wildcat since 1967.
LSU: No picks by the Colts since 2011.
Mississippi State: Chargers’ last pick was in 1971!
Missouri: Giants haven’t picked a Tiger since 1984.
Ole Miss: Browns haven’t picked a Rebel since 1979.
South Carolina: Steelers last grabbed one in 1977.
Tennessee: Jaguars’ last Vol was in 2002.
Texas: Jets haven’t picked a Longhorn since 1980.
Texas A&M: Titans haven’t drafted one since 1995.
Vanderbilt: Lions haven’t picked one since 1959.
Some of these streaks even started before the schools joined the SEC. And with Texas and Oklahoma now officially part of the conference, this year’s draft marks their first as full SEC members.
The NFL Draft kicks off Thursday night in Green Bay, with the second and third rounds on Friday, and the rest wrapping up Saturday. Let’s see if any of these droughts finally end.