Dick Butkus, Jim Kelly among NFL legends at draft

Published: Apr 23, 2015 at 06:21 AM

Former NFL players -- including six Pro Football Hall of Famers -- will be used to announce the second-round picks in the 2015 NFL Draft, the league announced Thursday.

One of those Hall of Famers is sure to get a rousing reception from the fans in Chicago: Former Bears linebacker Duck Butkus will announce the Bears' pick in the second round.

The other Hall of Famers are Mel Blount (Pittsburgh), Willie Brown (Oakland), Charles Haley (San Francisco), Jim Kelly (Buffalo) and Dwight Stephenson (Miami). Kelly, who has battled cancer, also should get a big ovation.

The 32 players involved have a combined 22 Super Bowl championships and 92 Pro Bowl appearances.

This will be the fifth year in which second-round selections are announced by a former player. An additional 19 former players will participate in draft events, and this draft will have the most former players in draft history.

The other former players involved: Arizona, Adrian Wilson; Atlanta, Todd McClure; Baltimore, Duane Starks; Carolina, Pat Terrell; Cincinnati, Ickey Woods; Cleveland, Hanford Dixon; Dallas, Darren Woodson; Denver, Rick Upchurch; Detroit, Chris Spielman (his brother, Rick, is Minnesota's GM); Green Bay, Donald Driver; Houston, Eric Brown; Indianapolis, Bill Brooks; Jacksonville, Greg Jones; Kansas City, Gary Green; Minnesota, E.J. Henderson; New England, Ty Law; New Orleans, Jon Stinchcomb; New York Giants, Shaun Williams; New York Jets, Emerson Boozer; Philadelphia, Jon Runyan; St. Louis, Pisa Tinoisamoa; San Diego, Anthony Miller; Seattle, Kenny Easley; Tampa Bay, Mike Alstott; Tennessee, Michael Roos; and Washington, Brig Owens.

Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.

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