The New York Giants hold the 128th overall selection in Round 4 in this year’s NFL draft. It will be only the fifth time in the 88 years of the draft the Giants will select in that slot.
Here are the first four players New York selected at No. 128 previously.
Pete Layden, 1942
Pete Layden was a fullback and baseball outfielder at the University of Texas who was selected by the Giants in the 14th round of the 1942 NFL draft. Layden never played for the Giants, forgoing his pro football career for to serve in U.S. Army Air Corps for four years during World War II.
Upon his discharge in 1946, Layden had a short career in baseball with the St. Louis Browns before going on to pro football as a quarterback/defensive back for the New York Football Yankees, first in the AAFC and then in the NFL. He retired after the 1950 season.
Bill Hillen, 1955
Bill Hillen was an offensive end (wide receiver) who was selected in the 11th round by the Giants in the 1955 NFL draft. He also never played a down for the Giants.
The 1955 draft class did yield some quality players such as future Pro Bowlers defensive lineman Rosey Grier and defensive back Jimmy Patton.
Chris Maumalanga, 1994
Chris Maumalanga was selected by the Giants in the fourth round of the 1994 NFL draft.
A 6-foot-2, 288-pound defensive lineman out of the University of Kansas, Maumalanga played just one year for Big Blue before going on to play for six more NFL teams, two arena league teams, and the NY/NJ Hitmen of the XFL. He retired from football after the 2001 season.
Maumalanga grew up as a member of a street gang (Bloods) and was known to be quite violent. He knocked out teammate Mitch Davis during training camp in 1995 and later got into a fistfight with Michael Strahan. That time it did not end in Maumalanga’s favor.
Rob Zatechka, 1995
Rob Zatechka, a 6-foot-4, 313-pound guard from Nebraska played in 47 games for the Giants over three seasons after being selected in the fourth round of the 1995 NFL draft. He retired in 1998 to pursue a career in medicine as an anesthesiologist.
