Rick Gosselin

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NEW YORK – The NFL and AFL merged in 1967 and the first two picks of the consolidated draft were from Michigan State – Bubba Smith by the Baltimore Colts and Clint Jones by the Minnesota Vikings.

It took 17 years before another school could place two players in the Top 3 of a draft. That was 1984 when Nebraska sent Irving Fryar to the New England Patriots and Dean Steinkuhler to the Houston Oilers.

In the 43 drafts since the draft merger, only six schools have been able to place two players in the top three picks: Penn State (2000), Ohio State (1997), Illinois (1996), Miami (1987) plus Nebraska and Michigan State.

The fraternity swelled to seven schools Thursday night when Oklahoma sent quarterback Sam Bradford to the St. Louis Rams with the first overall pick and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at three.

And Oklahoma didn't stop there. The NFL drafted a school-record four Sooners in the first round. Offensive tackle Trent Williams went to the Washington Redskins at four and tight end Jermaine Gresham went to the Cincinnati Bengals at 21.

But the night belonged to Bradford, who threw just 69 passes for the Sooners last fall. Two shoulder injuries limited him to three starts in 2009 – but the Rams saw enough of Bradford in 2007-08 when he won two NCAA passing titles and a Heisman Trophy to know he belonged at the top of this draft.

Bradford became the third Sooner to go first overall in school history, following in the footsteps of defensive end Lee Roy Selmon in 1976 and running back Billy Sims in 1980. Bradford also becomes the first Oklahoma quarterback drafted since Josh Heupel in 2001, and this fall he hopes to become the first Sooners quarterback to take a snap in the NFL since Indian "Jack" Jacobs in 1947. Excluding Troy Aikman, of course.

The Rams have fallen on hard times since the departure of Kurt Warner in 2004 and the demise of the Greatest Show on Turf. St. Louis released Warner to give young Marc Bulger the job. But Bulger couldn't stay healthy, the Rams couldn't pass the ball and St. Louis could no longer win games.

After finishing 28th in the NFL in passing in 2009 and winning only one game, the Rams released Bulger and thus cleared a path to the field for their first-round draft pick.

NFL talent evaluators raved about Bradford's accuracy. One offensive coordinator said Bradford was the most accurate college passer he has seen since Peyton Manning. Accuracy was the dominant trait that made Aikman a Hall of Famer.

"I'm just looking forward to playing football, getting back out there and doing what I love," said Bradford, who won 24 of his 31 career starts at Oklahoma. "Obviously this year didn't end up the way I wanted it to be. To get back out there – especially with my new receivers and start getting some chemistry – I can't wait."

This marked the first time one school has produced three of the first four picks in the history of the NFL draft. When you count Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who went to the Detroit Lions on the second pick, it's the first time a conference produced the first four players in a draft.

Toss in Oklahoma State's Russell Okung to Seattle at six, and the Big 12 produced five of the first six players in this draft.

"That's pretty cool because I know that the Big 12 caught a lot of flack lately," Bradford said. "People for some reason didn't think we played much football in the Big 12 – and they sure didn't think we played much defense.

"Now we have two defensive tackles going in the Top 3. That's a credit to the Big 12 and the football being played in that conference."

The Big 12 party didn't end there. Texas safety Earl Thomas went to Seattle on the 14th pick, Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon to Atlanta at 19 and Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant to the Cowboys at 24.

That's nine of the 32 picks from one conference. The Big 12 had a great night in the NFL draft's first visit to prime-time. Oklahoma had an even better night. And Sam Bradford had the best night of all.