Definition of draft pick

The term "draft pick" originated from the NFL (National Football League) in the mid-20th century. In the NFL, each team has the opportunity to select new players through a yearly draft process. Before the term "draft pick" emerged, the selected players were simply referred to as "draft choices" or "drafted players." The phrase "draft pick" was coined in the 1960s, likely as a result of the popularity of the game of drafts, which involves strategy and the selection of pieces from a set. In football parlance, a "pick" is a decision made by a team during the draft process. Just as a player chooses a piece from a set in the game of drafts, a football team picks a player during the NFL draft. The term "draft pick" quickly caught on and has since become a widely used term in NFL and other professional sports leagues, including the NBA (National Basketball Association) and NHL (National Hockey League), where teams also select new players via drafts. Today, "draft pick" is used to describe any player who has been selected by a team during the draft process, and the term has come to represent the hope and excitement that teams and fans feel when choosing new talent for their squads.