Especially when you look at it from today’s perspective, the 1957 NFL Draft stands out.

In fact, it really stands out.

So does the way in which probably the game’s greatest player got to his team as a fall-back, or plan B, selection.

But first things first.

The 1957 draft is considered by most football experts and historians to be the greatest in league history. And there’s good reason for that, as no fewer than nine draft picks, including the aforementioned “second-place prize,” Cleveland Browns RB Jim Brown, are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. No other draft can come close to matching such excellence.

The other Hall of Famers in 1957 are RB Paul Hornung, G Jim Parker, WR, Tommy McDonald, QB Sonny Jurgensen, QB Len Dawson, WR Don Maynard, DT Henry Jordan and G Gene Hickerson.

Talk about a Who’s Who of pro football through the late 1950s and into the ’60s.

In addition to Brown, Cleveland also tabbed Hickerson and Jordan, making it the greatest draft in team history – sort of, kind of. That’s because Jordan went somewhere else, to the Green Bay Packers, to begin his trek to Canton, Ohio.

The Philadelphia Eagles also hit the jackpot – again, kind of, sort of — by drafting McDonald and Jurgensen, who had his best years with a rival team, the Washington Redskins.

Before we get into more about all that, however, there’s something else about this draft that is tremendously memorable – that is, the timing of it.

Instead of being held in the late winter or early spring of the year in which the draft was named, as is the case now and has been for decades, the first four rounds – the most important rounds – of the 1957 draft were staged in the late fall of the previous year, Nov. 27, 1956, to be exact. That was right smack-dab in the middle of the season. The remainder of the 30-round draft was held on Jan. 31, 1957.

That’s just the way the draft was then. It had been that way since its inception in 1936.

And anyway, football has always been a fall sport, so it only makes sense that everything that goes with it – including the draft – should be in the fall as well, right?

Uh, maybe not.

Pro football was still light years away from the full-fledged free agency that exists today, and has been in existence since 1993, so the draft was the only real way for teams in the 1950s to replenish their talent base. Also, most clubs back then did not have general managers as we now know them, so the onus of running the draft, and the scouting necessary to get ready for it, fell onto the shoulders of the head coaches.

Can you imagine something like that – coaches taking a break from game planning to conduct the draft — happening now?

No way in the world.

But Cleveland head coach Paul Brown, who served as his own general manager, was almost always ahead of the curve. That’s why he is known as “The Father of Modern Football,” for all the innovations he brought to the game. So not surprisingly, then, there was no indecision on Brown’s part when it came to the team’s first pick in the 1957 draft. Having done his homework, he had his sights set on QB Len Dawson, who had played at Alliance High School, located about 75 minutes southeast of Cleveland, and then at Purdue.

With Dawson being a native Northeast Ohioan, and with the fact Brown still had plenty of connections in the Big Ten dating back to his having been the head coach at Ohio State from 1941-43, he knew all he needed to know about the quarterback. As such, Brown was convinced Dawson would be the perfect successor to Hall of Famer Otto Graham, who had led the Browns to 10 league championship games, with seven titles, in their first 10 seasons of existence from 1946-55.

Graham retired for the second time – this time for good – following the 1955 season, and his absence was immediately felt. By the time of the 1957 draft, the 1956 Browns were en route to suffering their first losing record, 5-7. They had no quarterback to speak of – Tommy O’Connell, Babe Parilli and George Ratterman certainly weren’t the answer – and because of that, the Browns couldn’t pass the ball or score points.

At least in one regard, though, the timing of the Browns’ poor performance in 1956 was perfect. With the selection order being determined by the teams’ records, worse to best, it put Cleveland near the top of the 1957 draft, at No. 6 overall, and positioned it to have a shot at getting Dawson.

The first part of the opening round played out just as planned, as teams passed on Dawson. But the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, picking one step ahead of the Browns at No. 5 and also in need of a franchise quarterback, stole Brown’s and the Browns’ thunder by plucking Dawson right out from under their noses.

Brown was stunned. The next Otto Graham was going to be a Steeler, for goodness sakes.

With Dawson out of the mix, Brown had to scramble and come up with a new draft strategy. Begrugdingly so, he settled on Jim Brown.

Every team should have such a viable escape route.

Jim Brown set records that seemed unreachable.

And as it turned out, Paul Brown ended up getting Dawson in 1960, after he failed in Pittsburgh. But the quarterback ended up doing nothing, either, in his two seasons in Cleveland. It wasn’t until Dawson went to his third team, the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs, in 1962, that the immense talent Brown saw in him began to come to the surface.

Here’s a detailed look at that great – and memorable – 1957 NFL Draft:

Hall of the Very Best (players who are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame)

*Jim Brown – RB – Syracuse – drafted in the first round (No. 6 overall) by the Cleveland Browns – Arguably the greatest player in the game’s history, putting up what were then off-the-charts numbers in his nine-year career, all with the Browns – 12,312 yards rushing, a 5.2 yards-per-carry average and 106 touchdowns, and 262 receptions for 2,499 yards and 20 scores.

*Paul Hornung – RB – Notre Dame – drafted in the first round (No. 1 overall) by the Green Bay Packers – After having been a standout quarterback in college, he was converted into a runner and flourished even more, rushing for 3,711 yards and 50 touchdowns in his nine-year career, and catching 130 passes for 12 scores. … Also served as a kicker, leading the NFL in scoring for three straight years and playing on four league title teams.

*Len Dawson – QB – Purdue – drafted in the first round (No. 5 overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers – Did not play much in three years with the Steelers and two with Cleveland, but his fortunes rocketed once to got to the AFL’s Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs and was reunited with head coach Hank Stram, who had been an assistant at Purdue when he was there. … Over the next 14 years, he led the league in completion percentage seven times, including six in a row, and finished his career with 28,711 yards passing and 239 touchdowns.

*Jim Parker – G – Ohio State – drafted in the first round (No. 8 overall) by the Baltimore Colts – Played 11 years, all with the Colts, and is generally regarded as the greatest guard ever.

*Henry Jordan – DT – Virginia – drafted in the fifth round (No. 52 overall) by the Cleveland Browns – Drafted with a pick that was acquired in a trade with Green Bay, he did not blossom until he was traded to the Packers three years later, being an anchor on top-rated defenses for 11 seasons.

*Sonny Jurgensen – QB – Duke – drafted in the fourth round (No. 43 overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles – After he spent his first seven seasons with the Eagles, leading the NFL in yards passing two straight times, his career really took off when he was dealt to the Washington Redskins. … In his final seven seasons with them, he became one of the top passers in the game, finishing with 32,224 yards passing and 255 touchdowns.

*Don Maynard – WR – Texas-El Paso – drafted in the ninth round (No. 109 overall) by the New York Giants – Playing little in his one year with the Giants, he went across town to the New York Titans/Jets in the inaugural season of the AFL in 1960 and starred for 13 years, ending with 633 catches for 11,834 yards (18.7) and 88 touchdowns.

*Tommy McDonald – WR – Oklahoma – drafted in the third round (No. 31 overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles – Taken 12 picks in front of Hall of Fame QB Sonny Jurgensen in one of the greatest drafts in team history, he overcame his lack of size – he was just 5-foot-9 and 176 pounds – and had a great career with five different clubs, catching 495 passes for 8,410 yards (17.0) and 84 touchdowns.

*Gene Hickerson – G – Mississippi – drafted in the seventh round (No. 78 overall) by the Cleveland Browns – Six rounds after taking Hall of Fame RB Jim Brown, the team got a great blocker for him. … In his 15-year career, all with Cleveland, he also opened holes for two other Hall of Fame runners in Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Kelly.

Hall of the Very Good (players who had excellent pro careers):

*John Brodie – QB – Stanford – drafted in the first round (No. 3 overall) by the San Francisco 49ers – Played 16 seasons, all with the 49ers, and threw for 31,848 yards and 214 touchdowns, leading the NFL three times in yards passing and twice each in touchdown passes and completion percentage.

*Milt Plum – QB – Penn State – drafted in the second round (No. 17 overall) by the Cleveland Browns – Topped the NFL in completion percentage for three straight seasons and set a Browns seasonal record for quarterback rating, but then made the mistake of getting into a disagreement over play-calling with head coach Paul Brown and was summarily dealt to the Detroit Lions … Finished his career with 122 touchdown passes.

*Jon Arnett – RB – USC – drafted in the first round (No. 2 overall) by the Los Angeles Rams – Played 10 years with the Rams and Chicago Bears, rushing for 3,833 yards and 26 touchdowns and catching 222 passes for 10 scores.

*Bill Glass – DE – Baylor – drafted in the first round (No. 12 overall) by the Detroit Lions – Played four years with the Lions and then seven with the Cleveland Browns, being a member of the latter’s hall of fame.

*Del Shofner – WR – Baylor – drafted in the first round (No. 11 overall) by the Los Angeles Rams – Played four years with the Rams, leading the NFL in receiving yards one season, and then spent seven years with the New York Giants, finishing his career with 349 receptions for 6,470 yards (18.5) and 51 touchdowns.

*Don Shinnick – LB – UCLA – drafted in the second round (No. 20 overall) by the Baltimore Colts – Played 13 seasons, all with the Colts, and was a mainstay of great defenses, leading the NFL in interceptions one year and having 37 overall.

*Jack Kemp – QB – Occidental – drafted in the 17th round (No. 203 overall) by the Detroit Lions – Spent 3½ seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers before going to Buffalo and helping lead the Bills to back-to-back AFL championships. … Finished his 10-year career with 21,218 yards passing and 114 touchdowns.

*Ron Kramer – TE – Michigan – drafted in the first round (No. 4 overall) by the Green Bay Packers – Spent seven seasons with the Packers, being on back-to-back NFL title clubs, and then three years with the Detroit Lions, catching 229 passes overall for 3,372 yards and 16 touchdowns.

*Billy Ray Smith – DT – Arkansas – drafted in the third round (No. 26 overall) by the Los Angeles Rams – Was with the Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers before spending his final 10 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, being another front-seven star on those aforementioned excellent defenses.

*Abe Woodson – DB/KR/PR – Illinois – drafted in the second round (No. 15 overall) by the San Francisco 49ers – With the 49ers for seven seasons and the St. Louis Cardinals for two, intercepting 19 passes and leading the NFL in 11 different return categories.

*Tommy Davis – K/P – LSU – drafted in the 11 th round (No. 128 overall) by the San Francisco 49ers – In 11-year career, all with the 49ers, kicked 130 field goals and scored 738 points, and had 44.7 career punting average, including leading the NFL one year.

*Clarence Peaks – RB – Michigan State – drafted in the first round (No. 7 overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles – In seven years with the Eagles and two with the Pittsburgh Steelers, rushed for 3,660 yards and 21 touchdowns and caught 190 passes.

*Lamar Lundy – DE/TE – Purdue – drafted in the fourth round (No. 47 overall) by the Los Angeles Rams — Played 13 seasons, all with the Rams. … Started out as a tight end, catching 34 passes for six touchdowns in three years, and then was moved to defense, teaming with Hall of Famers Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen, and Rosey Grier, on “The Fearsome Foursome,” one of the greatest defensive lines in pro football history.

*Jimmy Orr – WR – Georgia – drafted in the 25th round (No. 291 overall) by the Los Angeles Rams – Spent his first three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and then 10 with the Baltimore Colts. … Though overshadowed by Hall of Fame WR Raymond Berry, he nonetheless stood out, twice leading the NFL in average yards per catch and finishing his career with 400 receptions for 7,914 yards (19.8) and 66 touchdowns.

*Jack Pardee – LB – Texas A&M – drafted in the second round (No. 14 overall) by the Los Angeles Rams – Played 13 years with the Rams and two with the Washington Redskins, being one of the top players at his position in that era, finishing with 25 interceptions, five of which were returned for touchdowns.

Hall of the Very Interesting (players who never made it in the pros but are the answers to the great trivia questions):

*Joe Unitas – T – Louisville – drafted in the 26th round (No. 306) by the Baltimore Colts – Was the cousin of QB John Unitas, another Louisville product who had arrived in Baltimore in 1956 and was just beginning his Hall of Fame career.

*Lee Corso – QB – Florida State – drafted in the 29th round (No. 346 overall) by the Chicago Cardinals – Coached in college for 2½ decades, including serving for 14 seasons as the head coach at Louisville and then Indiana, before finding his real niche as an ESPN college football analyst.

*Tom Dimitroff – QB – Miami (Ohio) – drafted in the 25 th round (No. 294 overall) by the Cleveland Browns – Did a longtime stint as a Browns scout and was the father of Thomas Dimitroff Jr., who followed in his footsteps and became the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.

*John “The Beast” Bayuk – RB – Colorado – drafted in the 16th round (No. 186 overall) by the Cleveland Browns – Had the misfortune of arriving in Cleveland at the same time as Jim Brown. … Was given jersey No. 32 when he got to training camp and Brown was off practicing with the College All-Stars … Wore it for the preseason opener against the Detroit Lions while Brown donned No. 45, and then Brown got his legendary No. 32 the next week when Bayuk was cut .. Ironically, No. 45 was given to Brown’s successor at Syracuse, RB Ernie Davis, when he came to Cleveland in 1962, but he died of leukemia before ever playing a game. … Nos. 45 and 32 are among only five jerseys retired by the Browns, and, in a roundabout way because of Bayuk, Brown is the only player to have worn two of them.