San Francisco 49ers: Best late-round NFL Draft picks in franchise history
1986 NFL Draft: Round 4, Pick No. 96 Overall
In 1986 after trying and failing to move up in the draft to select either Auburn running back Bo Jackson or Purdue quarterback Jim Everett, head coach Bill Walsh would have to move on to Plan B: selecting possibly the 49ers’ best draft class ever through a series of moves NFL writer Peter King would call Walsh’s “masterpiece.”
After watching their top-three targets go off in the board in succession, the Niners, who owned the 18th overall selection, made three consecutive trade-backs before finally taking a player in the middle of the second round. By the end of this draft, Walsh made another trade back, picked up another first-round pick in 1987 and had drafted five starters, three important reserves and one Hall of Famer: EDGE Charles Haley.
From a national perspective, it might have been easy to miss Haley. After being lightly recruited in high school, Haley attend James Madison University, a I-AA school which had only founded its football program 10 years prior in 1972.
Haley was a two-time Division I-AA All-American and set a school record for tackles in his four years with the Dukes, though it is difficult to tell if Haley’s statistics or accolades had any effect on Walsh. Walsh claimed to have been sold on Haley after watching Haley blow up an option play in a game against Georgia Southern, believing if a player could show that type of “tremendous athleticism” even on a single play in college, he could be coached up in the pros.
Whatever convinced Walsh, Haley would never go unnoticed again. In his first year with the 49ers, he recorded 12 sacks, four forced fumbles, one interception and 59 total tackles. In his first six years with the team, Haley notched total 63.5 sacks, including a career-high 16 sacks in 1990, a year he would earn his first first-team All-Pro selection.
He ultimately won two Super Bowl rings with the 49ers and another three with the Dallas Cowboys, becoming the first player to earn five rings total.
Haley is a member of the San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame, the Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame, a College Football Hall of Famer and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.