49ers NFL Draft: 10 high-profile picks who never panned out
By Peter Panacy
2. player. 819. . Tight End. Fighting Irish . Ken MacAfee
49ers Tight End Ken MacAfee, Notre Dame
Selected No. 7 Overall in the 1978 NFL Draft
Going back a ways into the archives here at a time when the NFL Draft wasn’t quite the publicity affair it is today.
1978 is a year most 49ers fans would like to forget anyway, and it didn’t start off as well as it was initially planned. The Niners used their first pick that year on Notre Dame tight end Ken MacAfee, who managed 1,759 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns over four years with the Fighting Irish and looked to be just as prolific a player at the NFL level.
Hence San Francisco’s investment of the No. 7 overall pick that year.
But MacAfee wasn’t anything close to the dynamic playmaker on the field at the NFL level. And after two seasons where he managed a combined 471 receiving yards and five touchdowns, head coach Bill Walsh asked him to switch from the offensive side of the ball over to the defense.
MacAfee refused to do so and instead elected to retire, pursuing a career in dentistry instead.
Can you imagine if a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft today elected to call it quits so soon after being selected so high?
Yeah, it would be a shocker.