NFL Draft 2022: Hall of Famer Ron Mix talks decision to play for Chargers, offers advice for rookies

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LAS VEGAS – Pro Football Hall of Famer Ron Mix had an important decision to make in 1960 – a decision no player entering this week’s NFL Draft will ever have to face.

Should he play in the National Football League or the upstart rival American Football League?

Mix was the No. 10 overall selection in the NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts and the No. 1 overall pick AFL Draft by the Boston Patriots in 1960 after a stellar career as an offensive lineman at USC. Looking back at his experience in the draft process, Mix explained to Fox News Digital just how different it was.

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New Orleans Saints offensive lineman Walt Sweeney, left, and Ron Mix with offensive line coach Joe Madro, circa 1967. (Charles Aqua Viva/Getty Images)

"First of all, it’s unlike today. Back then, there was very little publicity leading up to the draft. I mean, very little. I had zero contact with the Colts prior to them drafting me. I actually saw news of the draft in the newspaper before I even spoke to the Colts," he said.

"Back then with the newly formed American Football League, it was the Boston team that drafted me and I told the Boston team that if I had to go back east, I was definitely going to sign with the Colts. The teams were cooperating with each other. The AFL teams were more interested in getting the best players that existed from the college draft with any team. They just wanted to field good teams. So, they traded me to the Chargers and that’s who I dealt with."

Mix said the Colts offered him a one-year non-guaranteed contract worth about $7,500 with a $1,000 signing bonus while the Chargers offered a