Do you remember the pro careers of Northampton quarterback Jim Druckenmiller, Emmaus guard Keith Dorney or wide receiver Kevin White and Liberty’s end Steve Meilinger?

Perhaps in what round of the draft was NFL Hall of Famer and Liberty grad linebacker Chuck Bednarik selected?

With the NFL’s annual draft being held Thursday night, Lehigh Valley football fans might recall some of their careers.

The foursome was among a core of Bethlehem Catholic, Catasauqua, Emmaus, Liberty, Northampton, Parkland, and Whitehall grads who have been drafted or made their way to play to the NFL. Druckenmiller, Dorney, White, and Meilinger were first-round selections of their team.

Bednarik still holds the distinction of being the only local player to be the overall first pick in the NFL draft, a feat he accomplished in 1949. Liberty’s Roy Scholl was the first-ever player from the Valley when he played for Boston in 1929.

Druckenmiller was the first pick and 26th overall of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1997 draft, as the Niners envisioned him as the heir to Steve Young. Unfortunately, Druckenmiller has a subpar season that year and later had a cup of coffee with both Miami and Indianapolis, plus a stint in the XFL.

Dorney was Detroit’s top pick and 16th overall in 1979 and had a steady eight-year career with the Lions, while White was Chicago’s top choice and seventh overall in 2015. He career fizzled after three seasons.

Meilinger was the first pick of Washington and eighth overall in 1954, and he had a five-year career. Whitehall’s Saquon Barkley has been the only player selected second overall, that in the 2018 Draft.

Liberty has the distinction of having 10 players play in the Big Show beginning with Scholl in 1929, the highest amount of any high school team in the Lehigh Valley. Fellow Liberty grad tackle Dan Yochum, a second-round pick of Philadelphia in 1972, had a Hall of Fame career in the Canadian Football League.

Along with Scholl and Bednarik, tackle Joe Ungerer was a 20th-round pick of Brooklyn in 1941, and guard/linebacker John Schweder was drafted by both Philadelphia (25th, 1949) and Pittsburgh (ninth, 1951). Schweder played for six years.

Wide receiver Dave Szymakowski was a third-round pick of New Orleans in 1968 and played three games with the Saints. Defensive tackle Mike Hartenstine is one of the more familiar names from the Valley, and he was a second-round pick of Chicago and played 13 season there, being part of the famed 1986 defense. Running back Tom Donchez was a fourth-round pick of Buffalo in 1975, and played one season with Hartenstine in Chicago.

Linebacker Mike Reichenbach was another popular player with local ties, as he was a free agent with Philadelphia in 1984 and finished an eight-year career with Miami. Wide receiver Devin Street was a third-round pick of Dallas in 2014 and had a three-year career.

Bethlehem Catholic’s tight end John Spagnola and running back Mike Guman rose to fame in the 1980s with the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams respectively. Spagnola was a ninth-round pick of New England in 1979 and Guman was a sixth-round pick in 1980. Offensive tackle Jim Molinaro was chosen by Washington in the sixth round in 2004 and had a two-year stop there.

Catasauqua’s most recognizable pro player was former Buffalo Bill Jonathon Linton, who was drafted in the fifth round of the 1998 draft, and had a three-year career.

Ed “Scrapper” Farrell played a combined two years with Brooklyn and Pittsburgh in the late 1930s after playing minor league ball, and defensive tackle Mike Bundra was a sixth-round pick in the 1962 Draft and had a four-year career with three teams. Chris Gerhard, an assistant principal at the high school, had a three-game stint as a replacement player for the Eagles in 1987.

Former Emmaus guard/tackle Joe Milinchik also was a Detroit pick, a third-rounder in 1986 and had an eight-year career. Kyzir White was a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018, but he didn’t make the cut.

Before Druckenmiller, Northampton saw two prior grads advance to the NFL, both in the 1940s. Walt Zirinksy, a halfback, played a season for Cleveland in 1942, and teammate and defensive end/end Steve Pritko had an eight-year career there with five teams. Zirinsky was a 12th-round pick, and Pritko, a 28th-round pick.

Linebacker Dennis Onkotz was a seventh-round pick of the New York Jets in 1970, but the former Kids had his promising career cut short with a knee injury nine games into the season.

Parkland tight end Greg DeLong was a free agent with Minnesota in 1995 and carved out a six-year career. Tight end Tim Massaquoi was a seventh-round pick of Tampa Bay in 2007 and saw some time with Miami and Buffalo.

Running back Andre Williams was a heralded fourth-round pick of the New York Giants in 2014, but he struggled in his four-year career that ended with the Chargers.

Whitehall’s Andy Tomasic, a tailback/defensive back, broke through for the Zephyrs as a 16th-round pick for Pittsburgh in 1942 and had a two-year career. Besides Barkley, linebacker Matt Millen was the most notable Zephyr as a second-round pick of Oakland in 1980 and had a storied career and was a Super Bowl champion. Center Dan Koppen was a fifth-round pick of New England in 1983 and also had a momentous career, winning a few rings with the Patriots.