That makes no sense. The NFL has been the NFL since 1920. The average viewer is a complete moron if that is in any way confusing.
First of all, yes the average viewer of that article would probably fall under your category of moron.
Second of all, the NFL as we know it started in 1970 with the merger.
Third, the first NFL draft was held 1936. 1920 is irrelevant to this discussion.
Fourth, the draft setup has completely changed since the 30's, 40's etc. For example in 1943 there were 8 people taken in the first round, 6 in the second and only 2 in the fourth round. The manner in which the rounds were set up were completely different.
Fifth, and most importantly, the AFL and NFL each had seperate drafts, so there would be two "first rounds during the years of 1959-1967. It is also well documented that teams were assigned picks by geographical regions around the city the team was based out of. For example a team based out of Chicago would have the rights to the players within the state of Illinois and possibily other surrounding states or parts of states, depending on where the next closest team is located.
Other factors such as racial discrimination, the hatred of small and private schools by the NFL also factor into the picture. 1970 is the best starting point available, or at least that is my opinion.