USA TODAY Continues 25th Anniversary Celebration With Weekly Top 25 Lists

MCLEAN, Va., April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY turns 25 years young this September, and to continue the celebration, The Nation's Newspaper will look back at the Top 25 NFL Draft Moments of the Last 25 Years.

The famed 1983 NFL draft class - stocked with talented quarterbacks - was the first covered by USA TODAY. Plenty of surprises since have made the NFL draft one of the sports calendar's most anticipated weekends. This year's NFL draft is this weekend.

Every Monday for 25 weeks, USA TODAY will offer an exclusive color page of Top 25 anniversary memories - 25 lists over 25 weeks designed to spark conversation and debates. USA TODAY's interactive online environment at USATODAY.com offers readers not only the chance to debate each list, but will post reader's choices as well.

The Top 25 conversation continues today with the Top 25 NFL Draft Moments of the Last 25 Years. Twenty-five highlights - and lowlights - over 25 years. Here are the top 10:

1. FUMBLE!!!! Houston bypasses Heisman Trophy-winning RB Reggie Bush with the top pick of 2006 to take defensive end Mario Williams. Bush helps New Orleans to its first NFC championship game. Houston finishes 6-10. 2. Passing by the rest QB Dan Marino is bypassed by 22 teams, falls to Miami with 27th pick of '83. John Elway (1st), Todd Blackledge (7th), Jim Kelly (14th), Tony Eason (15th) and Ken O'Brien (24th) are QBs taken ahead of Marino, who sets many passing records. 3. Leafing through time Indianapolis takes QB Peyton Manning first overall in '98; San Diego, next up, takes QB Ryan Leaf. Manning is a perennial All-Pro and Super Bowl champ. Leaf - 14 TD passes, 36 INTs total. 4. Just saying 'no' Future Hall of Famer Elway vows never to play for the then-Baltimore Colts, who take him with the No. 1 pick of '83. They trade his rights to Denver, where Elway plays in five Super Bowls and wins two. 5. The Brady hunch New England taps eventual two-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady in sixth round of 2000, 199th overall pick and behind QBs Giovanni Carmazzi, who never plays, and Spergon Wynn (1 TD, 7 INTs total). 6. Can it, Philly Philadelphia fans boo choice of QB Donovan McNabb with second pick of '99, preferring Heisman-winning RB Ricky Williams. Philly gets to one Super Bowl, four NFC championship games in a row. 7. Ricky don't lose that # New Orleans breaks the bank for Williams, trading loads of top picks to Washington to take him. Williams, last with Miami, plagued by drug violations, hopes to play in 2007 after a year's suspension. 8. Bo knows Bo Tampa Bay takes RB Bo Jackson with No. 1 pick of '86 despite his refusal to join them. After playing baseball, he joins the then-Los Angeles Raiders. A hip injury cuts short his career. 9. Offensive bust Green Bay takes offensive tackle Tony Mandarich, dubbed "best offensive line prospect ever" by Sports Illustrated, with second pick of '89. Mandarich is pilloried as perhaps the greatest bust. 10. Time's up! Minnesota, trying to work a deal with the Baltimore Ravens, exceeds 15-minute allotment in the first round with the seventh pick of 2003. Jacksonville swoops in, grabs QB Byron Leftwich, whom the Ravens coveted. Carolina also makes a pick before Minnesota gets its bearings and takes defensive tackle Kevin Williams at No. 9.

Find the full list in today's editions of USA TODAY or log on to USATODAY.com. A new Top 25 list will run every Monday through September 10th.

USA TODAY, the nation's top-selling newspaper, will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on September 15th, 2007. It is published via satellite at 36 locations in the USA and at four sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA TODAY is available worldwide. USA TODAY is published by Gannett Co., Inc. . The USA TODAY brand also includes: USATODAY.com, an award-winning news and information Web site that is updated 24 hours per day; USA TODAY Sports Weekly, a magazine for enthusiasts of professional football and baseball; and USA TODAY LIVE, the television arm of the USA TODAY brand that brings the spirit and quality of the newspaper to television.