Newton No. 1 pick

Published 9:53 pm Thursday, April 28, 2011

Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton of Auburn was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 NFL draft after being selected by the Carolina Panthers Thursday night. (Photo courtesy Auburn University)

Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton of Auburn was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 NFL draft after being selected by the Carolina Panthers Thursday night. (Photo courtesy Auburn University)

NEW YORK — Despite the fact that the National Football League and the Players’ Association do not have a bargaining agreement in place, the league held its annual draft at Radio City Music Hall Thursday night.

The NFL held its first round on Thursday night with the final six round being spread out over tonight and Saturday.

The Carolina Panthers, to nobody’s surprise, took Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton of Auburn with the first pick.

Newton’s selection drew both boos and cheers from the crowd in the balcony of Radio City Music Hall.

The Denver Broncos followed up Newton with the selection of Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller with the No. 2 pick. In the span of mere minutes, Buffalo picked Marcell Dareus, a defensive tackle from Alabama and the Cincinnati Bengals selected A.J. Green, a wide receiver from Georgia.

The Arizona Cardinals were the first team to run the clock under three minutes when they selected Patrick Peterson, a defensive back from LSU to wrap up the top five. It took just about 30 minutes for those five teams to make their selections.

Due to the fact that the NFL has not officially begun its season, players cannot be signed by the team that drafted them, roster players cannot be traded and only unused picked through 2014 can be traded.

With that being said, the Atlanta Falcons traded up to the No. 6 spot with the Cleveland Browns to select Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones.

Cleveland moved down to 27th overall.

The top 10 was rounded out by San Francisco taking Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith, Tennessee taking Washington quarterback Jake Locker, Dallas taking USC offensive tackle Tyron Smith and Jacksonville, who traded with Washington, taking Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert.

Washington moved down to the No. 16 spot.

With the 13th overall pick, the Detroit Lions selected Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley.

2011 NFL Draft Top 10 (and Detroit)

1. Cam Newton, Auburn — Carolina

2. Von Miller, Texas A&M — Denver

3. Marcell Dareus, Alabama — Buffalo

4. A.J. Green, Georgia — Cincinnati

5. Patrick Peterson, LSU — Arizona

6. Julio Jones, Alabama — Atlanta (from Cleveland)

7. Aldon Smith, Missouri — San Francisco

8. Jake Locker, Washington — Tennessee

9. Tyron Smith, USC — Dallas

10. Blaine Gabbert, Missouri — Jacksonville (from Washington)

13. Nick Fairley, Auburn — Detroit