Andrew Luck will make an appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman”  just before he is the first player selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft on Thursday night. In honor of Luck’s stop at the Ed Sullivan Theater, we dug up a few of the best moments from top picks appearing on the Late Show.

Fresh off being drafted by the Lions in 2009, Matthew Stafford listed off the “Top Ten thoughts going through Matthew Stafford’s mind on draft day.” At No. 8: “If the Lions win one game this year, I’m a hero.”

Bonus: “Top Ten things Cam Newton can say because he’s won the Heisman Trophy”

If only 1989 O.J. Simpson knew the irony of telling Letterman the story of how he was ticketed for driving 170 miles per hour on the 405 freeway. Only five years later, the Buffalo Bills’ top pick in the 1969 NFL Draft would take the LAPD on a low-speed chase down the very same stretch of highway.

Before he was the first pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Peyton Manning was the first collegiate player to take part in Letterman’s quarterback challenge. (Fast forward to the 6:40 mark to see Peyton and Dave go head to head).

Bo Jackson had already retired from football by the time of this 1993 appearance on the Late Show, but the first overall pick of the 1986 NFL Draft was happy to talk football with Dave, including the complications that come with going through airport security with a hip replacement. Bo knows hip replacements.

– Aron Angel

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