It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting.

The National Football League Draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Before the draft, there was much debate in the media on if the Indianapolis Colts would select Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf with the first overall pick.

Manning went on to be a five-time Most Valuable Player Award[3] winner (the most of any player in NFL history) and a two-time Super Bowl champion (in 2006 with the Colts and in 2015 with the Denver Broncos), and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021, while Leaf was out of the NFL by 2002, having earned a 4–17 record, and is considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history.

The Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers both selected players in the 2nd round.