The NFL Draft kicks off in New York City on April 28 and extends through April 30 on ESPN and the NFL Network. Who will be picked first? Which quarterback has the fastest 40-yard dash time? Who will be a "bust" and fail to meet his draft day expectations? Not to mention, how can they even hold a Draft when the NFL is in the middle of a lockout? I saw a headline today in New York that said: "Football is back!" Well, kind of.
No one will strap on a helmet or shoulder pads at the NFL Draft, and the lockout will continue to hang over the league into the foreseeable future until there is a resolution reached between the owners and the players association (The NFL was ordered by a federal judge to resume football activities because its lockout was deemed to be illegal), so why is the Draft a prime-time event on ESPN and why does it get hours of coverage every day from the end of the college season? Well, because no one knows if you, the "experts", or even the teams making the draft selections are right or wrong. It's impossible during these three days to know whether Cam Newton or Andy Dalton will be a better NFL quarterback? Even a year from now, it will be difficult to determine if a draft pick is successful. 198 players were drafted before Tom Brady in the 2000 NFL Draft only to become one of the best NFL quarterbacks of all-time. By the time the Draft actually takes place in late April, any sports fan will have seen more highlights of a star player's college games than during the actual season, and any sports fan will have an opinion as to whether the player will help their favorite NFL team or not. On draft day, everyone is an "expert".
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Tom Brady has used his low draft pick status
to motivate him to be one of the best NFL QBs. |
The NFL Draft has grown in popularity as reality TV, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media have overtaken our society and put these players and their game highlights in our homes. But can you imagine if fans could text who their favorite team should pick...just like American Idol? Now we're getting somewhere. That would be some must-see TV! A player's fate would not rest in the hands of a greedy owner ready to potentially lock him out in the coming years, or in a General Manager who happened to watch the player work out on a good (or a bad) day. In fact, General Managers would probably do well for themselves and their job security if they turned the Draft decisions over to their fans because there would be no second-guessers if the player flopped, and the fans would take on an unprecedented level of pride if the player was successful. Wouldn't it be awesome to see 6-foot, 300-pound lineman waving at the camera and flashing fingers to all their fans at home?
Simon Cowell - future NFL General Manager? I'd vote for that.
