04/25/08
The time has come again. For the 31 teams that came up short of their goal to become Super Bowl champions, the path toward redemption starts Saturday.
Fans from coast to coast hold their breath as each NFL team carves out its future by selecting college football prospects in hopes they will turn the tide for the franchise that decides to take a chance on them. Over dramatized? Maybe slightly.
Sure, some high priced free agents have been landed, but simply put – the teams are built through the NFL Draft.
Let’s be honest, that is exactly what teams are doing – taking chances. People debate that some players are so talented that no risk is involved, but in reality, nothing is a sure thing.
So why is there so much interest in the draft, an event that could be held in a single room with only a few representatives from each team present? Heck, it could be done by phone or e-mail in this day in age.
But no, the teams send one of their personnel guys to the almighty podium with an index card with the team’s choice on it, while the rest of the NFL and all its fans watch intently.
In the old days, you might find whom your favorite team had selected in the newspaper the next day if you even cared.
Today, ESPN has full coverage of the selection process with a ton of analyzing to boot.
Some years, the picks are rather predictable. A team might have one obvious need position-wise and there will be an elite player in the draft in that particular position when the team drafts, so it is easy to see what will occur.
Also, sometimes the team with the first pick will basically get the contract negotiations done with the player it will choose before the draft starts.
That strategy makes predictions of the next picks even easier.
This year even the draft experts have varied mock drafts, so it will be intriguing to see how it all unfolds over the weekend.
Sure, you can look in the paper or go online after all the picking is done, but then you miss out on two days worth of yelling at the television over bone-headed picks and adding a new chapter to the book of couch-potato ethics.
One thing is for sure, through all the swapping picks and players, Mel Kiper hairdos and bad jokes by Keyshawn Johnson, nerds like myself will be there trying to take it all in, unless of course, we get a life between now and then. Don’t count on it.