Happy NFL Draft Eve to all who celebrate! And, by the way, that’s all of you, because the NFL is king and even something as silly as a draft brings in more eyeballs than most other live sporting events.
Say what you want about Roger Goodell, but the guy knows how to market his product. Fair is fair.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Anyway, the NFL Draft is always one of the biggest nights on the calendar, believe it or not. I remember when it used to be a two-day event on Saturday and Sunday only.
Remember those days? When it would start at noon and run for eight straight hours? Amazing.
It got too big a few years ago, and, naturally, the first round got moved to the prime time slot on Thursday night. It’s on 14 different channels now, with 14 different broadcasts. Again, it’s a monster event.
And ESPN’s Peter Schrager, a veteran in the NFL reporter world, has a plea for anyone watching tomorrow night: Stay off your phones!
“Would you watch a reality show if, three minutes before the end of the show, they tell you who is being eliminated?”
Amen, Peter. Preach! No, I wouldn’t. Neither would you. The NFL Draft is one giant reality show. It’s why we watch everything like hawks. The facial expressions. The green room. The WAGs. All of it. It’s a content machine.
But Schrager — again, a veteran reporter — didn’t stop there. He later divulged just how easy it is for insiders to get access to the pick ahead of time. Apparently, it’s not as impressive as you’d think.
“The NFL requires that name to be sent to them, and the entire league gets that name three minutes before the pick is made,” he said. “Anyone who’s got a credential has one source in the league, and that one source, whether it be from the 32 teams, or the league office, or an agent, they have access to the picks 90 seconds before they’re announced.
NFL DRAFT EMOTIONAL REACTIONS: ROOKIES REALIZING THEIR DREAM CAME TRUE PULLS AT FANS’ HEARTSTRINGS
“There is no valor in spoiling an NFL draft pick.”
Bingo! If you happen to have some actual scoop — like the pick 10 minutes ahead of time — go for it. That’s fine. That’s fair. If you have sources that deep in the business, you deserve to break it.
But if you’re getting the same info everyone else is getting, and just tweeting out the same exact thing everyone else is tweeting … come on. What’s the point? To spoil it for everyone watching? Seems silly.
Sure, there’s also the argument that we (the viewer) could just put the phone down and watch. It’s rare nowadays, outside of Augusta for a week out of the year. But, we could also just put the phones down and not be spoiled, either. As far as I know, nobody is forcing you to scroll social media for three hours with the NFL Draft on in the background.
If they are, blink twice!
Regardless, it’s interesting to see how insiders get their info. Sure, there’s a Russini joke somewhere in there, but I ain’t making it!
Happy NFL Draft Day Eve.
