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by Michael Rosenberg
Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg is a contributor to FOXSports.com. An archive of his Free Press columns can be found here.
Updated: April 28, 2008, 10:49 AM EST 1 comment add this RSS blog email print
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2009 — At a packed press conference held during the NBA All-Star Game ("because we can," an NFL spokesman said), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced more changes to his league's upcoming draft.
"Instead of holding it on a Saturday and Sunday, as is tradition, we're going to spread it over seven days," Goodell said. "Each round will start at 5 a.m. Eastern. And you will watch anyway. You will watch because I say you will. Because we are the NFL. Now on your way out, please remember to get that NFL logo tattooed on your forehead.
"Ah, I'm kidding. You don't have to get the tattoo on your forehead. You can get it on your chest if you want."
Admit it: if Roger Goodell really moved his draft to 5 a.m. every day for seven days, you would shrug, dive into 2009 previews and leave a bunch of Post-It notes next April reminding you to set the alarm for 4:55.
The NFL is king.
There are mountains of evidence to support this statement. Like the fact that nobody has ever given two seconds of thought to when the Major League Baseball schedule comes out, but NFL Schedule Release Day is a nationally televised event. Or the fact that an NFL player (Pacman Jones) helped start a violent near-riot in Vegas and the NBA somehow took the blame.
(Jones is now heading to Dallas, and if he plays well, the Cowboys will be celebrated for taking a bold risk and signing him. The NBA, meanwhile, will continue to fight the perception that it is a thugs' league.)
But really, the draft mania sums it all up for me. If you stand up for a moment and clear your head, you must acknowledge that it makes no sense. It's like watching three months of trailers for a movie, and then you go to the theater and there are different stars and it's a comedy instead of a thriller.
And then the next year, you start watching trailers again.
This nation is addicted to all things NFL. This isn't even about football — because while the draft itself is about football, draft mania is not. It's not even about the draft. It's all about the mania, a self-perpetuating phenomenon. We watch because we watch; we mock-draft because we mock-draft.
I write this now, shortly after the conclusion of this year's draft, in the hope that your hangover might give you a few moments of clarity. Seriously, were the last three months worth it? Do you even remember the first 17 mock drafts you read? Do you realize that stock "rose" and "fell" for no reason whatsoever? This was like the tech-stock boom-and-bust on speed.
Have you thought that maybe you could block out all draft talk next year until, say, a week before the draft?
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME.
Oh ... um ... well ... draft grades, anybody?
My grades are a little different from everybody else's, in the sense that I only give out Fs. We then adjust to a curve so that everybody gets a B. Yes, it's inane and ridiculous, but no more inane or ridiculous than giving a team an A because a writer, or a scout he knows, likes the team's second-round pick. Of course a scout liked the guy! That's why he was drafted.
What I find most interesting about all this analysis is how selective it is. For three months we hear that quarterbacks are risky and it's silly to reach for a player and whatever you do, don't draft a guy for P.R. purposes. Yet when the Falcons draft Matt Ryan to fill the Vick Void, they are praised partly for making a good P.R. move. Nothing against Ryan, who might turn into a Pro Bowler, but that is just bizarre.
Of course, it proves my ultimate point about this league. In the NFL, all moves are good P.R. moves.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8081734/Draft-proves-how-powerful-the-NFL-machine-is-
Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg is a contributor to FOXSports.com. An archive of his Free Press columns can be found here.
Updated: April 28, 2008, 10:49 AM EST 1 comment add this RSS blog email print
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2009 — At a packed press conference held during the NBA All-Star Game ("because we can," an NFL spokesman said), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced more changes to his league's upcoming draft.
"Instead of holding it on a Saturday and Sunday, as is tradition, we're going to spread it over seven days," Goodell said. "Each round will start at 5 a.m. Eastern. And you will watch anyway. You will watch because I say you will. Because we are the NFL. Now on your way out, please remember to get that NFL logo tattooed on your forehead.
"Ah, I'm kidding. You don't have to get the tattoo on your forehead. You can get it on your chest if you want."
Admit it: if Roger Goodell really moved his draft to 5 a.m. every day for seven days, you would shrug, dive into 2009 previews and leave a bunch of Post-It notes next April reminding you to set the alarm for 4:55.
The NFL is king.
There are mountains of evidence to support this statement. Like the fact that nobody has ever given two seconds of thought to when the Major League Baseball schedule comes out, but NFL Schedule Release Day is a nationally televised event. Or the fact that an NFL player (Pacman Jones) helped start a violent near-riot in Vegas and the NBA somehow took the blame.
(Jones is now heading to Dallas, and if he plays well, the Cowboys will be celebrated for taking a bold risk and signing him. The NBA, meanwhile, will continue to fight the perception that it is a thugs' league.)
But really, the draft mania sums it all up for me. If you stand up for a moment and clear your head, you must acknowledge that it makes no sense. It's like watching three months of trailers for a movie, and then you go to the theater and there are different stars and it's a comedy instead of a thriller.
And then the next year, you start watching trailers again.
This nation is addicted to all things NFL. This isn't even about football — because while the draft itself is about football, draft mania is not. It's not even about the draft. It's all about the mania, a self-perpetuating phenomenon. We watch because we watch; we mock-draft because we mock-draft.
I write this now, shortly after the conclusion of this year's draft, in the hope that your hangover might give you a few moments of clarity. Seriously, were the last three months worth it? Do you even remember the first 17 mock drafts you read? Do you realize that stock "rose" and "fell" for no reason whatsoever? This was like the tech-stock boom-and-bust on speed.
Have you thought that maybe you could block out all draft talk next year until, say, a week before the draft?
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME.
Oh ... um ... well ... draft grades, anybody?
My grades are a little different from everybody else's, in the sense that I only give out Fs. We then adjust to a curve so that everybody gets a B. Yes, it's inane and ridiculous, but no more inane or ridiculous than giving a team an A because a writer, or a scout he knows, likes the team's second-round pick. Of course a scout liked the guy! That's why he was drafted.
What I find most interesting about all this analysis is how selective it is. For three months we hear that quarterbacks are risky and it's silly to reach for a player and whatever you do, don't draft a guy for P.R. purposes. Yet when the Falcons draft Matt Ryan to fill the Vick Void, they are praised partly for making a good P.R. move. Nothing against Ryan, who might turn into a Pro Bowler, but that is just bizarre.
Of course, it proves my ultimate point about this league. In the NFL, all moves are good P.R. moves.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8081734/Draft-proves-how-powerful-the-NFL-machine-is-
