A Few Thoughts on the NFL Draft
The annual NFL draft was held over the weekend in Philadelphia, PA. The draft is one of those things that sounds extremely boring unless you’re a big football fan (I am a big football fan, so I do find it interesting)—but this year was a bit different. This year it was in Philly, where Eagles fans eat, drink, and breathe football. If you walk through center city Philadelphia the day after an Eagles game, you can figure out if the Eagles won or lost just by the mood of the city. If the Birds won, there’s no greater city on the planet. If they lost, there’s nowhere gloomier. Yes, Eagles fans are passionate. And that passion was on full display throughout the NFL’s annual player selection event.
It was obvious from watching the draft on TV that the crowd was electric. It was so loud at times that you could barely hear the broadcasters (and they seemed to be having a hard time hearing each other). There were a lot of people there—I’ve seen reports ranging from a low of 70,000 to as many as 250,000. Either of those numbers is incredible. Think about that—250,000 people showed up not to watch a sporting event, but to watch a bunch of teams select the players that might someday play in a sporting event.
And it’s not just my Eagles-loving Philadelphia bias either—I’ve seen articles all over the web talking about how it was easily the best draft ever. And Twitter too:
Props to the people of Philadelphia. That's how to host a draft. No city has injected that much energy, electricity, excitement into draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 30, 2017
Philly: You absolutely KILLED it. Best draft experience ever. The standard has been set for every future draft city to try and match ??????
— trey wingo (@wingoz) April 29, 2017
Bill Belichick texted Mike Mayock and told him that he was blown away by the energy coming through his TV set from Philly
— Ben Livingston (@bliv94) April 29, 2017
The energy was palpable, even watching on TV. It was the kind of sporting event energy that gives you goosebumps, like some of the best moments from the Olympics. It was fun and worth watching for any football fan. I wish I could have been there in person.
Philadelphia put Chicago, New York, and any other city that has hosted the draft to shame. The very first draft was held in Philly back in 1936. The draft belongs in Philly. I hope the NFL decides to hold it there again next year.
The one disappointment I had during the first round of the draft was that the team I dislike the most drafted one of the players that I liked the most—Taco Charlton was drafted by the Cowboys. As the Cowboys pick was about to be announced, I kept thinking, “please not Taco, please not Taco.” But it was Taco. I have no idea if Taco Charlton is going to be a good player or not. I’ve never seen him play. The reason why I like him? His name. One of my favorite things about the draft is some of the interesting names of football players. Names like Taco. Taco Charlton. I was really hoping that Taco would go to a team where I could root for him to succeed. Oh well.
Some of my other favorite names from this year’s draft include Forrest Lamp, Speedy Noil, Ironhead Gallon, Standish Dobard, and Jake Butt. I hope they all have long NFL careers.
