Let's put things in perspective: If you added up the amount of hours devoted by a major broadcast network to a political party's presidential convention, it would still not equal what it took to complete the first round of this year's NFL Draft.
Yes, I realize there are a lot of people who are more interested in who the Oakland Raiders' next quarterback is than who the next president will be, but with each year that passes the draft becomes tougher to watch. In this past weekend's proceedings, Round One lasted an excruciating six hours, eight minutes, a new record.
If not for the drama surrounding Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn — first his freefall down the draft board and then salvation at the 22nd pick by his hometown team, the Cleveland Browns — there would have been no drama at all.
This year the NFL made provisions to sequester players like Quinn whose stock fell on draft day. It was a good thing since it took four hours for him to be selected despite being thought of by some as a top-10 pick. Remember 2005 when California quarterback Aaron Rodgers fell 24 picks before being chosen by the Green Bay Packers? Remember watching the pain and anguish on his face as he continued to tumble down the board? No one should be subjected to that kind of nationally televised heartache, except maybe "American Idol" contestants.
No matter how much one enjoys listening to Chris Berman and the rest of the ESPN team (Carolina Panthers wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson was surprisingly good in his first stint as a draft analyst) or Rich Eisen and the NFL Network crew, there's no avoiding the obvious — the league needs to shorten the time between first-round picks. The current 15 minutes needs to be trimmed to 10 to make the draft better paced and keep viewer interest piqued.
Six hours, eight minutes for one round. In football parlance, this is what they call "delay of game."
Comments