On Wednesday afternoon, I treated myself to a sushi lunch.
As I overdosed on spicy salmon, spicy tuna and something called a “Super Spicy
Roll” – I like spicy, ok? – I kept glancing up at the one television behind the
sushi bar locked into ESPN.
At first glance, they were talking about Jadeveon Clowney.
They were upon second glance. And a third glance.
Eventually they moved past Clowney, to a surely mind-numbing
debate on whether a team should take the best quarterback or best player
available. What a stupid debate to have. What if the best player available is a
quarterback? Doesn’t the question change if you have a franchise QB? How can we
discuss this in hypotheticals?
The segment on the draft lasted through my entire lunch,
featuring the usual parade of ESPN analysts, former players and the immortal
Mel Kiper. I walked away, shaking my head, and thanking my lucky stars we only
had to deal with this for a couple more weeks.
Then I realized – we didn’t have two weeks left, we had more
than a month left! Yes, the NFL pushed their draft back into May, which means
this endless parade of mindless conversation is just getting started.
It’s tough to aptly describe how sports has changed in this
country. The games, at times, are almost always secondary. Hell, this week in
D.C. the Nationals started playing again and the Wizards clinched their first
playoff berth in six years. What was the lead story? DeSean Jackson signing*
with the
local football team with the racist name.
*This morning on
SportsCenter, an analyst was asked if it was a good signing. He responded, “Right
now, yes.” Right now? He hasn’t even played a game yet!
But the NFL Draft, in one singular event, personifies all of
the sports world’s ills. Sure, I’ve ranted about my
growing dislike of the event before but it deserves a more thorough
shellacking.
There was a time when I enjoyed the NFL Draft. It was a fun
diversion on a Saturday afternoon. I remember playing 18 holes and spending the
19th hole watching Brady Quinn’s descent down draft boards. The NFL Draft was
always a big deal, but it wasn’t all-consuming, overly-dissected deal.
The NFL Draft is perfect for 2014, which means it’s
terrible. It plays into everything people
like about social media. Namely, it’s impossible to be wrong!
Think about it – everyone and their brother have an opinion
about Johnny Football. Other than the employees of NFL teams, none of these
opinions matter. Even worse, none of these opinions will be proven right or
wrong for years, by which time those opinions will mostly be long forgotten. Ron
Jaworski can say he has Manziel in the third round and people get mad or
agree and it absolutely does not matter.
Remember when I discussed the fallacy of debating in
hypotheticals? Well that is perfect for today’s sports media. Mock drafts – oh,
mock drafts –
dominate the Internet right now. Each site has their own version, if not
multiple versions. Each mock drafter, a Todd McShay or a Kiper, updates their
mock drafts frequently. Teddy Bridgewater’s stock goes up and down on a daily
basis based on absolutely nothing other than our undying need to change things.
The worst part of this whole fiasco is the manufactured
storylines that have begun to invade the college football season. After
Clowney’s Pro Day, many like Tony Dungy
declared that Clowney should be the #1 pick. Clowney, whose speed,
athleticism and freakish talent is second to none, has been the #1 pick from
the moment he entered South Carolina. If he came out last year, he would have
been the #1 pick. If a team selects someone other than Clowney at #1, their
fans should riot.
But thanks to ESPN and the 24-hour spin cycle that is our
world, Clowney’s draft stock has sunk and soared on a continually basis. Has it
really? Doubtful. Anyone who watched Clowney fight off double and triple teams
all year – and still make an impact – knew how good he was. That doesn’t
attract clicks and page views though.
“Clowney is still the best” elicits a yawn.
“Sources: teams question Clowney’s motor” elicits endless
retweets, spawns SportsCenter debates and provides fodder for yakfests like
Around the Horn.
The NFL draft itself is a brutal viewing experience,
complete with more forced debates, more contrived stories and instant analysis.
Is there anything the sports media world enjoys more than instantly deciding
something? Look back at any “draft grade” assigned to a team mere hours after
the picks are made and some four months before any of them seeing a
professional football field.
I could write another 1,000 words on the idocicy of making a
movie about the NFL Draft, but one trailer full of clichés and
bad acting should suffice. What kind of sad, pathetic person do you have to
be to want to watch a movie about the NFL Draft, starring Kevin Costner?
The entire thing, from start to finish, is an exercise in
the absurd. It becomes even more absurd when you realize just how little the
results of the NFL Draft compared to the coverage of it.
Where was Russell Wilson drafted? Or Richard Sherman? Or Tom
Brady? Or any other superstar that wasn’t a much-hyped pick? There are so many
positions in football, so many variables, so many different things that come
into play and such a reliance on free agency that the Draft really doesn’t
matter.
Surely, it’s not the NBA or the NHL where a LeBron James or
Sidney Crosby change a franchise forever. I mean, the list of #1 picks is
filled with guys that didn’t end up meaning that much. Ditto for the #2 picks – do
you remember Jason Smith or Robert Gallery?
Before I left for work this morning, Trey Wingo told me that
there is no offseason in the NFL.
There is an offseason. They haven’t played a game in two
months. They won’t play for another five.
Football has an offseason. The football media does not.
Remember this as you’re scouring mock drafts and glued to your television to
watch a three-day made-for-TV event that will ultimately end up meaning very
little.
But hey, what a time to tweet!
Follow me on Twitter
Comments
Post a Comment