Over the weekend I had the privilege of attending the 2008 NFL Draft. In short, the draft is the sports nut’s equivalent of a Star Trek convention.
For starters…the NFL handed out a grab bag to every single attendee for the event. Inside was plenty of information on the prospects and the draft order, which included a contest on the number of picks one could predict. Also, everyone received a small radio that they could use to tune in to the TV coverage of the NFL Network and ESPN. So, there was a fair share of stats junkies trying to run down every single pick that was made.
However, opposite the detail-oriented fans you had the fellows that had been drinking beers in line since 5:00 a.m. that morning. This group was much more apt to begin shouting matches with other teams’ fans. This usually constituted one group bellering “J-E-T-S Jets!! Jets!! Jets!!” and another countering with, “E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!!”
Inside the 6,000-seat hall was not just a mix of fans. One-third of the main hall floor was media, NFL personnel and team personnel. From our seats looking down we could see dozens and dozens of lap top screens covering the draft. After counting the media one could find a long line of “Special Guests” which had passes for the event. Finally, the fans filled in the rest of the seats, of which most just showed up and waited hours in line to get inside.
For me, the biggest thing that stood out at the draft was the mass amounts of stimulus. Usually at sporting events there is one main focus, but at the draft there were many distractions for the fans.
The hall was adorned with four mega screens which portrayed ESPN, the NFL Network, football highlight and draft stats. A fan could choose to watch a highlight of Adrian Peterson with Paul Allen’s play-by-play or they could tune into Mel Kiper on ESPN. They could also just look down and watch Chris Berman anchor the ESPN broadcast and eat his lunch between commercial breaks. Of course, on-stage appearances were made by current NFL players such as Osi Umenyora, Steven Jackson, D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Brandon Jacobs.
I did manage to see a number of Vikings jerseys throughout the day. When I spoke with these Vikings fans, most of them actually were born and raised in New Jersey. This included Steve, Will and Marie from Livingston, NJ. They’ve been coming to the draft event for about ten years, but this year they showed up late. They purposely waited until the crowd died down and slipped in later hoping to see the Vikings pick at #47.
I asked the group if they were happy having Jared Allen instead of a first-round pick. Maria responded, “I’m happier than a pig in do-do”. So, it seemed they were not disappointed about that transaction and they eagerly awaited pick #47. Of course, they did not have to wait as long at they thought when the Vikings moved up to pick #43 to take Tyrell Johnson from Arkansas State. Steve was pleased with the pick, saying, “They say he can hit a ton.”
The NFL Draft is definitely not a sporting event. It is, however, probably the most interesting business meeting of all time. This business meeting brings out fans from all over the country and if you love the draft and wouldn’t mind spending a weekend in New York, I would recommend going at least once.