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| John McMullen. 4th October, 2005 - 11:53 pm
 The NFL Draft is bigger than the game.
For months leading up to the gala event, various experts tell us exactly who is climbing up the board and who is sinking faster than the Titanic.
Like women at a dance club, the prospects are treated like they are in the local meat market. They are poked and prodded looking for minute differences in size, speed, strength, weight, quickness and mental aptitude.
On draft day, the local zealots are encouraged to get out their own ratings and weigh in on the wit and wisdom of their favorite team?s selections.
The NFL itself encourages this behavior by producing a slickly packaged draft show held annually at in New York. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue steps to an imposing podium, hands each top draft selection a team jersey and photographers snap away.
Then the fun begins -- A plethora of experts from the most famous draftnik of them all, Mel Kiper, to comedian and notable cheesy fake cat, Nick Bakay may chime in.
The ESPN crew then scans the crowd immediately for a fan dressed from head to toe in his beloved team?s colors. The fan is inevitably either bumping chests with his buddy proclaiming victory or screaming in utter despair as he sees his dreams of Super Bowl glory slipping away.
Never was it more pronounced in 1999 when a dimwitted local radio host in Philadelphia brought a bus load of Eagles fanatics up to the Theater at Madison Square Garden specifically to boo the organization for drafting quarterback Donavan McNabb over Heisman Trophy winning running back Ricky Williams.
McNabb?s introduction to the city he would be playing in couldn?t have been worse. Luckily for the fans that booed him, McNabb showed the mental toughness it takes to play quarterback in the NFL.
He ignored the slap in the face by all the arm chair general manager?s and vindicated the Eagles? organization by leading his team to four consecutive NFC Championship games.
Meanwhile Williams, while talented, flashed a bizarre personality and a fondness for the hippie lettuce that has disappointed two organizations, New Orleans and Miami.
Fast forward to 2005 - Despite nursing about 15 injuries including a possible sports hernia thanks to Andy Reid?s obsession with the pass, McNabb led his Eagles back from a 24-6 deficit in Kansas City while Williams is in a tent somewhere on Miami Beach listening to his Bob Marley collection.
Remember this story when you are certain your teams? Super Bowl chances were blown up by incompetence in late April.
-You can reach John McMullen at: JMcmullen1@comcast.net |
