One of the greatest aspects of watching the NFL draft on television is seeing the young rookie’s faces when their names are called in the waiting room.
Each player sits in the room in their beautiful custom made new suits waiting for the phone in the middle of the table to ring. As a player is drafted, he always embraces his mother first, and then goes to greet the commissioner at the podium holding his brand new jersey.
This is a special moment for the player, and for the fans, as they get to see the future of their team for the first time, and the NFLPA wants to take that moment away from everyone.
Due to the NFL labor issues, it was reported that the NFLPA had requested incoming players to not attend the draft ceremony in New York. To me this seems outrageous. I know it must be hard to work out a deal to share 9 billion dollars, but an attempt to involve these rookies in all this mess and take away a special moment such as draft day, is simply absurd.
The NFLPA has its own plans for draft weekend. The group will be hosting a dinner in New York, which more than 20 different players have committed to attend, including Heisman trophy winners Mark Ingram, and Cam Newton. The NFLPA has said the event will be a celebration of legacy for the future football players.
This sounds a lot like the way disputes are handled in middle school. If you and an acquaintance were having birthday parties on the same day, you would go around to all of your mutual friends to make sure they were coming to your party. You may bad mouth the other party and hype your party beyond belief, just as long as your party had more people.
But this is not a middle school birthday party we are talking about here. The athletes have trained their entire lives for the moment they get drafted into the NFL, and they should be given the chance to enjoy that moment to its fullest.
LSU cornerback, and top prospect Patrick Peterson has spoken out against the NFLPA, and has said he will be attending the draft in New York. Peterson said the moment he gets drafted will be what he has been playing football for.
"“That’s a big moment to go up there and shake the commissioner’s hand and get that jersey and hat. It means a lot. I definitely want to go and no one has told me not to go. So, we’ll see what happens,”"
With the release of the 2011 schedule earlier this week, it appears as though the NFL wants to keep this offseason on a familiar track despite the lockout. If that is the case, then I feel that having rookies on site for the draft is another tradition the league can’t let slip away.
I hope when commissioner Goodell takes the podium to announce the first selection of the 2011 NFL draft, that player will be able to stand there and accept his hat and jersey with a smile from ear to ear.
But after losing to Aaron Rodgers in the Super Bowl last season, watching that video of him waiting for almost three hours in the back room to be selected can hit the spot also.