In strange setting, draft proved good to Ravens
The NFL’s first “virtual” draft was a virtual success, but it was no substitute for the real thing.
Well, let’s walk that back just a bit. Technically, it was a necessary substitute for the glitzy, any-excuse-for-a-party NFL offseason extravaganza that annually proves the league could televise an owners meeting and get ratings.
It struck an appropriately respectful tone for the first major sports-related event during the cornavirus pandemic, but the whole point of this exercise during the made-for-TV era has been to make something seem really fun that really isn’t.
Despite a herculean technical effort that required weeks of work and personal sacrifice by the people behind the scenes, the draft simulcast by ESPN and the NFL Network — particularly Thursday night’s first round — felt predictably balky and awkward. It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort or good intention.
There were 100 or so stationary television cameras arrayed in living rooms around the country and most of them showed the same thing — the draft prospect sitting uncomfortably with a handful of loved ones and staring down at his smartphone.
It was pretty clear the potential draftees were under strict instructions not to have anything resembling a party and, apparently, not to look as if they were having much fun. They were all texting so much that I was just grateful they weren’t driving.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the first-round and secondround picks from his basement and did what he could to jazz up each one by playing to the interactive array of fan-cam feeds on a large screen behind him, but cheerleading is just not his thing.
This is the era of the stiff, lawyerly pro