NFL 2008 Draft Day, Radio City Music Hall, NYC

It was a cool day, overcast with a brisk wind. A man wearing New York Jets jersey jogged down the street, his sneakered feet maneuvering around pockets of tourists huddled around tables displaying handbags and cheap sunglasses. He turned right at the intersection of West 50^th St. and Sixth Ave. and looked both ways before crossing the busy thoroughfare to Radio City Music Hall. It was 2:50 P.M. He got in ten minutes before Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, kicked off the 2008 NFL Football Draft.

Football fans not lucky enough to score tickets into the music hall went down the block to the ESPN Fan Watching Center, a pigskin pick-watching party with video game consoles, raffle contests, and bikinied Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders: Amy, Jamie, and Kristy. And of course no football party is complete without a monster sound system and a 60-inch HD flat-screen TV hoisted above an elevated stage between a yellow goal post. Kids and adults jumped on inflated bounce houses and tossed footballs while draft commentary boomed over their heads. Those not interested in playing games were busy managing their team’s future roster.

“With the fourth pick, in the 2008 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders select Darren McFadden, running back for Arkansas,” Goodell announced.

Brad Sample, 46, sported a Green Bay Packers jersey. He thought the Oakland Raiders made a good choice by choosing McFadden since they should see quick returns on their multi-million dollar investment. “Running backs take a shorter time to develop than quarterbacks. Look at Adrien Peterson and JaMarcus Russell,” he said. Russell, the 2007 number one pick, went to the Raiders while Peterson, the number 7 pick went to the Minnesota Vikings. While Peterson had an outrageous first year with 5.6 yards per carry, Russell only managed a 55.9 percent quarterback rating. It’s clear that the Vikings got the better deal. But now that Russell and McFadden are on the roster, Raiders fans should expect more points from the offense.

As owners bang their heads against the salary caps to get the high profile draft prospects and free agents, the expectations from coaches and fans for a vetted player to perform become bigger. Miami fans are expecting to win at least two games now that Jake Long, Offensive Tackle from Univ. of Michigan and number one overall draft pick, signed up for a five-year pleasure cruise with Bill Parcells and the Dolphins. The contract is worth $57 million. “He’s making more money than veterans,” Sample said. Having never played one down as a pro-football player, Long became the highest paid lineman in the NFL.

There are great NFL players that don’t go in the first round: Tom Brady, for example. Brady went in the sixth round and was the 199^th overall draft pick. Tony Romo was invited to Valley Ranch as a free agent. Both quarterbacks led their team to the playoffs last year.

“With the fifth pick in the 2008 NFL draft, Kansas City Chiefs select Glenn Dorsey, Defensive Tackle, LSU,” announced Goodell.

During the commercial break following the Chief’s pick, the emcee introduced Tony Richardson. It was Richardson’s first time at the NFL drafts but he wasn’t there to sign a contract. He was there to sign autographs. In 1971, Tony Richardson signed with the New York Jets as a free agent after failing to get drafted out of Auburn University. His 6-1 frame, stuffed in a lilac button-up, looked small onstage. “It doesn’t matter how high you go in the draft,” Richardson said before signing autographs. “You have to bust your butt, you gotta work hard. You have to put your head down and go to work.” During his 14^th NFL season, he carried the ball 7 times and rushed for a total of 13 yards, averaging 1.9 yards a carry. The median average of productive running backs is between three and four.

“With the sixth pick in the 2008 NFL draft, the New York Jets select Vernon Gholson,” announced Goodell.

The TV cameras zoomed in on the green and white painted faces of the Jets fans screaming for their rookie. By picking Gholston, the Jets made NFL draft history. For the first time, the anointed six went as the first six picks. Who could forget the panicked on Brady Quinn’s face as one by one, his competitors were chosen and he was left alone, a worried kid with shaggy hair dressed in a nice brown suit? He finally went to the Cleveland Browns as the 2007 22^nd overall draft pick.

Football fandom doesn’t end in February. After the Superbowl, there’s the draft, followed by training camp, and then preseason. Then sideline tidbits—team politics, trades, rumors, supermodel girlfriends, court trials—keep devoted followers chained to the media for the latest news about their team. Some fans will waste an entire spring afternoon watching the draft. Sample got to the ESPN festival well before the first pick and he will be glued to the screen, waiting for the Packers’s selection. “My feet are killing me,” he said. “But I gotta be here at least until 30^th pick.”