. Wilner - On the Clock: The Story of the Nfl Draft

ON THE CLOCK

ON THE CLOCK

The Story of the NFL Draft

Barry Wilner and Ken Rappoport

TAYLOR TRADE PUBLISHING

Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

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Copyright 2015 by Barry Wilner and Ken Rappoport

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilner, Barry.

On the clock : the story of the NFL draft / Barry Wilner and Ken Rappoport.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-63076-101-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-63076-102-8 (electronic) 1. Football draftUnited States. 2. Football playersUnited StatesRecruiting. 3. National Football League. I. Rappoport, Ken. II. Title.

GV954.32.W57 2015

796.330973dc23

2014042789

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Prologue

T he National Football League (NFL) draft features no action on the field. No passing, running, tackling, or kicking. Hey, there isnt even a field. Yet the draft has become more popular than many other sporting events, including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff games, against which it goes head-to-head for viewers. In fact, the draft has spawned its own cottage industry in which names such as Gil Brandt, Mel Kiper Jr., and Mike Mayock become as well known as any of the first-round selections.

In On the Clock , we chronicle the history of the proceedings. As veteran sportswriters, we take you from the first grab bag in 1936, when Philadelphia chose Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago and saw him decline to play in the NFL, to the 2014 draftconsidered one of the deepest in talent ever.

Along the 78-year journey, learn about the competitions for the top overall spot (Peyton Manning versus Ryan Leaf), the unhappy No. 1s (John Elway and Tom Cousineau), the big flops (JaMarcus Russell), and the late-rounders-turned-superstars (Tom Brady).

Meet the draft wizards, from Paul Brown to Bill Walsh and Jimmy Johnson. And the draft whiffs that cost personnel executives their jobs.

On the Clock takes you behind the scenes at one of pro footballs yearly major events.

Acknowledgments

W e would like to thank the following for their help with On the Clock :

Howard Balzer, Upton Bell, Chris Berman, Gil Brandt, Sean Butler, Simmi Buttar, Steve Cohen, Bill Fitts, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Dave Goldberg, Bill Hofheimer, Mel Kiper Jr., Pat Kirwan, Joe Linta, Jim Lippincott, Alex Marvez, Mike Mayock, Brian McCarthy, Paul Montella, Nick Pavlatos, Alex Riethmiller, Ralph Russo, Adam Schein, Michael Signora, Allison Stoneberg, John Wildhack, Charlie Yook, and Jon Zimmer.

Draft Day 2014

The Most Exciting Draft Ever

A red carpet laid out along a midtown Manhattan street, leading directly into Radio City Music Hall. The perfect setting for Jay-Z and Beyonc. Or Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton.

Not so much for the young men strolling along it in their $1,000 designer suits, cameras following their every stride. Ask any one of them, from Jadeveon Clowney to Johnny Manziel, and their preference might be a green field, in the uniform of an NFL team.

Alas, the NFL draft went Hollywood years before Clowney, Manziel, and Michael Sam headlined the strongest and most intriguing class of prospects in years, perhaps ever. The pomp and primping is all part of the show nowa show that, for an event that involves no final score and, basically, no real sports action, has become a monster hit.

The increased popularity of the draft has been phenomenal, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. We think our fans look at it as a significant part of our year, just as they do our games and the Super Bowl.

More fans than ever looked at the 2014 draft, drawing record viewership for NFL Network and ESPN, which cotelevised the proceedings. (That two networks would devote a pair of nights and a Saturday afternoon to the draft speaks as loudly as Mel Kiper Jr. espousing the virtues of Blake Bortles as a pocket passer.)

And no draft in the previous 78 years had quite the cachet.

First, there was the quantity: with a record 102 early entrantsincluding South Carolina defensive end Clowney and Texas A&M quarterback Manzielmore collegians than ever were available for plucking.

Of course, quantity only matters when counting up Lombardi Trophies in a teams collection. And for quality, 2014s crop was so rich that many NFL teams felt they could strike it rich, with picks deep into the draft, and pick up bargains.

Ramping up the drama was the NFLs decision to move the draft back two weeks, ostensibly because Radio City would not be available in late April due to a special spring spectacular. Turns out, the show was not so spectacular and wound up being canceled, but the league had already set its schedule for 2014.

One league executive even confided anonymously, If this works, and we are pretty sure it will, the draft is going to stay in May. It keeps it on peoples minds for a longer time, and the buildup gets crazier and crazier the longer people are thinking and talking about it.

One topic fans (and, to a much larger degree, the broadcast media) couldnt seem to stop talking about was Sam, the first openly gay player in an NFL draft.

The presence of a gay player in the NFL should hardly have been news in 2014. Former All-Pro defensive back Troy Vincent, now the leagues director of football operationsGoodells right-hand mansaid he played with at least a half-dozen gay players in the NFL.

It worked, we won many football games, Vincent said. They were players, and we didnt see them any differently.

Wade Smith played 11 pro seasons, albeit never revealing his sexual orientation. He is now an activist for gay rights, and Goodell invited Smith to speak to team owners at the leagues annual meeting six weeks before the draft.

Goodell recognized how sensitive the issue could become in the buildup to the draft. I found his message to be very important for all of us to hear, Goodell said of Smith. Hes part of the family that we all are in the NFL. He just wants to make sure we provide that workplace where people can go and play football and be comfortable playing.

Sam himself echoed Goodells (and Smiths) words. He asked to be judged solely by his on-field credentials, as hundreds of other players would be. He had no criminal record or nonfootball problems. No major injuries to concern NFL team doctors.

Hell, he was the Southeastern Conferences (SEC) Defensive Player of the Year. Guess who else played in the SEC: Clowney, virtually a consensus top overall pick.

This was a draft that some preferred to turn into a societal statement. In the months after Sam made his announcement in Februarydirectly after the Super Bowl, in factplentiful dialogue was devoted to Sams sexuality, not his sacking skills. A distracted Sams performances suffered, and a poor showing at the NFL combine, followed by an injured hamstring at his pro day, saw his stock plummet.