The 2020 NFL draft, postpone or no?

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Delay the draft?

  • Yes, its the right thing to do

    Votes: 3 8.1%
  • No, I'm stuck in the house with my wife/family and need sports of some type!!

    Votes: 34 91.9%

  • Total voters
    37

CGI_Ram

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ESPN takes over the draft weekend simulcast

ESPN and NFL Network are joining forces for the draft broadcast, with the same feed ending up on both channels. It’s becoming more and more clear as the draft approaches that ESPN is taking the show over.

Per multiple sources, the combined ESPN/NFLN draft telecast essentially will be an ESPN production. As noted by Andrew Marchand of the New York Post noted recently, it’s expected that most of the on-air contributions will come from ESPN employees, with a far more limited group of NFL Network talent adding to the broadcast. Beyond Rich Eisen, Kurt Warner, and Daniel Jeremiah, there’s a chance that most if not all of the rest of the NFL Network reporters and analysts will have the weekend off.

Of course, they’ll continue to churn out content in other areas, and the Twitter chase for scoops could get interesting, with NFL Network’s reporters incessantly trying to one-up ESPN’s five-minute-head’s-up army.

Regardless, don’t expect to see many/any of the NFLN newsbreakers on ESPN or NFLN during the three days of the draft. The current plan is for ESPN to run the show.

Whether those plans change in the next 12 days remains to be seen.
 

dieterbrock

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #45
It really seems like the kind of thing that can be done remotely.
Never was the issue really.
At the time of the OP we were still facing a significant upward trajectory of cases and the concern was if teams were getting affected or too prospects being affected, how that would affect strategy.
In any event, it appears that concern hasn’t intensified so full steam ahead.
 

CGI_Ram

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Roger Goodell on holding the draft as scheduled: It’s important to have normalcy

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league’s decision to have the draft as scheduled next week is part of keeping as much of a sense of normalcy is possible at this time.

Goodell said on the Rich Eisen Show that he wanted the league to hold the draft if it possibly could, even knowing that it will be essentially a televised conference call, rather than a major event drawing thousands of fans to Las Vegas.

“It’s important to have normalcy, it’s important to continue on schedule as best you can,” Goodell said. “The draft itself will be different because it’s no longer a live event.”

Goodell said every owner was in favor of the league’s decision to have the draft on time, and the NFL saw no reason to delay.

“We’re doing this in a way that demonstrates that you can continue to do what you need to do in this country, and do it safely at home,” Goodell said.

The league plans to recognize health care workers and first responders at the draft, and the draft will include a telethon raising money for six charities that feed the needy. Which means some good may come out of the event that some thought wouldn’t take place at all.
 

CGI_Ram

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NFL holding mock draft Monday for teams to test-drive technology

As the NFL prepares for next week’s first-of-its-kind stay-at-home draft, they’re going to give it a trial run.

Via Tim McManus of ESPN.com, the league is holding a mock draft session on Monday, to make sure the teams in remote offices are able to communicate picks and arrange trades smoothly.

Most teams are going through their own exercises this week, to make sure their technology is working on their end. Next week will give them a chance the communal experience is a smooth one.

“We’ll have fun making some mock trades,” Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman said.

A league spokesman said they can stop the clock if a team is struggling to get a pick in on time.

“Three separate team individuals are able to submit the pick, so if there’s an issue at one person’s house, two other team execs could submit,” the league spokesman said. “If a team is experiencing technological issues, the player personnel department would be in position to stop the clock to ensure a pick is submitted or a trade occurs.”

While things can always get weird on the clock, Monday’s practice round will at least give the league a chance to see what issues could come up later in the week, when many people will be watching (if not anticipating old people to struggle with technology).
 

CGI_Ram

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The full prohibited apparel guidelines for the stay-at-home draft

Players who’ll be participating in the stay-at-home draft aren’t required to wear suits. But they’re prohibits from wearing a long list of things.

Darren Rovell of TheActionNetwork.com recently characterized the memo from the league regarding the topic as explaining that the clothing is “expected to be clean, free of liberal or hate speech, and cannot make a political statement,” with no “[r]eferences to alcohol, drugs or gambling (including poker).” PFT has obtained the full list, and there’s a lot more on it than that. (Also, the document says “libel” not “liberal.”)

The document prohibits the following items or aspects of clothing:

1. “Third-party logos other than those of NFL Official Licensed Partners; Nike, Adidas, UnderArmour, and New Era.”

2. “Disparaging depictions of the NFL, or any other third-party brands.”

3. “Non-NFL sports organizations or leagues.” (So much for the XFL Defenders garb.)

4. “Racial, religious, or ethnic slurs.”

5. “Explicit language.”

6. “Obscene, pornographic (or escort services), violent (including firearms or other weapons), or sexual imagery.”

7. “Libel or hate speech.”

8. “Political statements.”

9. “References to alcohol (including beer and wine), drugs (including cannabis), and/or gambling products (including poker).”

10. “Tobacco products (including e-cigarettes).”

11. “Reference to any illicit substances or activities.”

12. “Pharmaceuticals (including OTD products) including restorative and/or enhancement products.”

13. “Dietary and/or nutritional substances and products commonly referred to as ‘energy drinks.'”

14. “References to movies, video games, and other media that contains or promotes objectionable material or subject matter.”

15. “Derogatory statements regarding the NFL, its owners, employees, and/or NFL partners.”

Any player who doesn’t want to comply can simply refuse the invitation to the draft. Or they can request an appearance fee to participate, as all of them should. And maybe they would, if they weren’t conditioned to believe that having an NFL franchise call dibs on their exclusive services for the next four or five years represents the realization of a lifelong dream.

In reality, it’s a business — and part of that business entails getting players to provide free content for the draft show. Not only are they willing to do it, but they’re also willing to let the NFL dictate the terms of how they’ll do it.
 

CGI_Ram

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Mock draft will use real 2020 prospect names, randomly selected by the league

A surprising number of readers have been asking questions about the mock draft that the NFL will be conducting on Monday, in preparation for the first-ever stay-at-home virtual draft.

There’s a concern that, during the mock draft, teams may end up tipping their hands regarding their plans for the draft. That will not happen.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the two-round mock draft will entail real prospect names randomly picked from the 2020 Scouting Combine list and arranged alphabetically. Also, the draft order has been randomized. The Cowboys, for example, have the first pick.

So there won’t be any secrets revealed, but the league also won’t be using names from past drafts or made-up names during the practice session.

And here’s where I’m tempted to ask you to offer up some funny made-up names that the league could have used in the comments. But I shouldn’t do that. So I won’t. I definitely won’t.