Still New Draft Format

This will be the fourth year of the "Prime Time Draft." I'm not sure if it's really considered new anymore but I'm still not completely adjusted to it. I spent over 25 years enjoying weekend drafts so anything else is a tough sell. I still don't like the switch but I don't see it going back anytime soon. The NFL loves a big show. No matter how big it is they want to make it bigger. Then they put it on prime time.

I'm more accepting of the prime time draft now than I was that first year. Mostly because I have to accept it but I also like the break after the first round. It's nice to have some time to regroup after a round, especially the first round. This format gives the teams a break of nearly a day. It's nice for the fans. It's gotta be nice for the teams. Maybe it gives teams time to get into or out of the top of the second round. It also gives the teams an opportunity to parade their new top picks in front of the fans and the media before the draft continues Friday evening. My main issue with the prime time draft comes from coordinating the draft with work. Some people do have jobs outside of their interest in football. Surprising, but true. On the west coast, the first round starts on Thursday at 5:00pm. That's not too bad. The second round starts on Friday at 3:00pm. That is bad. I know that the NFL has to balance the best start times for all the time zones but 3:00 is rough.  Leaving work early isn't always an option. We do what we can. Thank goodness for DVR. One convenient thing with the prime time draft is finishing the entire selection process on Saturday. It allows for the rest of the weekend for the signing of undrafted football players.

With the incredible popularity of the NFL Draft these days, it's difficult to imagine that there was a time when the whole thing was done in relative private, on weekdays. There was no NFL Network, ESPN, or Interent. You might get updates on the radio for your local team. You'd have to wait for the newspapers the next day to find anything on your favorite, out of your market, team. Maybe a decade from now, my much loved weekend drafts will be forgotten like the lonely weekday drafts of long ago. Maybe by then prime time drafts won't still be new.