As someone who knows absolutely nothing about football, or even sports in general, people seem surprised when I tell them how much I enjoyed watching the National Football League Draft last Thursday. I’ll be honest ó I don’t care about professional football. I have no idea which teams are Super Bowl contenders, who is the best player in the league or even the actual rules and regulations of the game. Despite all of that, when my roommate turned on the TV to watch the draft, I couldn’t look away.
I found the NFL Draft to be touching and beautiful. When most of my friends who like football heard me say this, they either just gave me weird looks or ignored me. But if you really think about it, in the four-hour segment of teams announcing their first picks in round one, 32 players’ dreams of playing professional football came true.
Although many people describe the draft as boring, I thought it was exciting. According to the NFL website, the number one fan pick overall was quarterback Sam Bradford. So although it was no surprise when the Rams chose the quarterback from Oklahoma with the first pick, there still seemed to be choices in the draft that shocked football fans everywhere.
I had absolutely no idea who Tim Tebow was before the draft, but when I looked on Twitter everyone seemed to be freaking out about this mysterious man. After I asked around and finally figured out what was actually going on, I still didn’t quite understand what the big deal is.† If I were Tebow, I would be doing back flips.† The Denver Broncos gave up their second, third and fourth round draft pick to trade back up into the first round and take Tebow with the 25th overall selection when no one thought he would be chosen in the first round at all. So what if no one saw it coming? Good for you, Tebow. I’m sure he was just as surprised as everyone else.† You cannot deny that it was probably one of the best moments in his life.
The most touching selection of the night in my opinion was when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that Gerald McCoy was picked to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the third pick overall.† Immediately following the news, the player from Oklahoma began to shed tears of joy.† McCoy celebrated with his family members and when the player picked up his daughter and kissed her, I wanted to cry right along with him.† As he walked towards Goodell to retrieve the jersey of his new team with his hat already on his head, the announcers explained that McCoy’s mother had passed away when he was just 19 years old and never got to see him play at Oklahoma.† In his mother’s memory, he dedicated the draft night to her by embroidering her initials into his suit.† He said that if he got drafted to a professional team, he would do the same to his jersey. McCoy’s dedication to his family, gratitude and shameless tears were enough to make even the most stoic of fans choke up.
I didn’t want the first round of the draft to end. After the final pick of the night, Patrick Robinson, went to the New Orleans Saints, I just wanted more. The 2010 NFL draft left me feeling inspired and even contemplating watching the NFL this fall. I cannot wait to see what these new players will achieve and what heartwarming stories the 2011 draft may have in store.