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  1. #1

    Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    The NFL draft will be held approximately one month from today. It appears that will not change. For those who haven't been following, here are some facts, followed by some opinions.

    FACTS

    • The NFL Management Council Executive Committee voted unanimously and unequivocally that the Draft should go forward as scheduled on April 23-25.
    • However, social distancing measures mean the draft will not be held on stage in Las Vegas in front of throngs of fans as originally planned; MGM Resorts had already shut down facilities planned to be a part of the presentation.
    • The draft will now be conducted entirely remotely, with digital audio and digital connections between/within teams and a central TV studio.
    • Additionally, Goodell ordered all team facilities closed this past week, meaning he has advised teams that they must make preparations to conduct the draft from a location outside of their team facility, with a limited number of people present.
    • Some GMs expressed concerns over the lack of time to prepare for new protocols while claiming travel restrictions will impact their abilities to conduct player physicals and psychological evaluations prior to the event.
    • Goodell, however, has now threatened disciplinary action against any team that publicly criticizes this decision.
    • Goodell suggested that he may lift the ban on returning back into the team facilities prior to 4/23, pending how the next few weeks go
    • Three networks — ESPN, the NFL Network and Fox Sports — own broadcast rights and more than 2,000 news media passes have been issued in past years. These reporters and analysts will not receive passes because there is no there, there, but they will need to ways to cover the event without being in person at an event or at a team facility or player's family's home.


    OPINIONS

    • My guess is that Goodell is pushing ahead because he sees this as chance to finally not be booed mercilessly on stage during the draft
    • I expect to see a ton of low tech Skype/Zoom/Facetime type interviews directly with players and team personnel, much as we all have probably seen more of over the last couple weeks in our own lives. We may find some of the coverage to be better for it.
    • On the other hand, the emotion of a live audience reaction will be missed, and could make the event less interesting to watch. I imagine the league will be spending the next few weeks trying to identify die hard fan-families who they can cut to from inside their homes, giving the the chance to simultaneously checkerboard the screen with a dozen or more of these feeds to simulate crowd reactions.
    • I wonder what the technology limits are on having hundreds of these streams going, on standby, ready to be cut to? Certainly a new challenge for TV studio directors.
    • I would certainly expect record ratings from fans hungry for any kind of sports programming.
    • While I have been critical of Goodell in the past, I don't share the critical view some have expressed over the safety of proceeding like this. I'm far more outraged over businesses in other industries that are now claiming they are essential, and are making low paid employees continue to work, face to face with a stream of strangers each day (my own asthmatic daughter included).
    • If anything, since most team facilities have media centers set up for broadcasting, it seems to me that Goodell should lift the exemption and allow a small number of broadcast professionals back in the buildings, along with perhaps the GM and a couple top aides--people who have been with each other up until the last couple days. The rest (owner, scouts, coaches) can stay home and be patched into each teams HQ. Even if everything is done on Zoom, I assume someone needs to maintain a traditional patch to the TV studio. All that is pending how the course of the epidemic proceeds.
    • I wonder if a team like the Ravens who scout so well may have an advantage over teams who were planning to wait until the last minute to see players in person? Might they figure out ways to do Skype interviews faster than other teams, and cover more ground? Or, for a team who puts more emphasis on player intangibles than other teams, might they be at a disadvantage? It will be interesting look back at this draft three years from now and ask if the evaluation process suffered and poor decisions made.





  2. #2
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    Does the reality that we have arguably, the best front office in the league, influence our opinion on whether or not this should go forward as planned?





  3. #3

    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    Desperate times and all, this arrangement is better than nothing and it’s still another month of nothing in the realm of any sort of original sports entertainment before the draft even happens. It’s sort of like planting a garden is putting hope in the future. In a way that is what this draft represents. The county’s most popular sport intends to happen this fall, and that is a big step back towards normalcy.





  4. #4
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    I am going to assume that most (if not all) NFL teams have some high tech guys on staff in the front office, so there shouldn't be any difference in communicating draft picks and trades and such, even if the location of the war room is different. Of course, the Bears could always fail to call in that trade to the NFL offices.





  5. #5

    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    The country needs distractions.





  6. #6
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    Jeez! I don'r see that the draft without a live audience is a problem. When I was a kid, the draft was held who-knows-where, no TV coverage, no live shots for the news. We'd usually hear about it the the Sunpapers the next day. Somehow we survived.

    Dick Cass stated that OTAs will be threatened. I think he's just being kind: the 2020 season is in jeopardy. No way we'll be social distancing on the stands. A major factor in Italy's extraordinarily high number of coronavirus cases was due to the packed San Siro Stadium soccer match, infecting one-third of the players and up to 40,000 fans in the stands. The NFL took note.

    Unless the coronavirus vaccine is developed in time for the next season, the NFL cannot risk having millions of fans infected. If there were a player-safety measure in place, at best we may see live broadcasts at empty stadiums
    In a 2003 BBC poll that asked Brits to name the "Greatest American Ever", Mr. T came in fourth, behind ML King (3rd), Abe Lincoln (2nd) and Homer Simpson (1st).





  7. #7
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    I actually think this is a great time to try out some new tech platforms to deliver NFL events such as this.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Disclaimer: The content posted is of my own opinion.





  8. #8
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    If any business can continue to perform using work-arounds and creative thinking it needs to. As long as you can keep people safe the show needs to go on. If we can still stock shelves, service insurance and push lawn mowers they can run a draft.





  9. Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    Quote Originally Posted by Mista T View Post
    Jeez! I don'r see that the draft without a live audience is a problem. When I was a kid, the draft was held who-knows-where, no TV coverage, no live shots for the news. We'd usually hear about it the the Sunpapers the next day. Somehow we survived.

    Dick Cass stated that OTAs will be threatened. I think he's just being kind: the 2020 season is in jeopardy. No way we'll be social distancing on the stands. A major factor in Italy's extraordinarily high number of coronavirus cases was due to the packed San Siro Stadium soccer match, infecting one-third of the players and up to 40,000 fans in the stands. The NFL took note.

    Unless the coronavirus vaccine is developed in time for the next season, the NFL cannot risk having millions of fans infected. If there were a player-safety measure in place, at best we may see live broadcasts at empty stadiums
    Unless the coronavirus CURE is released in time for the next season? Perhaps people who are old and sick might stay away from the games? Perhaps younger and healthier people will go to the games?

    This is not the first virus ever, and it's still March.





  10. #10
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    Quote Originally Posted by Shas View Post
    My guess is that Goodell is pushing ahead because he sees this as chance to finally not be booed mercilessly on stage during the draft.
    I gotta say, the one thing I kinda respect Goodell for, is how affably he handles the booing on draft night. Seems pretty good-natured about it.





  11. #11
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    Quote Originally Posted by The Excellector View Post
    Does the reality that we have arguably, the best front office in the league, influence our opinion on whether or not this should go forward as planned?
    Like if we had Matt Millen running our drafts, and were in fear of the catastrophic errors he would make? We might prefer they NEVER hold the draft!





  12. #12
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    Re: Goodell, the draft, and social distancing

    Quote Originally Posted by JimZipCode View Post
    Like if we had Matt Millen running our drafts, and were in fear of the catastrophic errors he would make? We might prefer they NEVER hold the draft!
    Matt Millen is who the football Gods would give me as a GM, after all of my years of complaining about not drafting WRs.
    "Please take with you this final sword, The Excellector. I am praying that your journey will be guided by the light", Leon Shore





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