In My Opinion - Draft Day
Saturday 30th April 2011
at 02:21am
I don’t write a lot about the NFL in general. As most that have followed me over the years would know, I tend to stick to The Once in a Lifetime theme by focussing my updates on travelling, my family and of course the Green Bay Packers. Having said that, I always figured I’d jump onto the article writing bandwagon one day. With day one of the 2011 NFL Draft now complete, I figure today is as good a time as any.
So welcome to a wonderful little world that I will refer to, when required, as ‘In My Opinion’. Aptly named because that’s what it’ll be. An occasional take on whatever it is that’s happening around the league, in my opinion.
Let’s get to it.
(Picture, Darron Cummings AP)
The NFL Draft is an absolute spectacle, one that I could watch over and over again. I appreciate the entertainment and show business swagger that it has. I appreciate the commentary by absolute NFL experts and I appreciate the emotion that goes into, and comes out of these guys as we witness first hand, their NFL dreams coming true. I love that fans get to attend, even if in limited numbers and I love the anticipation of waiting until pick 32 to see the World Champion Green Bay Packers add to their already start studded roster.
So far as the events of today in particular, I’m not going to go through each team pick-by-pick. I’ll leave that to the analysts. What I will do though, is tell you about the moments that stuck with me through the telecast, in my opinion of course.
1. Cam Newton to Carolina – Personality wise, I don’t know a lot about Cam Newton so I’m not going to pretend that I do. What I do know though is that being chosen as the number one in your field regardless of what that might be must be an incredible feeling. On the world stage, in front of your peers, heading into the single most successful sporting league in the world though? What an achievement. I thought, with all of the anticipation coming into the draft, in particular these last few frantic weeks, that he held himself with great poise and dignity as he spoke openly and honestly to everyone who wanted a piece of him. Congratulations to him, in every sense of the word.
2. Von Miller to Denver - I read an article by Woody Paige of Around the Horn and The Denver Post fame with regards to whether or not he was the right pick for the Broncos. And again, I’m not going to pretend like I know everything about what the Mile High club needed. The very image of him though, with his head in his hands, unable to hold back his emotion gave me goose bumps. Whether you like or dislike a player, or a pick - if we can call them that, you have to appreciate the emotion that goes into hearing that phone ring. Von Miller, through everything that he must have been through to get to where he was last night, let it all hang out. He was the first of many to do so and I loved that.
3. Julio Jones to Atlanta (via Cleveland) – WOW! This one had me tweeting like crazy. I don’t know if Atlanta were spooked by Cincinnati taking A.J. Green and the fear that Wide Receiver stock wasn’t going to make it to pick 27 but boy, in my opinion, did they pay a massive price for this kid. I hope he does well, heck, I hope they all do well, from a ‘keep the dream alive’ per
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