Tonight is the night for a couple of hundred young men who have aspirations to someday play in the NFL to hopefully hear their name called to start the journey. The NFL will conduct its annual draft of college players who have made the decision to attempt to play pro football.
Despite issues with the well being of its players, league leadership and the watered-down play, this is still a big night for these young men. Many have worked hard to get to this night. Others have been scrutinized as much as if they were running for president of the United States. And like that officeholder, they have been unfairly judged by those who wake up each day to find everything wrong in that person only to go through life as the “unnamed source.”
There will be added hoopla for some teams and their fans that this is the year they get it right when it comes to selecting players that will turn the tide of a team and its city. Tonight is the night for a new beginning.
The players have had more people giving them advice than they will ever have again in their entire lives. The potential of earning a lot of money brings that out, as those looking for an association if not handout will see many who have no clue about what’s going on take one step forward.
Football is not a guaranteed living for a reasonable period of time. The life span average for a pro player is less than four years, and the money that most will make in their first contract will not cover them for the rest of their lives, despite what they are told. So a question remains for those players who will stroll up tonight after they hug their mother, girlfriend and agent and Commissioner Roger Goodell: How many of them are really ready for life and, better still, life after football?
Few have been to class the previous semester, as they conveniently used the excuse that they had to get ready for the draft. Want to make a wager on how many kids drafted tonight will not graduate with their class, or graduate from college at all? While this is supposed to be their night, I wonder if they understand that this whole experience is a flash in the pan with respect to what truly awaits them.
The development of a player who comes through the draft has taken a step back. Coaches are hamstrung by the rules, and players are hamstrung by the way the game is taught today. It is the system they agreed to abide by, although it is flawed when it comes to the expectations of owners, media and fans.
We should all step back and let the new pros breathe for at least two years. When players are drafted in a certain round, the expectations are too high. A first-rounder is expected to play now instead of later in the season or next season. If a player is slowed by the learning of a new system or an injury early on, the challenge to live up to the hype will be greater than they could ever imagine. Some never recover to have the career he and the team had hoped for.
Remember these players tonight when they come out to take their bow and have their five minutes of fame. It may be the last time we ever see them, let alone see them wearing a smile.
Rams at it again
Here we go. Another night when the Rams pick early to exemplify what a lousy season they had the year before. Normally, I would tell you what they need to be better, but I really do not care. I appreciate the effort the coaches and scouts put in for a night like tonight, but I have lost my spirit for what the Rams are all about.
Bad play on the field, irresponsible players off the field and then there is the stadium issue. Ah, yes, the stadium. If you are a sports fan, most would say do what it takes to keep a team in St. Louis. I marvel at the speed and interest in “civic leaders” to rally and have a plan in place that will cost someone north of a billion dollars when it’s all said and done, only to appease some who want pro football in St. Louis. If only the energy were directed toward other areas of St. Louis that would benefit more for a longer period of time, rather than remain subject to another owner’s threat to move if his demands are not met in a timely manner.
I don’t blame the Rams for holding St. Louis hostage AGAIN. No one learned from the last time, I guess. Here we go again, only there are new players at the table.
The media blitz over the last week made me wonder even more about this endeavor, as few questions were ever answered. So here are a few.
Who is the “Save the NFL in St. Louis” dealing with? Is it Stan Kroenke, the current Rams owner, who is making plans to build a stadium in California? Or is it the NFL and Roger Goodell? Neither do I trust these days, as their records have spoken.
Who is paying for this facility? No tax money, you say? So someone is going to pony up for this venture with no public commitment from the league, Kroenke or anyone on planet Mars at this point.
If it is not Kroenke, who you are building it for? Who are you building it for, and why the secrecy? Vetting a potential owner to make sure St. Louis does not inherit another carpetbagger is something I guess would upset the apple cart here.
Oh, there is tax money that will be used from the taxes charged to players for playing in the state of Missouri. That’s an interesting one considering, before now, it was never even mentioned as a determining factor. While I have raised an eyebrow to this from day one and people have tried to get me on board for this project, I can’t because I have yet to see a life jacket in case this ship goes down with all hands.
I hope those who want football in St. Louis get their wish, as the game does not affect my entertainment habits. As long as it does not cost me, bully for those who want it. I just ask: At what price and who will profit?
