Towards the end of the round, I noticed Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young leaving ESPN’s booth and walking out of the building. Immediately I jumped out of my seat in the hopes of intercepting Young. Luckily, I caught him well before he left the building and actually had a chance to ask him what he thought of the Jets draft. His response went something like this, “I liked it. I mean you guys picked up two quality defensive players and Harris was a legitimate first rounder.” I did not get an autograph from Young; however I did get a photo with my friends and Young, something that is far more valuable than a meaningless scribble of a name.
We decided to stay through the second round, unlike most fans, and saw the best name of the draft: Ikaika Alama-Francis went to Detroit at pick 58. After leaving Radio City Music Hall we decided to head over to ESPN Zone in Times Square for a post-draft meal. While waiting for a table near the stairs, I saw a mammoth of a man slowly stagger up the steps. I remember thinking to myself ‘That guy’s gotta be an athlete.’ The next words out of my mouth were, “Oh my god, it’s JaMarcus Russell.”
“JaMarcus, hey, congratulations.” I said looking up, while trying to soak in the fact that I was now talking to the man I had cheered for from afar nine hours ago.
“Thanks man,” he said as he extended his colossal hand that I awkwardly shook. (I have not washed my hand since.)
“Can I get an autograph?” I asked nervously.
He then uttered a line that has forever cemented itself into my brain, “Naw man,” he said looking down at my Vilma jersey. “You don’t cheer for my team.” He then proceeded to walk into a private room to celebrate with his family.
Eventually, we got kicked out of ESPN Zone because we did not have an adult over the age of 21 in our party, but not before we took a picture with Braylon Edwards, a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns. (Wills actually followed him into the bathroom.) Ullmann and I ended up taking the 11:48 train from Penn Station back to Princeton Junction. The chaotic, incredible, day had come to a close.
The 2007 NFL draft taught me some lessons I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It taught me the virtue of patience because even when you think the San Diego Chargers’ 15 minutes will never end, they will eventually take Craig Davis. It also taught me to expect the unexpected because the Jets, by trading up twice, caught me off guard and compensated me with great picks and great moments.
The NFL draft is an experience every NFL fan should undergo because of the raw emotion it produces, an aspect fans cannot feel watching from home. Now that I have gone to the draft, I will never be able to watch it again from home. And JaMarcus, I’m glad I do not root for “your team” because the Jets won ten games last year and your team won two. I feel safe saying that from a bit of a distance.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Draft Day Experience (part 3)
Chants of J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS, broke out faster than acne on a teenager. I was hoping the Jets would take a cornerback and I would not have booed if they selected Leon Hall from the University of Michigan or Darrelle Revis from the University of Pittsburgh.
“Revis! We got Revis!” Everyone wearing a green and white jersey was exuding delight and my passion brought me an extended close-up on ESPN. Another dream come true.
At 3:38, the New York Giants came onto the clock with their first selection, the 20th pick. Brady Quinn was still available, prompting Steiner to comment, “Brady Quinn just sold his car. Will he even bother to come out at this point?” It would take forty minutes and a trade, but Quinn would eventually join the Cleveland Browns. In return for their pick, the Dallas Cowboys received the Browns’ first round selection in the 2008 draft.
Nothing shuts up obnoxious Eagles fans quicker than trading your first round pick to your archrival. This trade could become the equivalent of the Lou Brock trade from the Cubs to the Cardinals. I really hope Anthony Spencer, the defensive end the Cowboys selected, becomes a great player.
The Eagles followed up this move by selecting a quarterback, Kevin Kolb from the University of Houston, with the team’s second round choice. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, an avid Eagles fan, commented on the selection of Kolb, stating, “It boggles the entire mind.”
Towards the end of the first round, I spotted Commissioner Goodell signing autographs and talking with fans in the orchestra. I successfully went down to the ground floor and slipped into the crowd of fans. Goodell not only signed an ESPN draft magazine with Brady Quinn on the cover (which they ironically gave out for free) and my ticket, but also partook in a conversation with me.
“Oh, so you’re a Jets fan,” he said while signing my ticket and looking down at my Vilma jersey. “Yeah, and a happy one at that,” I replied.
“I just hope you’re happy in September,” he said with a bit of a smirk.
“Me too,” I said.
At exactly 6:18, after only six hours and eight minutes, the longest first round in draft history concluded. The most entertaining moment of the second round took place during the Carolina Panthers’ pick, number 45 overall. Keyshawn Johnson, a wide receiver for the Panthers at the time of the draft, was a special draft analyst for ESPN. He was surprised, although pleasantly, when his squad took Dwayne Jarrett, a wide receiver from USC, the same college Johnson attended. Ironically, Jarrett, a similar receiver in terms of speed and height to Johnson, would ultimately replace him, as the Panthers released Johnson three days after the draft.
The Green Bay Packers were slated to choose two picks later; however, the Jets, once again, swooped down and gave up later picks in order to trade up 16 spots and select linebacker David Harris from the University of Michigan. I actually got quite a bit of face time on ESPN during this pick.
“Revis! We got Revis!” Everyone wearing a green and white jersey was exuding delight and my passion brought me an extended close-up on ESPN. Another dream come true.
At 3:38, the New York Giants came onto the clock with their first selection, the 20th pick. Brady Quinn was still available, prompting Steiner to comment, “Brady Quinn just sold his car. Will he even bother to come out at this point?” It would take forty minutes and a trade, but Quinn would eventually join the Cleveland Browns. In return for their pick, the Dallas Cowboys received the Browns’ first round selection in the 2008 draft.
Nothing shuts up obnoxious Eagles fans quicker than trading your first round pick to your archrival. This trade could become the equivalent of the Lou Brock trade from the Cubs to the Cardinals. I really hope Anthony Spencer, the defensive end the Cowboys selected, becomes a great player.
The Eagles followed up this move by selecting a quarterback, Kevin Kolb from the University of Houston, with the team’s second round choice. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, an avid Eagles fan, commented on the selection of Kolb, stating, “It boggles the entire mind.”
Towards the end of the first round, I spotted Commissioner Goodell signing autographs and talking with fans in the orchestra. I successfully went down to the ground floor and slipped into the crowd of fans. Goodell not only signed an ESPN draft magazine with Brady Quinn on the cover (which they ironically gave out for free) and my ticket, but also partook in a conversation with me.
“Oh, so you’re a Jets fan,” he said while signing my ticket and looking down at my Vilma jersey. “Yeah, and a happy one at that,” I replied.
“I just hope you’re happy in September,” he said with a bit of a smirk.
“Me too,” I said.
At exactly 6:18, after only six hours and eight minutes, the longest first round in draft history concluded. The most entertaining moment of the second round took place during the Carolina Panthers’ pick, number 45 overall. Keyshawn Johnson, a wide receiver for the Panthers at the time of the draft, was a special draft analyst for ESPN. He was surprised, although pleasantly, when his squad took Dwayne Jarrett, a wide receiver from USC, the same college Johnson attended. Ironically, Jarrett, a similar receiver in terms of speed and height to Johnson, would ultimately replace him, as the Panthers released Johnson three days after the draft.
The Green Bay Packers were slated to choose two picks later; however, the Jets, once again, swooped down and gave up later picks in order to trade up 16 spots and select linebacker David Harris from the University of Michigan. I actually got quite a bit of face time on ESPN during this pick.
Draft Day Experience (part 2)
We asked Tony, whom Steiner had befriended, to hold our place in line while we walked across the street to SI’s photo booth. The photographer took pictures of the five of us together and of us individually (except Ullmann) in front of a white screen. We had no idea if the pictures would get into the magazine (none did), but we were still more excited than Tom Cruise on Oprah. (Pictures of myself, Steiner, Wills, and Jake, would later be posted on si.com.)
After fulfilling a career goal, or at least a form of it, I settled into my comfortable plush velvet seat in the middle level at Radio City Music Hall. Approximately ten minutes prior to noon, the starting time of the draft, Frank Beamer, the head football coach of Virginia Tech, gave a touching speech as Michael Vick, DeAngelo Hall, and Bruce Smith, all VT alumni, stood behind him.
At 12:10, newly appointed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced, “The 2007 NFL draft is now open. The Oakland Raiders are now on the clock.” The Raiders, to the surprise of no one, chose 6’6” 265 pound quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Fittingly, Russell walked up to the stage in a jet-black suit and accepted a Raider jersey with the crowd’s support. There were no real surprises through the first eight picks, which took nearly two hours. As expected, phenom wide out Calvin Johnson went second to Detroit, the team’s fourth wide receiver drafted in the first round in the past five years. At 2:04, the Dolphins’ pick arrived and the team’s fans came alive.
“BRADY QUINN! BRADY QUINN!” the Fish fans chanted as if their lives depended on it. Jets followers sat silently in prayer, wondering, hoping, and praying that Miami would not be handed the next Marino in the form of Quinn.
“With the ninth pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins select Ted Ginn, Jr.” Dolphin fans wished they had paper bags to hide their dismay. It was pure bliss.
As entertaining as the Dolphin fans were, and they were quite comical, they were no match compared to Brady Quinn’s reaction. The former Notre Dame star clearly said, “That’s surprising.” It was very surprising, and a surprise to the delight of Jets, Patriots, and Bills fans across the nation, especially if Quinn does become the next star quarterback. The draft peaked for Ullmann when the 49ers made their selection at pick 11. San Francisco took middle linebacker Patrick Willis from the University of Mississippi, pleasing Ullmann, who feels his team may have picked up the next Ray Lewis.
At 2:38, Wills turned to me and said, “Brady Quinn woke up this morning, put on his $4,000 three piece suit, and thought to himself ‘I am the man.’ In the last two and a half hours he’s probably lost $20 million bucks. I love it.” Me too.
Three minutes later pandemonium broke out. I was in line to buy Peanut M&Ms when I suddenly heard a gasp from the balcony. “What happened?” I asked a Falcons fan. “The Jets made a trade for Carolina’s pick. They’re on the clock right now.” My eyes widened like an owl’s as I ran down into a throng of Jets fans, hoping to get a face shot on ESPN.
After fulfilling a career goal, or at least a form of it, I settled into my comfortable plush velvet seat in the middle level at Radio City Music Hall. Approximately ten minutes prior to noon, the starting time of the draft, Frank Beamer, the head football coach of Virginia Tech, gave a touching speech as Michael Vick, DeAngelo Hall, and Bruce Smith, all VT alumni, stood behind him.
At 12:10, newly appointed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced, “The 2007 NFL draft is now open. The Oakland Raiders are now on the clock.” The Raiders, to the surprise of no one, chose 6’6” 265 pound quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Fittingly, Russell walked up to the stage in a jet-black suit and accepted a Raider jersey with the crowd’s support. There were no real surprises through the first eight picks, which took nearly two hours. As expected, phenom wide out Calvin Johnson went second to Detroit, the team’s fourth wide receiver drafted in the first round in the past five years. At 2:04, the Dolphins’ pick arrived and the team’s fans came alive.
“BRADY QUINN! BRADY QUINN!” the Fish fans chanted as if their lives depended on it. Jets followers sat silently in prayer, wondering, hoping, and praying that Miami would not be handed the next Marino in the form of Quinn.
“With the ninth pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins select Ted Ginn, Jr.” Dolphin fans wished they had paper bags to hide their dismay. It was pure bliss.
As entertaining as the Dolphin fans were, and they were quite comical, they were no match compared to Brady Quinn’s reaction. The former Notre Dame star clearly said, “That’s surprising.” It was very surprising, and a surprise to the delight of Jets, Patriots, and Bills fans across the nation, especially if Quinn does become the next star quarterback. The draft peaked for Ullmann when the 49ers made their selection at pick 11. San Francisco took middle linebacker Patrick Willis from the University of Mississippi, pleasing Ullmann, who feels his team may have picked up the next Ray Lewis.
At 2:38, Wills turned to me and said, “Brady Quinn woke up this morning, put on his $4,000 three piece suit, and thought to himself ‘I am the man.’ In the last two and a half hours he’s probably lost $20 million bucks. I love it.” Me too.
Three minutes later pandemonium broke out. I was in line to buy Peanut M&Ms when I suddenly heard a gasp from the balcony. “What happened?” I asked a Falcons fan. “The Jets made a trade for Carolina’s pick. They’re on the clock right now.” My eyes widened like an owl’s as I ran down into a throng of Jets fans, hoping to get a face shot on ESPN.
Draft Day Experience (part 1)
“What do you actually do there? Can you leave during it?” my mom asked. Before I could respond my dad added, “Personally, I’d rather watch paint dry than watch the NFL draft.”
“No mom, you can’t leave during it.”
“So you’re trapped.”
Despite my parents skepticism, my mind had been set in stone for months, and unless the entire Pittsburgh Steel Curtain defense from the 70’s attempted to stop me, I was going to be at Radio City Music Hall on April 28, the first day of the 2007 NFL draft.
The most difficult part of gaining entry into the draft is obtaining its highly coveted tickets. The average fan is forced to line up outside of Radio City Music Hall at the crack of dawn the day of the festivities. And although the NFL tried to restrict fans from lining the streets before 5 A.M. this year, I spoke with many exhausted fans who took their spot in line before three in the morning. Luckily, I was able to score tickets from a friend, Matt Ullmann, a rabid 49ers fan, who went to the draft with me.
Accompanying Ullmann and I were two good friends from the sleep away camp we used to attend. We met up with David Stein (aka Steiner), a fanatical Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan from Montreal, Wills Klein, a draft veteran and another truly dedicated Jets fan (myself being the other) from Scarsdale, New York and Jake Klein, Wills’ older brother, at an overpriced breakfast joint in Times Square called Roxie’s. At Roxie’s Ullmann and I ordered two pastrami sandwiches to go, planning to eat them in Radio City Music Hall due to the atrocious food Willis said it served. The stage was set for a perfect day to unfold, as fans of all 32 teams would claim that the draft had set them apart from all other teams, vaulting them to glory.
At about 10:30 we reached the end of the line outside of Radio City, one that not only snaked around the building itself, but the two adjacent blocks as well. This line was the lone place in the world where one could find Chief’s and Bronco’s fans talking peacefully, folks wearing Favre jerseys rationally discussing Calvin Johnson and Randy Moss with Lion supporters with C. Johnson taped over the original jersey name, and Baltimore and Indianapolis fans conversing without conflict. (Jets and Patriot fans still did not get along.)
Meanwhile, Steiner was busy talking to Tony Cacace, a huge Bucs fan (both literally and figuratively) sporting a XXL throwback jersey of Lee Roy Selmon, and a tattoo of the Bucs logo on his left bicep. Cacace was profiled in a foxsports.net article only days before the draft and Steiner was very impressed to meet a fellow Tampa Bay supporter. Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a grey goatee asked my friends and me a question that helped me reach one of my life goals earlier than I expected: “Can I photograph you guys for Sports Illustrated?” My head spun around and looked down to see that his press pass read “Sports Illustrated.” “Sure,” I replied, barely able to contain my excitement.
“No mom, you can’t leave during it.”
“So you’re trapped.”
Despite my parents skepticism, my mind had been set in stone for months, and unless the entire Pittsburgh Steel Curtain defense from the 70’s attempted to stop me, I was going to be at Radio City Music Hall on April 28, the first day of the 2007 NFL draft.
The most difficult part of gaining entry into the draft is obtaining its highly coveted tickets. The average fan is forced to line up outside of Radio City Music Hall at the crack of dawn the day of the festivities. And although the NFL tried to restrict fans from lining the streets before 5 A.M. this year, I spoke with many exhausted fans who took their spot in line before three in the morning. Luckily, I was able to score tickets from a friend, Matt Ullmann, a rabid 49ers fan, who went to the draft with me.
Accompanying Ullmann and I were two good friends from the sleep away camp we used to attend. We met up with David Stein (aka Steiner), a fanatical Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan from Montreal, Wills Klein, a draft veteran and another truly dedicated Jets fan (myself being the other) from Scarsdale, New York and Jake Klein, Wills’ older brother, at an overpriced breakfast joint in Times Square called Roxie’s. At Roxie’s Ullmann and I ordered two pastrami sandwiches to go, planning to eat them in Radio City Music Hall due to the atrocious food Willis said it served. The stage was set for a perfect day to unfold, as fans of all 32 teams would claim that the draft had set them apart from all other teams, vaulting them to glory.
At about 10:30 we reached the end of the line outside of Radio City, one that not only snaked around the building itself, but the two adjacent blocks as well. This line was the lone place in the world where one could find Chief’s and Bronco’s fans talking peacefully, folks wearing Favre jerseys rationally discussing Calvin Johnson and Randy Moss with Lion supporters with C. Johnson taped over the original jersey name, and Baltimore and Indianapolis fans conversing without conflict. (Jets and Patriot fans still did not get along.)
Meanwhile, Steiner was busy talking to Tony Cacace, a huge Bucs fan (both literally and figuratively) sporting a XXL throwback jersey of Lee Roy Selmon, and a tattoo of the Bucs logo on his left bicep. Cacace was profiled in a foxsports.net article only days before the draft and Steiner was very impressed to meet a fellow Tampa Bay supporter. Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a grey goatee asked my friends and me a question that helped me reach one of my life goals earlier than I expected: “Can I photograph you guys for Sports Illustrated?” My head spun around and looked down to see that his press pass read “Sports Illustrated.” “Sure,” I replied, barely able to contain my excitement.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Ginny Ginny Ginny Can't You See.....
Ok, so I know Miami fans are still pissed that they passed on Brady Quinn. The robot from the golden dome and taking Ted Ginn Jr. But here me out Ted Ginn Jr. isn't that bad....anyone who watched Ohio State play knows that he is a very dynamic playmaker. He also isn't a puss. In a game agaisnt Michigan State he was shalacked by the safety, but managed to keep his balance and score a touchdown. You still say he's too small for a WR and that he's primarily a KR/PR.....fuck that. People said the same thing about Steve Smith when he got drafted and look how that turned out. All I'm saying Miami fans is give the guy a chance. I know he's got that damn boot on his leg, but chill....he'll turn out. Oh by the way you got a pretty damn good steal in the 2nd round with John Beck.
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