Reporter Angel Zamimundo
Last year a record 45.7 million people watched the NFL draft which was held at Radio City Music Hall. The Draft has become a huge spectacle in today’s media. It’s hard to imagine the NFL draft without all the media surround it. Now days when it comes closer and closer to the day you see sport analysts making mock drafts which tells where they think a certain player is going to get picked. NFL teams even higher specific people to scout players for the draft to see if they would be a good asset to their team.
If you dig deep in to the archives and take a look at the first couple NFL drafts you would have a different perspective. The first NFL Draft Was held at Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia In a conference room. In this conference room there wasn’t thousands of people or a jumbo screen. No there was a black board with ninety player’s names on it. There was not even any media coverage of the draft. The amazing thing about the first draft was that only Twenty four of the players selected actually played a down in the NFL. The 1942 draft produced the first number one selection to make it in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame his name was “Bullet Bill” Dudley.
The 1946-1959 Drafts marked the beginning of the scouting era. This is the era where they started hiring people to dig into the prospects life and really tracked their college play. The first scout was hired to work for the Los Angeles Rams by the name of Eddie Kotal. The 1949 Draft was a special because in the thirteenth round George Taliaferro became the first African American drafted, he however chose to join a team in the All American football conference. In the nineteenth round Wally Triplett who was also an African American was drafted and became the first African American to make an Nfl team. Also in 1949 Eddie Robinson was signed as a free agent this was special because he was the first to be drafted from an exclusively African American school.
From the 1980 draft to know you could say the draft is in the digital age. The 1980 draft was the first to be broadcast on television. It was broadcasted by the year old station Espn. The 1988draft marked the first time that Espn moved the draft to a weekend instead of weekdays. This Brought high ratings to the station. In 2006 the station got some competition in ratings from the television station Nfl network which started airing draft coverage of its own. In 2010 the Draft started the three day system it has now. The system is on day one the first round was held. On the second day the second and third rounds where held, and on the third it would conclude the last round and mark the end of the draft.
It’s amazing how something with humble beginnings became such a huge spectacle in our day. This year the draft is going to be held in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University on April 30, 2015. Whose name is going to be called first when The Tampa bay buccaneers are on the clock.
Last year a record 45.7 million people watched the NFL draft which was held at Radio City Music Hall. The Draft has become a huge spectacle in today’s media. It’s hard to imagine the NFL draft without all the media surround it. Now days when it comes closer and closer to the day you see sport analysts making mock drafts which tells where they think a certain player is going to get picked. NFL teams even higher specific people to scout players for the draft to see if they would be a good asset to their team.
If you dig deep in to the archives and take a look at the first couple NFL drafts you would have a different perspective. The first NFL Draft Was held at Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia In a conference room. In this conference room there wasn’t thousands of people or a jumbo screen. No there was a black board with ninety player’s names on it. There was not even any media coverage of the draft. The amazing thing about the first draft was that only Twenty four of the players selected actually played a down in the NFL. The 1942 draft produced the first number one selection to make it in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame his name was “Bullet Bill” Dudley.
The 1946-1959 Drafts marked the beginning of the scouting era. This is the era where they started hiring people to dig into the prospects life and really tracked their college play. The first scout was hired to work for the Los Angeles Rams by the name of Eddie Kotal. The 1949 Draft was a special because in the thirteenth round George Taliaferro became the first African American drafted, he however chose to join a team in the All American football conference. In the nineteenth round Wally Triplett who was also an African American was drafted and became the first African American to make an Nfl team. Also in 1949 Eddie Robinson was signed as a free agent this was special because he was the first to be drafted from an exclusively African American school.
From the 1980 draft to know you could say the draft is in the digital age. The 1980 draft was the first to be broadcast on television. It was broadcasted by the year old station Espn. The 1988draft marked the first time that Espn moved the draft to a weekend instead of weekdays. This Brought high ratings to the station. In 2006 the station got some competition in ratings from the television station Nfl network which started airing draft coverage of its own. In 2010 the Draft started the three day system it has now. The system is on day one the first round was held. On the second day the second and third rounds where held, and on the third it would conclude the last round and mark the end of the draft.
It’s amazing how something with humble beginnings became such a huge spectacle in our day. This year the draft is going to be held in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University on April 30, 2015. Whose name is going to be called first when The Tampa bay buccaneers are on the clock.