Normal in an unnormal way

Published 2:31 pm Friday, April 24, 2020

The event was the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft and honestly, I haven’t sat through an entire round in memory but I was glued to the television this night as a normal event was being conducted in an unnormal way from the past drafts.

It wasn’t the party atmosphere as it was in 2019 when the draft actually took place in Nashville where the streets were filled with thousands of fans who either celebrated or booed their team as each draft pick was announced.

Instead, the potential draftees were shown in their homes with a limited number of friends and family who were also glued to their television awaiting the time their names would finally be called and their dreams would come to fruition.

No one knew how things would work out with coaches and general managers making their selections from the comfort of their homes or in the case of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones his personal yacht.

However, aside from a few glitches with picture quality from time to time the draft was a smashing success. I haven’t seen any television ratings at the writing of this Sports Chatter but I can only assume they would be off the chain as many sports fanatics have had nothing much to engage in with the COVID-19.

I thought it was especially entertaining to watch NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell interacting with the fans on what appeared to be a Zoom meeting as each team came up for their picks.

It was easy to tell that football fans are ready to get back to normal as they were all decked out in their team’s respective colors and cheered when their new addition was announced.

The one thing that the way this year’s draft was conducted was it allowed for the more personal side of the players to be brought front and center whether it was the story of a player and his best friend who lost his life in a tragic car wreck to the player that grew up homeless on the streets of Washington, D.C. who with his pick in the draft would never have to worry about that again.

All in all, the first round went great with some surprises most notably the Green Bay Packers trading up in the draft to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love to be the heir apparent when Aaron Rogers steps away from the game.

I am anxiously awaiting the remain rounds to first see who my Titans pick as well as seeing where players from the University of Tennessee are picked in the draft.

At least it puts me back in the game with the ability to see if the way I think the picks should go corresponds with how they actually are picked.

It’s just a taste of normalcy for a Sports Editor if you know what I mean.