The NFL Draft...Why I Don't Care...

So Saturday is the 2006 NFL Draft and I, as a self-proclaimed football fan, really don't care all that much about it. What? How can that be? Right now there are people planning to spend all of Saturday parked in front of ESPN to witness every first round move. The draft gives all teams hope, if not just for one day.

But you see I've 'evolved' past the draft. Yes, at one time I did care about the draft. I too would be parked in front of the TV waiting and watching all the action of the NFL draft. But that was many a year ago now and here's why...

First, it's the whole draft ordeal. It is not interesting to watch on television in any way, shape or form. You wait for 20 minutes for a team to announce their pick...or better yet that they traded their pick... and wait for another 20 minutes. Yes, this is the ideal television to have on if you plan on drinking all day and essentially not doing anything and as much as I am a proponent of that activity, the draft still isn't enough interesting to justify that.

Then there's the whole post-draft world...and let's face it, the number of players that fail to make the NFL versus those that do is greatly skewed. First round busts aren't uncommon anymore, they are the norm. No matter how highly touted a player is, the likelihood of that player making an impact on an NFL team in the short-term is slim to none. And let's face it, that's where all the 'draft hype' is really at... the first round, maybe the second round. Any player drafted in the later rounds of the draft are rarely considered a 'bust'.

I think in conjunction with the whole 'draft hype', knowing that a team is likely to spend way too much on an unproven player is why I have trouble even caring about the draft anymore. Yes, I'll admit that maybe the Ryan Leaf experience may have biased me but if so then I am glad it did. It just further illuminates my point. To be tuned into that draft and to be excited about Ryan Leaf was just false hope.

Is the draft a COMPLETE waste of time? Absolutely not. I am certain I will flip by ESPN on occasion to see who the Chargers have picked but that will be about the limit of my caring...