Due to the restrictions on big gatherings, the NFL hosted its annual draft online via Zoom beginning on April 23 and ending on April 25. Many diehard football fans were excited about the event and eager to satisfy their craving for sports content, but others were skeptical about how it would all come together. Even the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh, had his concerns.
“Every time I read something in, like, The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times that talks about how messed up Zoom is, or some of these other deals … I immediately text it to our IT people, and [director of football administration] Nick Matteo’s one of those guys, and they assure me that we are doing everything humanly possible,” said Harbaugh in an interview with The Baltimore Sun.
While there were concerns about hackers, the online draft did not experience any problems. Instead, they faced a different challenge: the court of public opinion. There were many fans who were not impressed with the way the draft went. Country musician Luke Bryan, who performed during the draft, did little to impress the audience, and some even called Bryan’s performance annoying. Bryan was skewered on Twitter.
“Imagine working your whole life to get drafted and instead of announcing your name, ESPN has Luke Bryan singing a country song over Zoom,” wrote one Twitter user.
Although the Zoom draft nights could have been tweaked to make the process smoother, the event was fairly successful, as every player was drafted, and no hacks were reported. If you missed the online draft, NFL.com has recaps and highlights from the event.
