NFL Draft shouldn’t be mocked
It's one of the year's best weekends, and even after months of speculation, only some questions will be answered immediately.
With Matthew Stafford being selected first by the Detroit Lions today in the NFL Draft, will the Georgia quarterback ever be heard from again?
Will the Washington Redskins take Mark Sanchez and further mess up starting quarterback Jason Campbell?
Will the Oakland Raiders use all of their allotted time for no reason?
Will Mel Kiper ever stop talking?
From the scouting combine to the multitude of mock drafts to this weekend's grand finale, football rightfully has remained in the spotlight.
Yet some amazingly bemoan all this draft talk.
"There's no intention here to mock all the NFL Draft coverage that will blanket television this weekend," wrote Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times. "But by the time the (unmock) draft arrives Saturday, is there any reason to watch it live all day? And Sunday, too?"
Answer: Yes and yes!
• SO, WHY NOT LONDON? -- Speculation suggests the Super Bowl might be heading outside the country, and we don't mean to Texas.
Serious talks reportedly have been held to one day put what has become an American holiday in London. It's at least four years away, but the NFL's quest to convert Brits into fans of football -- the real kind, not soccer -- seemingly is unending.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell refuted the BBC article -- a report later backed up by Fox News.com -- but putting the game in London isn't a bad idea.
The Super Bowl went corporate many years ago, and unless the beloved Pittsburgh Steelers are playing, there isn't much of a big-game feel in a stadium full of "fans" wondering how quickly they can get to their private planes.
• DE JA TWO? -- John Madden sadly has retired from announcing, but his highly popular NFL video game marches on. The newest version features two players on its cover for the first time.
That could be bad news for the Steelers' Troy Polamalu and Arizona Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald.
Many players who have adorned previous covers immediately experienced drop-offs in performance. Quarterback Michael Vick in 2003 and running back Shaun Alexander in 2006 even had major injuries.
• PUSHING HIS PLAYOFF PLATFORM -- Give President Obama credit for sticking to his beliefs when national champion Florida visited the White House on Thursday.
While saying he was confident the Gators would have won a college football playoff, Obama said in front of the players he favored that type of postseason over the current popularity contest known as the Bowl Championship Series.
"I noticed they got all quiet after that," Obama said, causing the Florida players to laugh. "But I'm one of those politicians -- I don't just tell you what you want to hear, I tell you what you need to hear."
It should be noted Florida president Bernie Machen and coach Urban Meyer have expressed support for a playoff.
COMPILED BY MARK ANDERSON LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
