DEADLINE DAZE
A couple of decades ago, the NFL realized that turning the draft into an entertainment event helped transform a part of the football offseason into a must-watch portion of a fan’s year round obsession with their favorite team.
At a time when Major League Baseball was still trying to keep its draft results an actual secret—with no one authorized to release information on which players went in what rounds—the NFL realized that making the draft into a broadcast TV event helped grow casual fans into diehards and added yet another month to the calendar when the NFL garnered media attention.
At this point, the NFL
