Sunday, April 29, 2007

NFL Draft

I am no fan of Notre Dame, and didn't hold much interest in where Fighting Irish QB Brady Quinn ended up, until yesterday's draft. Sports fans everywhere had heard that he was going to end up anywhere from Cleveland (Quinn grew up near Cleveland and was a lifelong Browns fan), which held the #3 pick, or Miami, which held the #9 selection. Well, those selections came and went, and Quinn remained undrafted. Eventually, Cleveland made a trade to pick up a second first round pick, and took Quinn with the 22nd overall pick. So, all's well that ends well, I guess.

However, as I watched I kept in mind that these are kids, anywhere from 20 years old (in the case of Amobi Okoye) to 22 or so, and that they are having their lives' destiny played out on national tv. In the case of Quinn, here he was, a (prior to the draft) consensus Top Ten draft pick, having his rejection played out in front of the whole country. Honestly, I felt quite sorry for him. It says something to me that when he finally was drafted, there was a borderline standing ovation for him, as if the entire audience at the draft was just happy that he had finally had his misery ended.............

On a plus note, my Miami Hurricanes landed three more players in the first round, with safety Brandon Meriweather going 24th overall to New England, linebacker Jon Beason going 25th to Carolina, and tight end Greg Olsen going 31st to Chicago (GO BEARS!).

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