by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (1-24-14)
[Part one - The fake Pro Bowl Draft]
TODD:
The actual Pro Bowl draft took place Wednesday night, although it was taped in Hawaii so it wasn't night time. Instead, the players were nestled in a beach getaway, lounging underneath tents, waiting to be called. It was...kind of ridiculous.
When Jerry Rice or Deion Sanders made a selection, that player would make their way to the stage, receive a lei garland and get interviewed. I was surprised when I found out the actual picking process was going to be televised. I had assumed they would televise some sort of studio show where they announced all the selections and then discussed them. No sir. This was a three-hour barrage of uncomfortable interviews, awkward moments and boredom. Fortunately I suppose, there was a mini-draft held Tuesday where special teams players and interior linemen were peddled away to each side. So at least we were spared the punter interviews.
Of course, the draft itself is still a fascinating premise and, I suppose, that is only intensified by the players being there in person to feel slighted.
According to ESPN, Robert Mathis was in the "green room" for a long while and witnessed other players growing increasingly upset at not having been picked. We can only hope this will make for an actual good game on Sunday.
The other interesting wrinkle was the order players were selected. Apparently Team Deion selected Andrew Luck with its first pick on Wednesday. Then, it took Cam Newton with its second pick! Why, you ask? Well because the two coaching staffs of the teams are the Indianapolis staff and the Carolina staff respectively. Deion took Luck to work with his own people and then snatched Cam so he would be going against the Panthers coaches.
Overall though, the process seemed pretty innocuous. Each team grabbed some defensive guys early, as was my strategy. Although, because of injuries and Super Bowl commitments, a number of the top skill players are not playing in the Pro Bowl, so that may have steered the captains away from those positions at first.
Checking out the rosters, it seems that Team Rice is a bit better on paper. Of course, they don't play games on paper!! Although, it is the Pro Bowl, so maybe they should.
DAN:
I'm kind of disappointed in this whole draft charade. It had so much potential on paper! But like the actual Pro Bowl, this draft was nothing short of lack luster and drawn out.You know what needed to happen for the Pro Bowl Draft to be fun and interesting? The NFL needed to televise our version of a draft. We got it right!
First off, let them pick teams regardless of who is going to participate. Not having Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in the draft ruins half the fun. And how awesome would it have been for Jerry Rice to draft Tom Brady and then find out a day later, or at the end of the draft even, that he'd been replaced by Alex Smith? That is television gold. A complete missed opportunity.
Second, don't pick your full rosters on TV. They did do a pre-draft of the positions most fans don't care about. That's kind of alienating and unnecessary. Just draft a starting roster on camera and do your backups in rapid fire mode during a commercial break. Also, I know that the players are spending the week in Hawaii, but don't make them sit there. Most went through that hell once already, during the actual NFL Draft before their rookie seasons. The honor is in being selected to the Pro Bowl, but now you take that away by making them squirm on national TV because Deion Sanders snubbed you. No one likes to be last picked. Come on man!
The Pro Bowl Draft could be a perfect 90 minute television event. Show film of each guy as he's selected. Let the captains debate on camera who they are taking and then reveal the name like on 'Wheel of Fortune' or something. But making it like the actual NFL Draft? Seriously? Someone is getting fired over this. I'm calling it now.
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