2010 NFL Draft: Thoughts on the first day

Apr 23, 2010, 5:21 PM UTC

I called Mocking Dan from the draft floor last night prior to the Sam Bradford pick, and I could barely hear him on the other end because the chatting from Eagles and Jets fans from the upper deck of Radio City Music Hall was THAT loud. And aside from me being within an arm's reach of Adam Shefter as me moved through the team tables, much of what we did last night was hunker down at our designated media spot and watch the spectacle of the 2010 NFL draft unfold.

We all gasped when Buffalo and Jacksonville made their picks, including SI's Don Banks, who was seated in front of us.
We all heard the whispers that Denver was continuing to trade back and down and then back up again so that they could secure Tim Tebow. When they showed Tebow's image on the monitors, the crowd went nuts.
Jets fans heckling Mel Kiper Jr. is about as entertaining as it gets.
Fans heckling the Steelers with that poor kid onstage with Roger Goodell for pick #18 was about as classless as it gets. Fans can, and likely should, boo Ben Roethlisberger all they want, but subjecting that kid to that kind of situation was bad form on the part of the NFL. I guess the NFL should have known better. Fans are indeed going to insult, berate, and bash Roethlisberger because the guy is kind of a sleazy dude. I mean, let's just keep it honest here: The NFL did not suspend him because he got drunk and messed around with some college girls. They suspended him because he might have raped one of them. Fans aren't dumb. They know the circumstances. Trotting a little kid out there in a Steelers jersey is not going to prevent fans from chanting "She said 'NO!'" over and over again. All it does is subject a little kid to some unnecessary heckling. Boo on you, NFL. Boo.
Thomas George of Fanhouse came over to me and asked if I knew what Ndamukong Suh's name meant. I showed him this wonderful tool you all might have heard of (Google!), and we did a quick search. "Ndamukong" means "House of Spears." Thomas was very nice and gracious, appreciating my help. You can read his article about Suh here.
My favorite moment of the night: Joel Thorman after the Chiefs took Eric Berry. He transformed from a nervous fighter before a big heavyweight match into Robo-Blogger. When the pick came in, he went all business on us, like a light switch flipped in his head or something. Joel spent the next hour banging out stories on Berry, and running around the place looking to ask questions about the pick.