hendrix@unm.edu
The NFL draft is a spectacle like no other.
Only football can host an event where fans buoyantly watch as college athletes are chosen one by one by their favorite teams. Draft parties abound. Groups of friends convene at local bars and argue about which positions their teams need to address in the draft for the following season.
The NFL gives its fans access 365 days a year, which is why it has become the best and most successful sport in this country.
The NFL is entertainment at its best, whether prospects are displaying their almost-superhuman athleticism at the NFL by participating in drills to impress owners, scouts and general managers, or the NFL is releasing the upcoming season schedule in front of thousands of fans at Radio City Music Hall on prime time television.
This year’s draft added intrigue because of the top-2 prospects selected, both of whom were quarterbacks. Stanford’s Andrew Luck and Baylor’s Robert Griffin III were chosen No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
Luck was chosen by the Indianapolis Colts to replace future hall-of-famer Peyton Manning. The Washington Redskins picked Griffin III in hopes of revitalizing a franchise that’s been irrelevant for over a decade. Among NFL experts, the two are “can’t miss” prospects, meaning both will be successful in the future, but 15 years ago, we were told the same thing about two other top prospects.
In 1997, the Colts finished their regular season with a league-worst 3-13 record. Their dreadful season meant the team earned, or didn’t earn, depending how you look at things, the No. 1 pick in the 1998 draft. The Colts shipped Jim Harbaugh, their quarterback, out of town to the Baltimore Ravens and were forced to make a decision that could change their history.
Going into the draft, Tennessee’s Peyton Manning and Washington State’s Ryan Leaf were both heralded as “can’t miss” prospects by several experts. And in the spectacle that is the NFL draft, the Colts selected Manning and rode 12 years of success, including two Super Bowl appearances and one championship under the Tennessee kid. The second team to pick, the San Diego Chargers, took Leaf, assuming they’d have the same kind of success.
Instead, Leaf has been named the biggest bust in the history of football. He bounced around teams for four seasons and disappeared from football after the 2002 season.
Luck became the 12th quarterback since Manning to be taken as the No. 1 overall pick.
But in the 14 years since the Colts last picked No. 1, none of the quarterbacks have reached the level of success that Manning managed to achieve.
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Luck was coached at Stanford by Harbaugh, the guy Manning replaced back in 1998. And now, the cycle comes full-circle as Luck replaces Manning at Indianapolis.
Both Luck and Griffin III are supposed to be “can’t miss” talents. We were told the same thing in 1998. The two will forever be compared for the rest of their careers and the draft was a great way to start it out.
Fourteen years ago, the Colts lucked out with Manning. This season we’ll find out if they Lucked out again.
