Return To Normalcy!
That’s not exactly the slogan for the NFL draft being staged Thursday night through Saturday afternoon in Cleveland. It’s more at the top of the league’s wish list as it allows some prospects and fans to attend the festivities – yes, those are going on by the shores of Lake Erie.
Sure, the draft is the NFL’s most popular event other than the Super Bowl and the opening week of the season. And it being held virtually in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic was a most emphatic sign that very little would be normal for pro football last year.
Yes, that draft was a big hit thanks to commissioner Roger Goodell’s “come join me” style of hosting from his man cave, as well as the honest, unstaged reactions by so many players when they were selected. The NFL is incorporating some of that into this year’s proceedings, though Goodell will be on hand in Cleveland to hug or bump fists with the dozen or so prospects in attendance.
Still, the key for the league is that, just as last season was completed on time, and the Super Bowl – albeit scaled down from a mega event – was held on schedule, this draft will be as close as currently possible to the real thing.