The only thing missing from the 2020 NFL draft was contact
The 2020 NFL draft is the first major sporting event we’ve since a handful of college basketball conference tournament games were halted six weeks ago. So, a lot of us chose to celebrate the occasion with a drink or two. Or 10.
The NFL’s signature non-event “event” was an opportunity for us to recall what our lives were like in the period known as BC — Before COVID. It also served as a stark reminder of what we are missing, what we crave.
Contact.
With all due respect to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the idea that we are going to proceed in life wearing masks, gloves and a suit of body armor as we go about our day without touching another person is but a temporary measure.
Typically, draft night is nothing, but a buffet of handshakes, full-frontal hugs, bro hugs, group hugs, high-fives, chest bumps, fist bumps and kisses.
At the draft. Between family and friends. Between fans. Between coaches, scouts and GMs.
The 2020 NFL draft offered very little of that.
Watching LSU quarterback Joe Burrow sit between his mom and dad on the couch in the family living room as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sentenced him to a life with the Cincinnati Bengals was cute. Sweet. It was also charmingly abnormal.
Here sits the guy who is the No. 1 pick in the entire 2020 NFL draft, and his entourage is mom and dad. Hard to bag on that.
But we were not born to live, and operate this way. From afar. Six feet apart. In fear of the other outside of our immediate family.
The NFL, the NFL Network, ESPN and everyone else should be commended for the efforts to pull off the first round. There was no hack. No technology flub.
Sadly, in that regard, the 2020 NFL draft was as boring as the 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, et all. For those who desired the train wreck — guilty as charged — the 2020 NFL draft was a miss.
But where the 2020 draft was fun was in that it gave us a glimpse of what our lives used to look like. Other than the game itself, roster building and player acquisition is the most exciting part of sports for fans.
It was fun to see that again.
So the 2020 NFL draft was a reminder of what we are all missing — the close presence of another with whom we can shake hands, bro hug, full-frontal hug, group hug, high-five, chest bump, fist bump and kiss without fear.
