My wife rolls her eyes. My friends and family think I'm out of my mind. In the past when I've asked for a chunk of the day off from work, my boss looks at me as if I'm a crazy person. Which, to be honest, I probably am.
There's just something about the NFL Draft. For a casual viewer of college football like myself, it's the moment where all that hype meets cold, hard reality. I spend months poring over reports that are frighteningly specific about players ("has the thighs of a yeoman") and yet are often incredibly wrong about where said players will wind up going in the NFL. For three days, you find out how the hard work has or has not paid off for these kids—because honestly, that's what they are—based on where they go in the draft and what team they end up with.
At this point, when your team picks players, it's all scouting reports and college production and best guesses. That's what really makes it special for me: Not knowing, but hoping. If your team goes out and signs a 37-year-old tight end who blocks well, you know exactly what you're getting. When you draft a young player who has never set foot on the field in an NFL jersey, you're getting all potential. It's easy to sink your hopes and dreams for the next season into these guys, and however irrational it may be, it's a fun time.
There's also the allure of seeing how smart or lucky you actually are, something it shares with March Madness in the NCAA. You're guessing who will go where, how they'll help the team and who will be major reaches or steals. It's fun to see how close you come to that projection.
So that's why I love the NFL draft. Do you?