I watched the NFL Draft last night with my roommate and her boyfriend. I don’t think I’ve ever sat through the entire draft before, after doing so, I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of it; but probably not for the same reason millions of sports fans did.
My brother has been a basketball player all of his life. He was recruited in 8th grade by a high-school team and then recruited his senior year by a college team. I spent a large portion of my childhood on the sidelines of those games. Unfortunately, my brother never made it to the pros but I do understand the type of hard work and dedication it takes to get there. Last night I watched these football players jammed into uncomfortable 3 piece suits, nervously sitting by telephones, waiting for coaches to confirm their unbelievable offers, that would completely change their lives forever.
I started to think...how great would it be if graduating reporters from around the country were treated the same way and drafted too. What if we were packed into a stadium like room and forced to sit and wait for a call from a news director. The smallest TV markets like Bozeman, Montana would get the first picks and so on. Instead of stats consisting of your weight and height, we would be judged on how fast we could cut a piece of video or how many words we could read without mispronouncing one.
The big difference between a reporter draft and a NFL one would be the money we were offered; however, I'm OK with that. If you were scooped up by a smaller station you’d be given more responsibility and would most likely be on air by the end of your first week there. If a top 10 station drafted you like Los Angeles or New York, you’d have to start at the bottom, most likely as a production assistant, or teleprompter operator, and work your way up.
Instead of the NFL commissioner announcing the draft picks, someone like Anderson Cooper or Katie Couric would be in charge. I can just picture it….
Brian Williams, “For this year’s 8th round pick, WIFR in Rockford, Illinois, has selected Natalie Kaplan from the University of Michigan.” AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!
My brother has been a basketball player all of his life. He was recruited in 8th grade by a high-school team and then recruited his senior year by a college team. I spent a large portion of my childhood on the sidelines of those games. Unfortunately, my brother never made it to the pros but I do understand the type of hard work and dedication it takes to get there. Last night I watched these football players jammed into uncomfortable 3 piece suits, nervously sitting by telephones, waiting for coaches to confirm their unbelievable offers, that would completely change their lives forever.
I started to think...how great would it be if graduating reporters from around the country were treated the same way and drafted too. What if we were packed into a stadium like room and forced to sit and wait for a call from a news director. The smallest TV markets like Bozeman, Montana would get the first picks and so on. Instead of stats consisting of your weight and height, we would be judged on how fast we could cut a piece of video or how many words we could read without mispronouncing one.
The big difference between a reporter draft and a NFL one would be the money we were offered; however, I'm OK with that. If you were scooped up by a smaller station you’d be given more responsibility and would most likely be on air by the end of your first week there. If a top 10 station drafted you like Los Angeles or New York, you’d have to start at the bottom, most likely as a production assistant, or teleprompter operator, and work your way up.
Instead of the NFL commissioner announcing the draft picks, someone like Anderson Cooper or Katie Couric would be in charge. I can just picture it….
Brian Williams, “For this year’s 8th round pick, WIFR in Rockford, Illinois, has selected Natalie Kaplan from the University of Michigan.” AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!
I love the thought of this.
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