5 Things To Know About Nashville's Party Of The Year - The NFL Draft
NBD - it’s only their whole career on the line.
Prospects went from the toughest job interview with the NFL (National Football League) Combine to the anxiety inducing draft that starts tomorrow.
Break out the antacids,
The Last Night’s Game Team
1. For more than 50 years, the draft was held in New York but it’s now become quite the road show. It has moved from Chicago to Philadelphia to Dallas and has since landed in Nashville. The city is expecting a serious influx of visitors with last year's event in Dallas drawing more than 200,000 fans and generating over $125 million in economic impact. BANKING ON IT
2. Draft candidates must be three years removed from high school. The Arizona Cardinals have the distinct honor of choosing the first player in the draft because they were the worst team in football last year. FIRST IS THE WORST
3. Nashville is rolling out the red carpet and fans will be cheering for concerts from big country music names like Tim McGraw and Dierks Bentley but they won’t be cheering for the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. It’s a tradition for fans to boo him every single time he walks up to the podium to announce a new draft pick. Keep an eye out for Make-A-Wish recipient Kacey Reynolds who will give Goodell a break and announce the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft pick. ROCK ON
4. After Goodell is done announcing the picks in the first round (there are a total of seven rounds), many teams will bring in special guests to relay their selections. This year, we can expect big name alumni to take the stage and hope for some unique special guests like last year where R2-D2, Chewbacca and members of the Stoneman Douglas football team all revealed their team’s choice. SURPRISE SURPRISE
5. Mr. Irrelevant is the title given to pick #256, the last person drafted. Why irrelevant? Because of the multitude of players chosen before them, the player is not likely to make the team roster. Making a negative into a positive, one Mr. Irrelevant established Irrelevant Week, celebrating that last player. The week, which has turned into quite the big event, preaches that it’s not a negative to be picked last in the NFL Draft; rather, it’s an honor to be drafted at all. FINDING THE SILVER LINING
Want to watch the drama unfold live? Coverage starts tomorrow with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts on ABC.
FOR THE WIN!
The draft isn’t the only thing everyone will be talking about today. Share your newfound knowledge about Hamilton the pig, how women’s sports are gaining some serious ground and are football players smarter than you think? READ
The Rundown: 5 Things To Know About The NFL Draft
If you thought being drafted for fifth grade kickball was bad, try being a candidate for the NFL Draft where millions of people are watching and there's a boatload of cash on the line.
On second thought, kickball sounds like child’s play,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Five things to know about the NFL (National Football League) Draft
- The NFL Draft takes place over the course of three days, beginning tomorrow evening. This year’s draft is in Philadelphia, PA and will draw roughly 200,000 visitors with an expected economic impact of about $80 million for the City of Brotherly Love.
- The draft was held exclusively in New York from 1956 – 2014. The NFL felt the need to expand their horizons and in 2015 and 2016 hosted the draft in Chicago. Moving forward the location will rotate annually.
- Draft candidates must be three years removed from high school. The Cleveland Browns have the first pick of the aforementioned candidates because they were the worst team in football last year.
- In an unprecedented move, projected #1 draft pick from Texas A&M, Myles Garrett, will not be attending the actual draft ceremony. He chose to stay home to celebrate with family and friends.
- This year the Baltimore Ravens will grant the wish of a Make-A-Wish child. Instead of commissioner Roger Goodell making the announcement, TJ Onwuanibe will read the name of the Ravens first round pick.
- Curious when and where you can catch the draft? Here you go.
Overtime
- Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., 42, announced he will retire at the completion of the NASCAR season (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). He cited health concerns after missing the majority of last season with concussion-like symptoms.
Sideline stat
- A group spearheaded by former New York Yankee Derek Jeter (MLB - Major League Baseball) and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush won the bid to buy the Miami Marlins (MLB) for a reported $1.3 billion. Jeb isn't the first Bush to own a baseball team. Find out more.
Coaches’ corner
- The State of Oklahoma passed a bill to “allow its universities to sue sports boosters and agents who expose the schools to NCAA sanctions.” A sanction is a penalty divvied out by the governing body of college sports (NCAA) when their rules are broken. Sanctions can range from loss of scholarships to the “death penalty” – the cancellation of the sporting program (like SMU football – Southern Methodist University).
The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition
Shh don’t tell the boss but today is all about watching the Masters online at the office. Although we don’t think our lunch break is going to involve Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s favorite sandwich.
Hold the mayo,
The Last Night’s Game Team
PGA (Professional Golfers' Association)
The greatest game on grass. The Masters began yesterday and the defending champion Jordan Spieth leads the field after the first day.
1. Jordan Spieth: -6
T2. Danny Lee: -4
T2. Shane Lowry: -4
- Record setting. 46-year-old Ernie Els set a record yesterday but not in a good way. He set a record for shooting nine shots on the first hole which is a par four. (See below for more about par).
Tune into www.cbssports.com or CBS for coverage from Augusta.
Boxing
- End of an era. Manny Pacquiao will face Timothy Bradley for the third and last time. This is Pacquiao’s last fight before retirement. You may remember Pacquiao for his memorable moves and fights but unfortunately many will remember him for his offensive comments about the LGBT community that caused him to lose sponsors. The fight will be held Saturday in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and can be viewed on Pay-Per-View starting at 6 pm (EST).
MLB (Major League Baseball)
- That’s just wrong. Three people were arrested for stealing a scooter signed by San Francisco Giants’ outfielder Hunter Pence from the San Francisco Make-A-Wish office.
- Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Also in the news of records that aren’t good for the ego, the San Diego Padres tied a record for starting off the season with 26 scoreless innings. They went almost three games without scoring a run.
NFL (National Football League)
Let’s get it started. The NFL released the preseason schedule for the 2016-17 season. Each team will play four preseason games to warm up for the regular season. Your favorite team’s schedule can be found here.
Overtime
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be competing in Saturday’s Duck Commander 500 (those Duck Dynasty guys are everywhere). Earlier in the week Earnhardt tweeted a photo of his favorite meal - a banana and mayonnaise sandwich. An interesting combination for the best sandwich ever, but I guess they say don’t knock it ‘till you try it. You go first. Catch Saturday’s race at 7:30 pm (EST) on FOX.
Sideline stat
- Golden State Warriors became the second team in NBA history to reach the 70-win mark in a single season. Warriors are on track for a record 73 victories in a season after a win over San Antonio Spurs yesterday.
Coaches’ Corner
- Tell me about these golf scores. We could go on for days but to understand scoring in golf you have to understand one thing – par. Par is the number of strokes (times you hit the ball) a golfer is expected to take on that hole – from the tee off to putting it into the hole.
The individual hole scores are combined each day for the entire round of golf. The basic breakdown is that the players with a minus (i.e. -4) means they went under par (in this case four strokes under par). That’s a good thing. So on a par four hole (like mentioned above) they hit the ball into the hole in less than the suggested strokes (four). The golfers with a plus after their name (i.e. +3) means it took them more than the number of strokes to get the ball in the hole by three.
Have we confused you enough? To learn more click here.