Thanks to Frank Supovitz, SVP of Special Events for the NFL, Greg Aiello, Vice President of Public Relations of the National Football League, and Leslie Hammond, VP of Media Relations for the NFL, I was able to cover the 2005 NFL Draft. Here's my account - Zennie Abraham, Chairman and CEO, Sports Business Simulations.
The 70th National Football League Selection Committee meeting held at Jacob J. Javitz Convention Center is an American slice-of-life, and one example of why the NFL is the most successful sports organization in the World.
My objective in coming to my first draft was to give SBS visitors a"behind-the-scenes" view of the event. When I was preparing for my trip to New York and the Draft, I could not find any account of what it was like to attend this meeting online. Oh, sure, there are sentences here and there, but nothing that gives one the feel of what it's like to be here. This article should change that. I've always enjoyed Vanity Fair Columnist Dominic Dunne's work (even though I don't always agree with him), so I thought I'd play him at the NFL Draft. NFL Draft Fans at Javitz Entrance.
Javitz Arrival
I arrived at the Javitz Convention Center at 10:15 Saturday morning and stepped out of my cab to a throng of football fans waiting to get in. No, they didn't have to pay; the league provided ticket passes on a first-come, first-served basis.
Confused about the entry point for the media, I asked a couple of security people who then guided me inside. Once there, I walked over to the media check-in table, where one of the NFL's representatives gave me a large folder of materials: two large binders containing bios on each college football player being considered by the 32 teams of the NFL, along with two equally large, yet stapled, books containing news clips on each player. I also received a pass that permitted access to various areas on the main floor of the ballroom housing the NFL Draft, and the Interview Room adjacent to it.
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