A draft unlike any other

Normally, this is one of the few times of the sports year I look forward to the most. It’s time for the National Football League’s annual college draft. I’m a junkie. Have been for more years than I care to admit.

This year, though, I am really looking forward to the lottery for a couple of reasons, not the least of which are the circumstances under which it will be conducted.

The three-day event that begins in a week covers seven rounds and will be the first live television offering in roughly two months for a long suffering fan base that has been subjected to a barren sports landscape for way too long.

The killer virus that has robbed the globe of live sporting events has basically snuffed out pure escapism for that fan base. This draft, which normally draws a sizable audience, is certain to eclipse previous ratings with ease this year.

What makes this one different, however, is how it will be conducted. In order to conform to the health guidelines that have created a temporary new normal, this draft will be conducted electronically..

Gone is the glitz and glamour of the last two decades. No fans booing Commissioner Roger Goodell every time he approaches the podium; no fans overreacting to their clubs’ selections; no pre-draft red carpet show.

Goodell, ostensibly alone, will be locked away in the basement of his Bronxville, N.Y., home as he puts each team on the clock. Those making the selections for their clubs will also be alone. Ostensibly.

Players believed to be worthy of a first-round selection will stand by at their respective residences as the choices are announced. No bear hugs or back slaps by Goodell. No preening for the TV cameras. No red-carpet show. It will seem surreal.

Decisions by teams will be made through teleconferencing between the selectors and their staffs in numerous remote locations. If for no other reason, that makes this unique, because it almost assuredly will never happen again.

As for going smoothly, it’s all but a guarantee something will go wrong along the way during the opening round a week from tonight with hackers lurking all over the vast Internet landscape.

In a way, this little venture is somewhat of a throwback to the old days when club officials used to gather in a hotel room or ballroom and made their picks privately.

The draft was born at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia in 1936 when the NFL had only nine teams. Jay Berwanger, a University of Chicago halfback – that’s what they were called back then – was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles first overall. He never played a game.

He was dealt to the Chicago Bears and never came to contract terms with them, opting to work for a Chicago rubber company and coach part-time at his alma mater.

The draft back then was nine rounds. It grew to 10 a year later, doubled to 20 in 1939, moved up to 30 rounds in 1943, 25 in 1949, back up to 30 in 1950 (when the Browns joined the league), down again to 20 in 1960, 17 in 1967, 12 in 1977, eight in 1993 and settled in at the current seven rounds in 1994.

It also moved around to eight different cities before settling New York for 50 years at various Manhattan venues before the league decided to take the show, which had become a television phenomenon, on the road again.

The NFL has taken advantage of the extreme popularity of the event by doing so. It was supposed to be in Las Vegas this year, but the virus wiped it out and drove it inside. Next year, Cleveland will be the host city for the draft.

The draft caught fire after ESPN beamed it for the first time in 1980 and then really took off after Mel Kiper Jr., a 23-year-old whiz kid from Baltimore, joined the crew four years later. Kiper will pontificate in his 37^th draft this year.

The event went prime time in 2012 when the league spread it over three days with Thursday’s first round and the next two rounds on Friday cracking the primetime lineup.

Overall, though, the draft has not changed. It is still teams making choices from a field of eligible college players. The only difference now is the way it is being sold and packaged.

Now the league can add virtual drafting to its long list of achievements.