Saving the Falcons: Thomas Dimitroff has his NFL draft room, and so does somebody else
To hear NFL officials tell it, all is well involving their first (and hopefully only) virtual draft slated to begin Thursday . . . everywhere.
That includes inside the Atlanta-area home of Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff.
It's a terrific setup.
Televisions. Phones. Even somebody on standby, with proper social distancing, of course, to take care of any glitches along the way.
Those same NFL officials also say they're prepared for any kind of technical issue anywhere, such as the malfunction of the Internet connection involving any of the slew of folks part of the drafts for any of the league's 32 teams.
In addition to team officials at remote spots, the NFL will have nearly 60 prospects at various locations around the country. The league supplied each of them with a kit containing a cellphone, lighting and other stuff they'll need to communicate with every team, NFL draft central and the media.
Don't forget to throw NFL commissioner Roger Goodell into this electronic mix and match. He'll be announcing the picks from a setup in the basement of his home around the New York area.
Well, good luck with all that.
Oh, and there's more. Saints officials are putting their war room inside of a New Orleans brewery, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers say they're still debating their approach, along with many of their peers.
Then we're back to Dimitroff, running his 13th Falcons draft, with a setup resembling a cross between a television network preparing to broadcast a political convention or NASA scientists on the verge of sending a spaceship to Mars.
According to The Athletic, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told folks during a conference call that the league will have the ability to pause the draft at any point if a team encounters technical issues during a trade or something.
You know what that means?
We should prepare for a lot of pausing by the NFL, from the start of the draft Thursday through its conclusion on Saturday.
Which means . . .
Take a peek at my video.
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