Best Available

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Wow, wasn't that exciting?

The NFL (they don't pay taxes) draft is in the history books.

What did we learn?

1). Every team GM says the following things:

"We had him rated higher on our boards."

So, their second round picks 'they' had him rated as a first-rounder. Their 3rd round guy was a 2nd rounder...and so on and so forth.

"We took the best available player."

My God! I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard that.

"We think his off-field issues are behind him. He's done a lot of growing up since his last arrest."

Uh, yeah. He'll be fine.

"This draft makes us stronger and faster and ready to compete for a Super Bowl."

You were 6-10 last year and haven't made the playoffs for 14 years. Let's temper it a bit, huh?

2). We have a gay draftee.

I'm not quite sure why this was such a big deal. We have probably had gay players drafted before, but this is the first guy who has a shot at the NFL (They don't pay their cheerleaders) who has said he's gay.

Whatever, right?

Wrong. The Twitter feed was alive with hate as Michael Sam cried. What a world.

3). The draft program was rated higher than any of the baseball, basketball, or hockey games going on that very night or the following day.

The NFL (they black-out games in county paid for stadiums) owns the sports world. Literally. ESPN runs an hour long show, every day, talking about a sport that is played a mere 16 weeks a year...and people eat it up! They can still draw the highest ratings on any given day talking about Tim Tebow for an hour and he's just an usher at his church.

It blows my mind.

4). The Bills did wonderful!!!!!!

I really laugh at my kids. Each year I try and get them to commit to who they want the Bills to take each year based on the needs.

This year it was all about tight end.

But the Bills traded up and grabbed a wide receiver in a questionable move because they gave up next year's first-round pick.

(It can only work if their current QB is good and there's evidence that he stinks).

Yet every pick was roundly cheered in my house.

Andre Reed could've stepped to the podium and made the final announcement:

"With their third round pick the Bills choose, Elmer Fudd."

And the cheers would've went up here.

So what did I take out of it?

I watched three minutes of it...actually caught the Bills first pick strictly by accident...

It's all a crap shoot.

They all greatly improved their teams.

They all had them rated higher.

The off-field issue guys have 'grown up a lot' in the last three weeks.

and

The best available guy was who they got.

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