NFL Dreams Take a Backseat on Draft Day by Kyle Pritchard

On April 29th, 2021 the National Football League opened its arms to a new generation of players by hosting the 86th NFL draft. College students from around the country were finally getting the opportunity they prepared and trained for years to accomplish. Every college player has had their own story whether it be Trevor Lawrence's historic seasons and unbelievable hype, 2020 Heisman winner DeVonta Smith's rise from irrelevancy, or Najee Harris, a player who had lived homeless for a majority of his childhood life. These stories and experiences are what the NFL draft is all about. 259 people finally get a chance to achieve their dream, but draft day's news cycle quickly drifted away from the participants of the draft to one of the biggest sports stories of the year.

Early on draft day, NFL reporter Adam Schefter announced that the 2020 NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers was "done" with the team he has played for his entire career, the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers and the management of Green Bay have had a rough relationship ever since the newer GM and coaching staff decided to draft his replacement in the 2020 draft, even when he believes he has many more years of elite play within himself. Schefter claimed that Rodgers wanted out and was demanding a trade.

This news rocked the entire sports media market. Every single sports station, influencer, or identity was either commenting or speculating on the situation at hand. Rumors of trade partners and insider stories surfaced at a comical pace, making the news seem weirder and weirder by the minute. While the commotion was loud and clear, the NFL began its 86th annual draft. Pick after pick happened, fulfilling dreams earned from hard work and perseverance, but everyone was still talking about Rodgers trying to leave Green Bay. Instead of the world learning more about the new draftees, speculation of draft moves to accommodate a Rodgers trade was the talk of the town. The NFL prospects were robbed of the spotlight on the day they worked so hard for.

With the Rodgers news still dominating sports news cycles, a new pivotal piece of information was released by NFL reporter Adam Schefter. On the Dan Patrick show (one of the most popular AM sports shows), Schefter stated that there was no source to his original announcement, claiming that "the writing was on the wall." He admitted that he chose to release his assumption on draft day, effectively hijacking the NFL draft with a rumor. Since then, the NFL draft ended with a melancholy tone and the Rodgers/Packers situation has blown up into an actual ordeal now. Imagine how it would feel to finally achieve an opportunity to be fully recognized for your hard work, all to be overshadowed by a rumor.

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