mbtitleist
New member
Clayton just addressed this in his post yesterday.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10918301/final-thoughts-2014-nfl-draft-clayton-mailbag
Q: Watching the draft, I noticed that Team A's pick is in while ESPN is in commercial and the Team B has already been on the clock for several minutes. Did Team B know who Team A's pick was before it was announced on TV? Do NFL teams have a separate exclusive system from which the teams can be updated on picks and trades?
Fred in Tampa, Florida
A: The NFL does have a separate system. Teams are notified of the selection once it is put in. This is done for television reasons. I do the radio broadcast for ESPN and have been doing it for close to two decades. What has happened is the show of the draft is forcing a delay in some of the picks being announced. The mandate is that no network is allowed to announce the pick until Roger Goodell goes to the podium. Teams function with full knowledge of what happened. With the hugs and family celebrations going on onstage, a natural delay is going to occur. The commissioner also holds back his announcements to allow ESPN and the NFL Network to get in their commercials. In the second round, some of the picks back up two or three deep before being announced. None of this causes any problems for the teams. It's just a way for fans to see the selections. When you get into the third day of the draft, there are no players coming to the podium and the selections come out in real time.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10918301/final-thoughts-2014-nfl-draft-clayton-mailbag
Q: Watching the draft, I noticed that Team A's pick is in while ESPN is in commercial and the Team B has already been on the clock for several minutes. Did Team B know who Team A's pick was before it was announced on TV? Do NFL teams have a separate exclusive system from which the teams can be updated on picks and trades?
Fred in Tampa, Florida
A: The NFL does have a separate system. Teams are notified of the selection once it is put in. This is done for television reasons. I do the radio broadcast for ESPN and have been doing it for close to two decades. What has happened is the show of the draft is forcing a delay in some of the picks being announced. The mandate is that no network is allowed to announce the pick until Roger Goodell goes to the podium. Teams function with full knowledge of what happened. With the hugs and family celebrations going on onstage, a natural delay is going to occur. The commissioner also holds back his announcements to allow ESPN and the NFL Network to get in their commercials. In the second round, some of the picks back up two or three deep before being announced. None of this causes any problems for the teams. It's just a way for fans to see the selections. When you get into the third day of the draft, there are no players coming to the podium and the selections come out in real time.
