In a world that has been turned on its ear, Roger Goodell said Friday the NFL's decision to hold its draft next week was an attempt to keep some sense of normalcy.
The NFL Commissioner appeared on NBC Sport's Rich Eisen Show and said he really didn't have to think too hard to make the determination to continue with the draft as planned with some obvious changes due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“It’s important to have normalcy, it’s important to continue on schedule as best you can,” Goodell said. “The draft itself will be different because it’s no longer a live event.”
As Goodell mentioned, the NFL decided a month ago that it would not make the draft an event as it has become. The draft was scheduled to be held live in Las Vegas. Last year's draft drew 600,000 people to Nashville, Tenn., over the three-day event.
Instead, the league will hold a virtual draft, with Goodell announcing the first-round picks from his home teams making their selections from outside their facilities, as well.
The draft will be broadcast on three networks -- ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network -- but players will be interviewed remotely from their homes.
“We’re doing this in a way that demonstrates that you can continue to do what you need to do in this country, and do it safely at home,” Goodell said.
The league has already given teams the OK to go to work on virtual OTA sessions following the draft. Normally, teams would start bringing drafted players and the rest of their rosters together for on-field workouts following the draft, but that will not happen this year -- at least not at this time.
But, the NFL still plans to release its schedule May 9. Typically, the league would have already released its schedule. The league has been in a holding pattern with that, waiting to see if it will have a full season or if there is a need to shorten the schedule based on the country being shut down.
"We are planning on putting our game schedule out by May 9," Goodell said. "We’re planning and working towards staying on schedule.
"We intend to do everything possible to stay focused on that and be prepared to execute on that because that’s where we think we’ll be.”
That could include a shortened season, if necessary. But with training camps not set to open until late July, the league remains optimistic things will go off as planned. If not, they'll adjust.
“We’ll be prepared for all alternatives," Goodell said.
To continue reading, log into your account:
