I forgot to tell you on day 1, when we first entered RCMH, I saw John Buzzeo (HR director for the NFL) pointed at him and said, “Hey it’s John Buzzeo!” I shook his hand and told him to put a couple demerits into Rich Eisens file.
Before we get to sleep, I call the front desk for an early wake up call. I call about 3:30 AM to get us up at 6:30 AM so we can grab some breakfast before we head into RCMH. The draft begins at 10:00 AM and they let us in about 9:15 AM. Of course, the phone never rings. We wake up about 8:30 AM. So much for breakfast.
We get cleaned up and head over to RCMH quickly. Before we grab a cab, we get some coffee and I buy a sandwich. As we arrive at RCMH, we begin walking up to the end of the line. Some of the Jets fans are booing us. I was wearing my Sharks jersey for effect and Coach had his AJ Hawk jersey on. Standing in line with our Day 2 diehard cards, there is maybe 300 people in line. As I’m walking by, security tells us we need to finish our coffee & sandwich before we enter. (What a joke). I say, “Ok no problem…” & walk to the end of the line.
I get a few looks (Sharks jersey) and 1 guy starts talking to me about the Sharks. We also discuss the Packers day 1 selections. I have visions of Cullen Jenkins rushing inside a washed up Orlando Pace and at the same time Matthews on the outside. Cutler looks like he’s ready to cry like a little girl as he rolls to his right and runs into BJ Raji & Aaron Kampman. Nice vision eh?
I pound down my coffee & wrap up my sandwich in plastic and put it in my pocket because I can’t eat it all. Hahahaha We finally get into RCMH and head up to the 1st Mezzanine. The guys on NFL N were going over the teams Day 1 selections and slightly grading them. I turn to coach and say, “You ready for a long day??” He says he’s having fun so we’re off & running. The crazy Jets fans are ecstatic because they traded up with the Lions to get the 1st pick on day 2. The Jets draft Shonn Greene and all I can think of is Iowacheese putting on a Brett Favre Jets jersey.
Coach and I hunker down for a lonnnnnnng wait since the Packers don’t select until round 4. The picks are moving along quite nicely and Chad texts me as his buddy is looking for us. We wave our arms and he finds us. He tells us he went for a 9 mile run on Saturday morning. Hell, I couldn’t run 9 meters on Saturday morning! We discuss the days events yesterday and how fast & furious it was when the Packers got on the clock at pick #26. Text msgs were flying! It made me think of how it used to be in the 80’s & early 90’s. The free flow of information wasn’t so “free-flowing” back then.
This is the part of the draft where it just lags. We finally get to the Packer selection and it’s T.J. Lang. Doing some research Coach & I like this guys supposed “mauler” attitude. We need another Mike Wahle. Hopefully this guy can learn the ropes and contribute.
As we get back into the 5th round, our pick is coming up and we keep wondering if TT’s going to select an OT? Coach wants Cedric Peerman. Peermans measurables are off the chart, including a 40” vertical! No of course not, instead he selects Johnathan Quinn….OOPS I mean Quinn Johnson FB LSU. Checking out the write-up on him we begin sensing a theme here. Mauler OL, bruising FB. Of course the Ravens grab Peerman just before we get to the Packer 2nd pick in round 5. The player announced for the Packers is Jamon Meredith! Coach & I look at each other like WOW! Can’t believe he lasted this long. Ok, finally an OT. Hopefully he can learn from Clifton. It would have been great to have Peerman as I think he has a shot to do something in the NFL but it seems TT hung true to his board and selected the BPA. It’s really funny how well this draft fell for Green Bay. It just worked out great.
We get through the 6th round and late into 7. Chads buddy left during round 6. We’re definitely ready to get out of here and head over to Lombardis for some kick ass pizza! The &%$##@$% Bears are on the clock with a compensatory pick AGAIN this year. They take the FULL 5 minutes AGAIN! They did the same thing last year. It really pisses me off when any team takes the full 5 minutes of a compensatory pick because you CANNOT TRADE THEM!! If any team takes even 4 minutes they are roundly booooed. What a complete joke. I’m definitely going to egg Angelo’s house again. The Bears draft a HOF’er named Derek Kinder
Last year they drafted 2 world beaters named Kirk Barton and Marcus Monk. Every other team can get their picks in within 3 minutes. This so called “GM” acts like he’s making a decision that could potentially set the franchise back 10 years. Finally KC is on the clock to select Mr. Irrelevant. Ryan Succop, K, South Carolina.
YAY! It’s finally over! We turn in our Day 2 Diehard cards for our Day 1 ticket next year. Coach & I head out to Lombardi’s and grab some coal fired oven pizza! Here's the link After pizza we discuss hanging out with the locals at one of the pubs but think better of it and just head back to the hotel for a couple beers.
So that’s it for this year. Day 2 is not as exciting as Day 1, just like the draft.
Except for the woman I met on the airplane out of LGA.
Fun times!
