Unlike recent years, the looming question many football fans are wondering about on the eve of the 2011 NFL draft isn’t whether Brett Favre will return to play another season, or for which team he might play.
Though it may still be premature to rule out the once-upon-a-time Falcon, Packer, Jet and Viking quarterback’s return until he would not appear on one of the 32 teams’ opening-week rosters in September, the question presently on many fans’ minds is whether there will be an NFL season at all in 2011.
A new collective bargaining agreement has yet to be reached between the NFL owners and players as numerous people with varying degrees of draft expertise — whether they attempt to imitate or duplicate Mel Kiper Jr. with or without a fancy hairdo — analyze potential draftees who could play their rookie seasons in 2011.
Discussions surrounding the current labor standoff have included whether to limit the salaries of rookie players, who won’t have a season to play in this year without a new agreement.
A perennial question raised in a so-called “mock draft” is whether a team should select “the best available player” regardless of position, or someone that would meet a perceived “need” at a certain position.
I’ve never spent the time and effort to put together a mock draft, which after all the actual picks are selected can end up turning into a mockery itself when teams make trades to move around draft positions.
This year’s pre-draft hype, after which hindsight will be 20/20 as to the wisdom of any given selection, would pale in comparison to the owners and players not having the wisdom to avoid an interruption to the 2011 season.
Whether the Vikings spend their top draft pick on a rookie quarterback after having a franchise history of getting mileage out of quarterbacks in the twilight of their careers, there won’t be a need for someone who can pass when there are no games to play.
Though pro football players come and go over the years, it could be a challenge getting fans to come back once they would be turned off by a stoppage in play this fall.
Pro football fans at draft parties may cheer or boo when the selections are announced later this week, but boos in a few months could be deafening in the event neither the rookies nor the veterans take the field.
Boneske may be reached via e-mail at kevin@ifallsjournal.com
