Earlier this week I joked that a virtual NFL Draft would cause some unintended hilarity as 32 teams full of football guys all try to figure out how to operate a video conference call.
We’d have Giants GM Dave Gettleman attempting to download Zoom to his fax machine, etc. etc.
My lame jokes have become reality much quicker than I assumed.
It turns out there are major concerns about this draft already. First, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he was extremely concerned about the videoconference getting hacked during the draft, and was working with the league to understand how they were ensuring that didn’t happen.
Then, due to concerns about the system working properly, the NFL has reportedly said it will hold a “mock draft” with all the teams to test everything out to make sure it works.
Then, on Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that there were growing fears within teams about letting IT technicians into coaches’ and execs’ homes to set up the videoconference, both from the front office and IT perspectives.
A concern has emerged in recent days: There are certain coaches and front-office staffers reluctant to have their IT employees in their homes for fear of the virus spreading, and vice versa; some IT employees are concerned about going into other homes to equip them for the draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 8, 2020
When you pause for a second and think about it, this makes all the sense in the world. All day every day we are being told to flatten the curve and stop the spread of coronavirus by self isolating at home and limiting interactions with others.
The NFL has sought to mitigate that by not having teams set up “war rooms,” but to get this whole thing to work, they are presumably going to need to set up some sort of secure video feed at coaches and executives’ homes. To do that, you need IT support. To get IT support there … you have to violate the quarantine orders that are being issued by most states.
I’m sure there will be a workaround, and they’ll get protective gear to the people who need it. But it’s a stark reminder that, while we all are desperate for the NFL Draft to get going so we have something sports-adjacent to watch, these coaches and execs live in our world, and have the same concerns we do.
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