As the 2024 NFL Draft chases viewership records, one cannot help but look back on its nearly 44-year-old journey. In 1980, ESPN televised the NFL Draft for the first time. Even in its second year, the event was not ready for a Prime Time debut. It faced hiccups when the then NFL Commissioner Alvin Ray “Pete” Rozelle’s mic automatically got turned off.
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This broadcasting setback led the NFL legend Peyton Manning to complain, “It (broadcast) was just plain boring”, in his Peyton’s Places Season 1 Episode re-released by Omaha Productions, as he explored the NFL Draft’s broadcasting history. But one individual helped change everything when it comes to the Draft’s broadcasting potential.
According to Peyton, it was Mel Kiper Jr. who helped convert the NFL Draft in the 80s, a ‘boring’ business meeting into great television. Mel expressed himself in front of the NFL audience, challenging the conventional broadcast norms. His detailed insights made the draft process more interactive. The entertainment element on TV also saw a rise. This eventually paved the way for an increased viewership.
A college dropout who worked out of his parent’s basement, Mel Kiper Jr. became interested in the NFL Draft during his High School years. It later made him think, “Why won’t the entire country be interested?”. This determined mindset led him to take up the broadcast role. He got an opportunity after the retirement of legendary head coach Bud Wilkinson.
Talking to Peyton Manning, the draft expert revisited how he made a name for himself during the 84’ Draft. “Having Chris Burman there from the GetGo really allowed me to feel a lot more comfortable. He said, forget the cameras, just talk to me.” Later on, Mel Kiper Jr. followed Burman’s advice in his illustrious career.
The Draft Guides prepared by this NFL expert added insight into each player and their potential. This was the pre-internet era, and his detailed anecdotes on statistics and players’ helped the audience to take informed stances on each player. The model became a big trend in the 90s.
Eventually, it led to what we see in the Draft right now, where each player has a set of database, based on which teams can take the call quickly. But at that point in time, not everyone in the NFL community trusted his research, reveals the draft guru. “Going back to 1978 and see where it is now, at least you had the idea that you could go and be successful, and lead into a business. But nobody at the time thought it could,” Mel Kiper Jr. remarked, eventually summing up his transformative role in the NFL Draft broadcasting.
Cut to 2024, the NFL Draft is an integral part of the league’s Prime Time. According to the NFL.com report, the 2023 NFL Draft drew an average audience of 6 million viewers to the event across ABC, NFL Network, and ESPN. A total of 54.4 million unduplicated viewers watched the three-day event in the US.
Peyton Manning Looks Back At His Scouting Report
At the end of the episode, Peyton Manning went down memory lane to read his NFL Draft Scouting Report, courtesy of Mel Kiper Jr.’s library of Draft guides. Notably, his library encompasses details from 1978 to 2024, spanning 46 years. It was indeed a goldmine for any football fan.
A curious Manning read out his report to evaluate himself, detailing his highs and lows to the audience. “Struggled against UCLA, nearly blowing the size of a lead. Whipped soundly by Florida. I had a lot of plays in my career. The only play I see give the play, is pick six. Prep level Manning was the second team. 440 batting average. That seems a little low,” the two-time Super Bowl winner said, with a bit of disappointment in tone about the numbers.
Meanwhile, the NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. continues to enlighten the audience with his appearances on podcasts and TV shows. The success of the NFL Draft is also the victory of stalwarts like Mel Kiper Jr. who advocates the power of research. As the countdown begins for the 2024 Detroit event, his contributions to the ‘must-watch’ event continue to attain significance.
