The FOX network’s coverage of the NFL Draft lasted just one year.
John Ourand of Sports Business Daily reports the league will move its over-the-air broadcast of the 2019 NFL Draft from FOX to ABC. And in a bold move, ABC’s coverage won’t be a simulcast of what ESPN is showing. Instead, ABC will trot out its popular “College GameDay” crew featuring Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Hirbstreit, and Desmond Howard.
At first blush, I’m immediately interested to see how this broadcast incorporates Corso’s head-gear segment. If you’re unfamiliar with ESPN’s GameDay program, it’s a weekly Saturday show hosted on the campus of one of college football’s premier games and features analysis, news, highlights, breakdowns of the games of the day, and more. One of the most popular segments is when Corso – the longest-tenured commentator on the program – predicts the host campus’ game by wearing that team’s mascot’s head-gear. It’s still fun for me, even as I’ve been watching since the early 2000s.
A head-gear segment for the first overall pick would bring some intrigue to neutral observers on draft day. Neutrals such as fans of the Chicago Bears, whose team doesn’t have a first-round pick because it was shipped away to the Oakland Raiders in the Khalil Mack trade. Not only has that deal launched the Bears to the top of the NFC North standings while simultaneously torpedoing Oakland’s chances of landing two picks in the top half of the draft. Take that, Grudes!
The 2019 NFL Draft will be held in Nashville from April 25-27. And while the Bears aren’t scheduled to pick until the third round (remember, they gave up their 2019 second-rounder to the New England Patriots for the opportunity to draft Anthony Miller) it’s good to know what channel it will be on so I can plan accordingly.